Beyond the Campground: Exploring Everett, WA Best Coffee Shops

Written By RV Out West
An image collage highlighting the four interiors of the coffee shops featured in this epiosde.

We take a step outside our normal focus on RV travel and camping for a special collaboration with Scott Cowan, host of the Explore Washington State Podcast. Armed with a field recorder and plenty of curiosity, Brooks and Scott spend the day walking through downtown Everett, Washington, visiting four outstanding independent coffee shops: Narrative Coffee, Nadine's Coffee, Loft Coffee Bar & Bakery, and Choux Choux Bakery.

Recorded entirely on location, this episode captures the sounds, conversations, and atmosphere of each stop while exploring the Pacific Northwest's thriving coffee culture. Along the way, Brooks and Scott share plenty of coffee talk and lighthearted banter, discussing AeroPress brewing, pour overs, French press coffee, espresso, favorite regional coffee roasters, best camp coffee setups, vinyl records, local restaurants, and why independent cafés help define a community.

While RV Out West is best known for helping you discover campgrounds, road trips, and destinations across the Pacific Northwest, this episode highlights another side of travel. Sometimes the best way to experience a place is on foot, taking time to visit local businesses and appreciate the stories that unfold over a great cup of coffee.

If you're planning a trip to Everett, searching for great coffee in Washington State, or simply enjoy conversations about travel, food, and coffee culture, this episode belongs on your playlist. It's an easygoing conversation filled with local recommendations, practical coffee tips, and plenty of laughs between two friends who share a passion for exploring the Pacific Northwest.

Grab your favorite mug, press play, and join us for a coffee crawl through downtown Everett that proves memorable travel experiences don't always begin at a campground—they can start with a walk around the block.

SHOW NOTES

This week on RV Out West, Brooks is joined by Scott Cowan from the Explore Washington State Podcast for a walking coffee tour through historic downtown Everett, Washington. Instead of talking about campgrounds and RV routes, the conversation centers around coffee culture, local businesses, brewing methods, and why slowing down long enough to enjoy a great cup of coffee can become a destination all on its own.

Along the way, Brooks and Scott visit four unique cafés, discuss camp coffee setups, compare brewing methods like the AeroPress and pour over, browse vinyl records, and highlight some of their favorite places around Everett.

Everett, Wash. Coffee Shops Featured

Narrative Coffee

Modern specialty coffee shop known for rotating roasters, exceptional espresso drinks, and excellent breakfast sandwiches.

https://www.narrativecoffee.com/

📍 2927 Wetmore Ave, Everett, WA

Nadine's Coffee

A quiet neighborhood café perfect for reading, writing, or relaxing with a cortado.

https://www.nadinescoffee.com/

📍 2907 Hewitt Ave, Everett, WA

Loft Coffee Bar & Bakery

Large downtown café featuring house-made pastries, plenty of seating, and locally roasted coffee.

https://www.lofteverett.com/

📍 2804 Grand Ave, Everett, WA

Choux Choux Bakery

French-inspired bakery serving incredible croissants, artisan breads, espresso drinks, and a fun vinyl record collection.

https://www.chouxchouxbakery.com/

📍 3204 Grand Ave, Everett, WA

Coffee Drinks Mentioned

  • Cortado

  • Cappuccino

  • Espresso

  • Americano

  • Cold Brew

  • Pour Over Coffee

  • French Press Coffee

  • Breve

  • Sparkling Water Espresso Pairing ("One and One")

Coffee Gear Discussed

The links below are affiliate links. When you purchase through them, you help support RV Out West at no additional cost to you. If you're planning to buy any of these products, please use the links below. Thank you for supporting the show.

AeroPress

Jet Boil

Yeti

Coffee Roasters Mentioned

Places Mentioned

Washington Locations Mentioned

  • Everett

  • Seattle

  • Edmonds

  • Whidbey Island

  • Wenatchee

  • Twisp

  • Vancouver, Washington

  • Bellingham

  • Yakima

  • Spokane

  • Tacoma

  • Snohomish County

  • Olympic Peninsula

  • Seattle University District

Explore Washington State Podcast

Explore Washington State is a travel website and podcast hosted by Scott Cowan that celebrates the people, places, food, and experiences that make Washington unique. Through conversations with locals and firsthand exploration, it inspires listeners and readers to discover new destinations and hidden gems across the Evergreen State.

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Scenic Washington

Scenic Washington is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, promoting, and enhancing Washington State's 29 Scenic Byways. Through free travel guides, maps, and trip-planning resources, Scenic Washington inspires travelers to explore the state's most beautiful roads, charming communities, and unforgettable landscapes.

