South Sound Coffee Trail: Your Route to Roasters

Meet the roasters, learn about the origin of the finely crafted beans and warm up with a cup of some of the best java around on the new South Sound Coffee Trail. This self-guided tour explores all things craft coffee in Washington’s capital region.

The Olympia region is home to local coffee roasters who pride themselves on their craft. Visitors like you can now fully immerse yourself in Olympia’s coffee scene now that it’s more accessible than ever before.

This route to roasters provides a curated map of regional cafes and roasteries, and details on nearby coffee cuppings and tastings. A couple highlights of the trail include:

  • Find Tastings and Cuppings. Stop by the Dancing Goats tasting room to sample a variety of roasts or take a cupping class.
  • Define Your Coffee Style. Whether it’s latte art, ambiance or aroma that’s most important, an infographic style quiz leads sippers to which local java may jive with their coffee style. Take the quiz here.

Meet the Roasters

Burial Grounds Coffee Collective

Burial Grounds Coffee Collective is a worker-owned café, community space, and coffee roaster in Olympia, Washington. They first opened on Washington Street in 2010 and re-opened as a collective at their current location in early 2020 which is when they began roasting our own coffee.

In December of 2020, the collective took over ownership of their longtime roaster (formerly Firefly Coffee) in Olympia WA, and began the journey of sourcing fair trade and organic coffee. Offerings vary by season and availability, and they currently carry beans from the ACPC Pichanaki Cooperative in Peru, Yaxcoffee Cooperative in Chiapas Mexico, Café Orgánico Marcala (COMSA) in Marcala La Paz Honduras, as well as Swiss water process Cascadia blend for decaf. Their beans are available for purchase online, in person at their cafe, as well as at the Olympia Food Co-op West location.

Cutters Point Coffee Co.

Cutter Point’s journey began in 1995 when they purchased Austin Chase Coffee, a small espresso bar in Gig Harbor. In 2001 they expanded into their own roasting facility and rebranded as Cutter Point Coffee. With three local locations in Lacey, as well as locations in Gig Harbor, Tacoma, and Lakewood, Cutters Point offers a premium cup of artisan-roasted coffee in a warm, community-focused atmosphere.

Enjoy Cutter's Point Coffee at one of their three shops or order online for home brewing.

Dancing Goats

Dancing Goats opened their doors to Olympia in 1988 serving locally roasted Batdorf and Bronson coffee. A few years later, the two Olympia institutions merged, paving the way for decades of innovation in the quest to create great coffee.

Their focus is on creating a low-impact process that produces a high-impact coffee. With decades-long relationships with any of their coffee producers around the world, they’re able to promote a sustainable, environmentally-friendly process that results in the best coffee beans. Discover their coffee at their three Olympia locations (downtown, Olympia Farmers Market, and in the Bayview Thriftway), or stop by the Dancing Goats Tasting room for an intimate behind-the-scenes look at roasting. You can also purchase their coffee online.

Ember Goods

Ember Goods is a family-owned coffee shop in downtown Olympia built to be the perfect pit-stop for your next adventure in and out of the city. Founded by four friends who couldn’t find the coffee shop of their dreams, they built a cabin just outside of Olympia where they roast their coffee in small batches for maximum attention to detail. Their passion is quality and knowing their coffee’s origins.

A visit to the coffee shop provides endless opportunities to uncover beautifully curated local goods – everything you need to prepare for your next adventure here in the PNW. Their coffee is available at the shop as well as online for delivery right to your doorstep.

Olympia Coffee Roasting

Olympia Coffee is grounded in their quality-of-life mission, leading them to create direct trade relationships with coffee farmers worldwide in eight countries spanning three continents. Opening their doors in 2005 in an unmarked warehouse in Olympia as a wholesale coffee roaster, they would eventually move two blocks from their original location in 2007 to open a coffee bar hidden away on a side street. Their goal: to sell freshly-roasted coffee and brew every cup to order. The tiny shop had just four tables but featured windows for coffee lovers to view their roasting process.

Having strong direct trade partnerships allows Olympia Coffee Roasters unprecedented control over the flavors of their coffees. Those relationships, combined with a better understanding of the science behind roasting and preparing coffee is the key to their continued success. What they truly love is creating and sharing extraordinary coffee with their community in the PNW and with friends around the world. Pick up a bag at any of their three Olympia locations, or order it online.

Olympic Crest Coffee Roasters

Olympic Crest Coffee Roasters has been roasting premium international gourmet coffees in Lacey since 1996. Their coffee shop is Lacey’s only full-service coffee company, providing custom on-site roasting, and free internet for visitors enjoying breakfast and lunch.

With their state-of-the-art Diedrich IR-12 roaster, Olympia Crest Coffee Roasters is able to supply many espresso shops in the South Sound region with wholesale coffee. Grab a cup at the drive-thru, enjoy it indoors at the café, or order it online for home delivery.

Spend the weekend and find dining, lodging, events, festivals and entertainment ideas at www.experienceolympia.com. Make sure to share your best shots with us by tagging social posts #ExperienceOlympia and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter (@Experience_Oly) and Instagram (@ExperienceOly).

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