Bluebeard Coffee joins Sixth Avenue, the city's most concentrated neighborhood for java

Maybe calling Sixth Avenue a coffee district is a bit of a stretch, but when the seventh (yes, seventh) coffee house in a 17-block span opens, I'm thinking a designation of some kind is in order. Coffee Alley? Java Avenue? Jittery Lane?

Bluebeard Coffee Roasters this week joined Metronome, Caffe Dei, Beyond the Bridge Cafe, Shakabrah Java, Satellite and Valhalla on Sixth Avenue, all located between State and Proctor on Sixth Avenue.

Bluebeard is both a coffee roaster and espresso puller. Like every coffee house on Sixth, it exudes its own vibe. But I did note some overlapping qualities it shares with nearby coffee kin. Bluebeard has the bare bones austerity of Valhalla, the coffee geek of Metronome and the hipster-ish vibe of Satellite. The one thing Bluebeard has that other Sixth Avenue coffee houses seem to lack is a well-organized space. The table area is expansive with well-spaced chairs and a few comfy couches. Big groups are not a problem.

I ordered an Americano and was gifted a perfectly pulled coffee. Dark, rich, thick, with a tempered bitterness that spoke to perfectly roasted beans and skilled extraction (hey, was that the barista from Metronome?). A display case held whole beans for sale, with prices $12 and up for what looked to be about 1-pound bags. I spotted beans from El Salvador, Ethiopia and Indonesia. A pastry case held a small selection of nibbles, both savory and sweet.

Have you paid them a visit? What did you think of their java?

Bluebeard Coffee RoastersWhere: 2201 Sixth Ave., Tacoma Facebook: Here

This story was originally published April 13, 2011 at 4:39 AM with the headline "Bluebeard Coffee joins Sixth Avenue, the city's most concentrated neighborhood for java."