Coffee roasts named after famous local landmarks in Washington State sound interesting. Looking for white coffee or the best sustainable coffee brands you can get in Washington? Check out Poverty Bay Coffee Company Federal Way. Here’s our review of their fantastic coffee.
- Coffee blends are readily available in their online store and physical store.
- Coffee blends can be brewed in a variety of ways
- Coffee is sustainable from bean to packaging
- Limited coffee variety
- Not recommended for people with low caffeine tolerance
Table of Contents
An Overview
Poverty Bay Coffee is a small batch micro-roaster hailing from Seattle, WA. Founded by Dan Olmstead in 1997, this environmentally conscientious coffee roaster only wants to care about the environment, the employees, and its local community through ethically roasted coffee beans.
The coffee beans roasted in Poverty Bay Coffee’s facility are sourced from small coffee farmers, who cultivate coffee under the natural shades of trees in a lush forest, through Direct Trade. For 23 years of delivering only the best beans, Poverty Bay focuses only on sustainability, lasting relationships, and authentic business operation as its business’ core.
Sustainability
From green coffee beans to packaging, Poverty Bay Coffee always finds ways to lessen their carbon print in the environment. On a daily basis, they follow practices and habits to make their business sustainable. That includes:
- Integration of all of the coffee grounds and chaffs into the composting process of Cedar Grove.
- Coffee grounds amounting to over 35,000 lbs end up in gardens throughout the Pacific North West
- Recyclable materials like paper, aluminum, plastic, Styrofoam, and metal are recycled in a designated facility.
- Lighting installed throughout the facility is energy efficient.
- All of their coffee beans are sourced from sustainable and Shade-grown coffee farms through Direct Trade.
- Their entire marketing materials are printed on recycled paper.
Features of Poverty Bay
Poverty Bay Coffee Company features coffee blends with a taste profile that is incomparable to regular blends we typically see in the market. One of the interesting coffee blends worth brewing is White Tornado, which is a white coffee bean roasted in half the time of typical coffee roasting. When they ship their coffee blends, they do not use plastics or papers. Most of their coffees are delivered packed in a burlap.
Cafe
To make their coffee beans readily available to most coffee drinkers, Poverty Bay Coffee Federal Way also established a cafe where their coffee blends are offered along with pastries, sandwiches, soups, and gourmet salads that go incredibly delicious when paired with their coffee.
The Poverty Bay Cafe Federal Way is located at 1108 S 322nd Pl, Federal Way, WA. It is warmly received in TripAdvisors by people who love this cafe, especially their gluten-free food options that taste delectable with any coffee blend they offer.
Coffees Offered
If you want to try their sustainable coffee blends, Big Cup of Coffee highly recommends the following roasts:
White Coffee Beans
White coffee beans feature a whitish color and nutty flavor as a result of the roasting process used for the beans. It is “roasted half of the way through at low temperature”. Meaning, the coffee beans are half-baked to around 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
The beans can be either Arabica or Robusta but the quality of the coffee beans to be roasted using the same process is vital to achieving an interesting flavor profile. Lastly, it has 50% more caffeine so it’s not recommended for people with low caffeine tolerance.
- WHAT IS WHITE COFFEE: White Coffee is coffee beans that have been slow roasted half of the way, it has WAY more caffeine than regular coffee and a very unusual taste that might take some getting used to.
- HOW ITS MADE: White Coffee is made by roasting coffee beans at a lower temperature and for half of the time that regular coffee is roasted. White Coffee is half-baked! To be more specific, White Coffee is roasted to around 325 Degrees whereas fully roasted coffee is roasted to anywhere from 450 Degrees to 480 Degrees.
- BENEFITS OF WHITE COFFEE: White Coffee has up 50% more caffeine than fully-roasted coffee. It has a very nutty flavor that blends well with all the same creamers and flavors that fully-roasted coffee does. Some people report that White Coffee has a bolder coffee flavor than black coffee. In addition to the ‘lift’ in caffeine, White Coffee is less acidic and retains more antioxidants.
- POVERTY BAY COFFEE CO: With over 30 years’ experience of coffee sourcing and small-batch micro-roasting in the Pacific Northwest, our coffee blends are superior in taste.
Alice Lake Organic
Alice Lake is a dark roast organic coffee with a full body and hints of spice and bold roasted notes. It’s a smooth yet powerful coffee, which makes it a good joe to drink to start your day. This coffee roast is suitable for any brewing device you have at home. You can brew it with a drip-coffee machine, French Press, espresso maker, pour-over, Moka pot, and Aeropress.
- DARK ROAST COFFEE: Full bodied, ground coffee beans, French roast with hints of spice and bold roasted notes, these ground coffee beans make a powerful, yet smooth, bold cup of joe.
- BEST ORGANIC COFFEE: Premium quality USDA Certified Organic coffee beans are grown, sourced, and packaged responsibly.
