This coffee roaster is hands-down the best in Pierce County, readers say
As the votes rolled in for our survey of the best coffee roasters in Pierce County, one Tacoma shop took an early lead and never relinquished it.
The winner, snagging more than a quarter of nearly 1,300 votes: Valhalla Coffee Co.
Studious observers might have noticed the official poll photo — of a cortado with a spider plant in the background — was taken inside the shop at 3918 6th Ave. It was not intended to be a subliminal message!
A.J. Anderson opened his intimate roastery and cafe in 2004, and nearly two decades later, it remains modestly sized, generously humble and utterly meticulous.
Ahead of a busy Christmas season, Valhalla urged customers eager to get ahead of holiday shopping to wait until mid-December to pick up their signature simple brown bags with a stamped logo: “FRESH is BEST. So, give the gift of coffee but please make sure it’s FRESH.”
When The News Tribune talked with longtime barista Rachele Piety about her cold-brew recipe last summer, she said, “Best case scenario, we roast Monday, I brew two days later,” and it’s served the next day.
As a general rule, she added, Valhalla serves coffee within 10 days of its roast date.
“We are intentionally small and traditional, and we don’t follow many trends,” says Anderson on the company website. “Our passion is not for impressing our peers in the industry, but rather impressing our customers.”
It seems this mantra has won over hundreds of Tacomans.
The runner-up, with more than 111 votes (9 percent), is fellow Sixth Avenue microroaster Bluebeard Coffee Roasters, whose cafe has served great cups one mile east since 2011, with some exciting news on the way.
Dillano’s Coffee Roasters, whose beans travel from Sumner to a multitude of coffee shops and drive-thrus across the country, took third place with 103 votes.
Not far behind with 7 percent of the vote was Campfire Coffee Co. Owners Whitni and Quincy Henry have broken barriers not only in proving that roasting over live fire can yield delicious results, but also as a proud Black-owned business — a rarity in the industry. Their bags are now available in select Trader Joe’s and Target stores, and they have already outgrown their existing roasting facility.
Rounding out the Top 5 was a youthful underdog: Civic Roasters, a newcomer with a big mission. Founders Benita Ki, Marissa and Michael Klennert currently roast single-origin beans at Roasterworks, a shared facility in Auburn, selling bags online and at pop-up markets such as the recent Lunar New Year celebration in the Lincoln District. They aim to serve more than coffee, with a mission to provide training and jobs to formerly incarcerated women.
Just six votes shy: Lander Coffee, the lovely 21st Street shop that began roasting its own beans during the pandemic.
Also with 6 percent of the vote: Cutter’s Point Coffee Co. and Olympia Coffee Co., whose prominent Proctor District shop earned the capital-based outfit a place in the roster.
Hilltop’s Manifesto Coffee snuck into the ninth spot.
The 10th spot went to the “other” category, listed as “You forgot my favorite!” Was it Endicott? Was it Madrona? Something else?
Note that we omitted wonderful shops like Lux and Cosmonaut that, though awesome, don’t roast in-house.
We also heard from a few concerned coffee fiends regarding Anthem, which sources its own line of coffee from Dillano’s. With seven stores in Pierce County, it seemed appropriate to include them, considering they have a private label of several roasts, as opposed to the typical wholesale arrangement of a single custom blend.
Shout-out to Anchor House Coffee Roasters, a new Buckley operation which, taking into consideration the Anthem caveat and the unknown favorite, would have made the Top 10.
To the 1,262 participants, thank you for voting. Stay tuned for more highly opinionated, highly caffeinated polls.
THE BEST COFFEE ROASTERS IN TACOMA & PIERCE COUNTY
Valhalla Coffee Roasters
▪ 3918 6th Ave., Tacoma, 253-761-5116, valhallacoffee.com
▪ Cafe open daily 7 a.m.-5 p.m.; order beans online
Bluebeard Coffee Roasters
▪ 2201 6th Ave., Tacoma, 253-272-5600, bluebeardcoffee.com
▪ Cafe open daily 7 a.m.-5 p.m.; order beans online
Dillano’s Coffee Roasters
▪ 1620 45th St. E., Sumner, 253-826-1807, dillanos.com
▪ Primarily a wholesaler — look for the DCR logo at shops around the South Sound; order select beans online
Campfire Coffee Co.
▪ 1554 Market St., Tacoma, welovecampfire.com
▪ Cafe open Monday-Saturday 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; order beans online
Civic Roasters
▪ Pop-up roastery in Tacoma — follow instagram.com/civicroasters for updates; order beans online
Lander Coffee
▪ 2716 N. 21st St., Tacoma, 253-625-7843, landercoffee.com
▪ Cafe open daily 6 a.m.-6 p.m.; order beans online
Cutters Point Coffee Co.
▪ 5500 Olympic Dr., Gig Harbor, 253-858-8180 (flagship store), plus 10 other South Sound locations
▪ Most cafes open Monday-Saturday 6 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday 7 a.m.-7 p.m.; order beans online
Olympia Coffee
▪ 2601 N. Proctor St., Tacoma, 253-433-3279, olympiacoffee.com
▪ Monday-Saturday 6 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday 7 a.m.-6 p.m.; order beans online
Manifesto Coffee
▪ 1003 S. 11th St., Tacoma, 360-775-9834, manifestocoffeeroasters.com
▪ Cafe open daily 7 a.m.-5 p.m.; order beans online
This story was originally published February 19, 2022 at 5:00 AM.