Ink Online Coffeehouse, is a tiny place on 1st Avenue that I have in the past, simply walked by without venturing in. This has been for no other reason than the place, which until recently was known as Caffe Lieto, just didn’t seem to stand out as a coffee shop worth visiting. But all this changed Friday a week ago. I just happened to be driving by looking for a place to stop and get a quick latte before going to work and since I was in a hurry, I decided to pop into the place… especially after I found great parking just round the corner from the shop.
The new owner Rena Poppell was behind the counter. She took my order and made my latte. She was great to chat with and didn’t mind me taking a couple of pictures of her coffeehouse. She also gave me a bit of background on Ink Online Coffehouse and the cafe formerly known as Caffe Lieto. She has been in the coffee business for over seven years and decided to go into business for herself. She is currently re-branding and remodelling cafe Lieto into Ink Online Coffeehouse. It is interesting that she decided to change the name of the old cafe because she did not feel that the name Cafe Lieto really signified what she was trying to do and that is build a coffeehouse known for excellence.
Personally, I think she is getting there. The coffee she served me was pretty good actually. She gets her coffee beans from Borogove Coffee, a great coffee roaster up in Everett. Of the different coffee roasters she’s familiar with, she thinks that Borogove is the most flavorful and also reliably freshest roasted (is that even proper grammar?). The blend of Borogove Coffee beans, that she uses the lattes and other espressos is the Espresso Cremona blend.
I later did a little digging up on Borogove Coffee and found out that one of the partners, Dismas Smith used to be a master roaster at Zoka Coffee Roasters and Tea Company. Dismas also founded Stickman Coffee which just closed this past weekend.
But going back to Ink Online Coffee, I must say that I think the place holds a promise for being a great coffeehouse down by the Pike Place Market. I certainly look forward to frequenting the place more often and sampling the wonderful espresso Rena pulls…
[...] past Friday I discovered Ink Online Coffeehouse, the place that used to be called Caffe Leito before the current owner bought the place in April [...]
You may want to check out her former employer Hotwire ‘Online Coffeehouse’, very familiar in set-up. I’m a fan of Hotwire and was shocked to see she copied the other business. They just won another award too.
Thanks for the tip. I will certainly check out this place and do a post next week…