- GROUND COFFEE: As small-batch micro-roasters, we roast to order and ship same day so that your coffee beans are a fresh as possible when they arrive at your door.
- GREAT FOR ALL BREWERS: These classic ground Arabica coffee beans are suitable for any coffee machine: drip machine, espresso maker, french press, aeropress, pour over and moka pot. Also, makes an amazing coffee base for cold brewed coffee at home.
- POVERTY BAY COFFEE CO: With over 30 years’ experience of coffee sourcing and roasting coffee in the Pacific Northwest, our coffee bean blends are superior in taste.
Great Bend Blend
Great Bend blend is a medium-dark roast with a medium bot and hints of chocolate and subtle caramel flavors that end with a robust finish. Definitely the best coffee for black coffee lovers. You can brew this ground coffee using a drip coffee machine, French Press, espresso maker, pour-over, Moka pot, and Aeropress.
- MEDIUM-DARK ROAST COFFEE: A medium-bodied, whole bean coffee, chocolaty, slightly caramel flavor with a robust finish. Great for coffee drinkers who like their coffee black.
- FRESHLY ROASTED COFFEE: As small-batch micro-roasters, we roast to order and ship same day so that your coffee beans are a fresh as possible when they arrive at your door.
- GREAT FOR ALL BREWERS: This classic whole bean Arabica coffee is suitable for any coffee machine: drip machine, espresso maker, French press, Aeropress, pour over and moka pot. Also, makes an amazing coffee base for cold brewed coffee at home.
- POVERTY BAY COFFEE CO: With over 30 years’ experience of coffee sourcing and small-batch micro-roasting in the Pacific Northwest, our coffee blends are superior in taste.
- BULK COFFEE BEANS: Buy our most popular coffee roasts in bulk and get wholesale coffee bean pricing per pound! Great for cafes, restaurants, and bakeries
Poverty Bay Espresso Classic
Poverty Bay Espresso Classic is a medium-dark roast coffee with medium body and sweetness and depth that leaves home espresso drinkers with a slight caramel finish. It’s gourmet coffee that brews well with any coffee machine. That includes French Press, Pour-over, Moka Pot, espresso maker, Aeropress, and drip-coffee machine,
- ESPRESSO ROAST COFFEE: A medium-bodied, whole bean coffee with both sweetness and depth with a slightly caramel finish. Perfect coffee blend for at home espresso drinkers.
- GOURMET COFFEE: As small-batch micro-roasters, we roast to order and ship same day so that your coffee beans are a fresh as possible when they arrive at your door.
- GREAT FOR ALL BREWERS: This classic whole bean Arabica coffee is suitable for any coffee machine: drip machine, espresso maker, French press, Aeropress, pour over and moka pot. Also, makes an amazing coffee base for cold brewed coffee at home.
- POVERTY BAY COFFEE CO: With over 30 years’ experience of coffee sourcing and small-batch micro-roasting in the Pacific Northwest, our coffee blends are superior in taste.
Dan’s Cold Brew Coffee
Poverty Bay Coffee’s version of cold brew is smooth and strong that tastes great up to the last drip even if the ice in the coffee drink melts. The coffee roasters use the highest quality of Arabica coffee beans.
Dan's Cold Brewed Espresso is hand-crafted using a large-scale proprietary steeping system that starts with fresh-roasted high-quality coffee beans and results in a potent coffee concentrate. It's bold, yet smooth, and makes an incredibly refreshing STRONG espresso beverage. Check out our drink recipe page and learn more about our Cold Brew!
What the Community Says
Alternatives
Fresh Roasted Coffee's Direct Trade coffee is bought from and exchanged directly with growers, families and small locally-owned organizations. Buying coffee direct gives Fresh Roasted Coffee the ability to cut out any middlemen, pay fair prices with even higher premiums, and develop mutually beneficial relationships that result in higher quality coffee at better prices.
Volcanica carries over 130 different coffees including single origin, estate, peaberry, decaf and flavored coffees from all around the world. All of their coffees are fresh roasted in Atlanta, GA. Check out their Organic, Fair Trade, Shade Grown, and Low Acid Coffee varieties.
The World's First Carbon Negative Coffee Roaster!
Tiny Footprint Coffee is a coffee roaster with an environmental cause. It's the world's first carbon-negative coffee that supports sustainability and fair labor. They source their coffee beans from farmers who give utmost care to the coffee plants and protect the environment where they cultivate their beans. Also, they pay their growers a fair and competitive wage.
Verdict
Poverty Bay Coffee is a sustainable coffee brand that focuses on lasting relationships and authenticity. It’s a micro coffee roaster in Seattle, WA that practices ways of eco-conscious living that made their coffee business sustainable. Not only do they offer delicious coffee blends sourced ethically from small coffee farms, but they also sell delicious pastries, sandwiches, gourmet salads, and soups that go well with their coffee drinks. It’s definitely a must-try sustainable local coffee brand.