Issaquah Coffee House
Anyone who loves a warm cuppa shouldn’t miss the good old Issaquah Coffee Company. Tucked in the heart of Issaquah’s downtown, this place has been my favorite since I moved to Washington. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and pastries, the sound of people talking and catching up with friends, and the hip ambiance of the place welcomes one and all. I mean, how can one not enter when the entrance is this cute and inviting?!
A true Pacific Northwest resident feels at home with the names of these coffees — Cougar Mountain Latte, Squak Mountain Mocha, and Tiger Mountain Mocha to name a few. They offer a wide range of hot, cold and blended selections of espresso drinks and other condiments like tea and a nice selection of smoothies for the non-caffeine lot. One can even order online and pick it up by their window through the Joe Coffee App.
Behind the Beans
I had the chance to meet Mike Swingle, who owns the coffee house. He kindly agreed to talk more about the place he calls his “home” and added, “when I had started the cafe in 2010, I wanted to be a part of the community and envisioned it to be a neighborhood coffee house with all things local so that everyone could enjoy it”. He says, “the beans used by the coffee house are sourced from Herkimer Coffee roasters, who in turn source the best beans from the premier coffee destinations over the world like Central America, Ethiopia, Brazil and Columbia. The roasting process at Herkimer is top quality and my team and I meet them twice a week to make sure we get the best beans for our customers.”
Mike further says that “when choosing coffee one has to be extremely selective like wine, in the sense the quality of the beans and roasting is as important as the grape and the age of the wine. The roasting of the beans is an art and it is very difficult to master it and get it right as the temperature and consistency play an important role”.
What to Expect
They have a rack of the coffee beans packaged for the customers who buy them and some merchandise like mugs, flasks, shirts and coffee pins. The beans used by the cafe are displayed all over the store. In a span of me spending an hour at the cafe sipping my cuppa, a shelf of coffee beans was gone.
The cafe is decorated in a country vibe style yet remains trendy with picture portraits of local photographers which you can buy. My favorite thing here is the community board, which is filled with local information, cards and pictures of kids drawing. They also have funny signs and stickers all over the board which can be picked up by the customers.
The coffee shop has a lot of space inside as well as outside for people to sit and work all day long. Their patio is fully heated during winter and feels cozy even on a cloudy day. They also have a board to honor and pay their respects to the various service clubs in Washington dating all the way back to 1943.
Issaquah Coffee House is a great place to have a business meeting, catch up with a friend, or enjoy a solo coffee date. The Cougar Mountain Latte is my favorite drink here and the orange coffee bread tastes divine with it. The staff is extremely friendly and the place is full almost every day. The vibe is always great, as the locals strongly support Issaquah Coffee — without a doubt, the best coffee shop in the area!
I love knowing other people’s stories and how a place came into being thank you for discovering this beautiful place … definetly going here
The founder of Issaquah coffee co. Was Ryan Heidy not Swingle. You have so many facts wrong in your “story” it really makes me wonder what the motivation is for writing it??