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If you're planning a visit to Everett, this episode offers a great self-guided coffee crawl. Start your morning at Narrative Coffee, relax with a cortado at Nadine's, enjoy lunch and pastries at Loft Coffee Bar & Bakery, then finish with a fresh croissant and browse vintage records at Choux Choux Bakery before exploring the surrounding shops, breweries, waterfront, and Everett Farmers Market.

Podcast Episode Transcript (EP204):
Beyond the Campground: Exploring Everett, WA Best Coffee Shops

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Coffee is more than a morning ritual. It's a story of people, place and community. We're exploring cafes and chatting with Scott Cohen of the Explore Washington State podcast about what makes every cup a destination worth discovering. Welcome to RV Out West. I'm your host, Brooks. My family of four is. Base camp is located in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and our RV adventures radiate out from there. Please grab a mug of coffee and join us as we discuss our RVing around the American West from sweet camping spots. Gear and equipment to tips and tricks, we've got you covered. We are RV out west. Some conversations begin around a campfire. Others start with a great cup of coffee. My friend Scott Cohen from the Explore Washington State podcast. He and I share a deep appreciation for what we like to call the nectar of the gods. So we set out to spend a morning talking about coffee. This episode steps outside my usual RV adventures. But if you've ever fired up a camp stove before sunrise, wrapped your hands around a warm mug, or debated the best way to brew coffee at camp, you're in the right place. Join us as we stroll through downtown Everett, Washington, visiting four local coffee shops while swapping stories, comparing brewing methods, and celebrating the simple joy that comes with a really damn good cup of coffee. Rather than just tell you about these coffee shops. I wanted to bring you along. So go ahead, fill your favorite mug, settle in and join Scott and I as we wander from one cafe to the next. What you're about to hear was captured as it happened. Real conversations, fresh coffee, no script, and the sounds of the coffee shops in Everett. Along the way. We are doing a collaboration project between RV Out West and the Explore Washington State podcast, where we are going to take a look at some of the coffee shops and coffee culture in and around Everett, Washington, which is about a half hour to forty five minutes to an hour and a half, depending on traffic.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Depending on traffic. Yeah.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West For this Seattle. So joining us on the show today is Scott. So Scott, thanks so much for coming on the show.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Thanks, man. This is gonna be fun. Coffee and travel. I love it. First, I think.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Which one of us reached out to, was it me or you that talked about this idea?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I think it kind of honestly, I don't remember. I think we both probably said, let's do a show about coffee.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah, because we're both coffee.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah. That are revolvers.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah. Oh, it could have been the revolvers. That could have been the revolvers on the campfire. That is true. But kind of the intent or purpose of this was that we really just kind of wanted to explore what coffee is and what it means from a coffee culture perspective, as well as from the beans and coffee itself. So we are going to take you on a journey as we travel around four distinct and very different coffee shops in Everett, and we'll make sure that we have in the show notes, links to these coffee shops with pictures and stuff. So if you do find yourself in Everett and are looking for a cup of coffee, you can come and check out one of these great places.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Absolutely. I look, I look forward to this adventure today.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Me too. I'm excited.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West All right. Stop number one. We are at Narrative Coffee. Scott, why don't you go ahead and kind of just describe what you're seeing, what it looks like, kind of what the feeling is. Tell me about it.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah. I'm facing towards the front and you can't see this, but there's a line going out the door now on us. We're recording this on a Saturday morning. We've got one barista working at the bar, but when you come into narrative, open beam, ceiling, exposed brick, a lot of wood, concrete floors, really welcoming vibe. Noisy as you can probably tell because we got music going on in the background. And what I'm surprised by are people are patient.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Because the coffee's good.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Coffee's great.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West So it's worth the wait.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah. No mine. So I started off with a cortado, okay, which is kind of my new go to. And I want to say go to, but my treat, my go to is going to be a pour over all the time. Okay. Or maybe a French press, but the cortados nice, simple drink, especially when we're going to go to multiple shops today. Gotta pace myself. Yeah. Because otherwise by the end of this show, no one will understand a word coming out of my mouth.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West And my heart is going to feel like it's jumping out of my chest, right? So tell me about a cortado, because I'm actually not familiar with it. What is it?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Equal shot of espresso and steamed milk.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West One to one.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West How is that different than a cappuccino?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State The the. It's not. there's no foam. It's just it's just warmed milk. I love just drinking straight espresso.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I'm not going to do that multiple times in a day. So I find that to be a good way of just kind of cutting it. The thing that I find interesting is that in most coffee shops, it's always served in a glass, not in a, in a, in a ceramic. Yeah. Yet I'm noticing everything here is glass.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State All the drinks are coming out. You're you're you're your cappuccino came out in a glass.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Cappuccino came out in like what I would call a, a juice cup. Really. I mean, like, it's like a little kid juice cup.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State There you go.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West I love the exposed brick in this place, too. It kind of gives that charm of Everett where, you know, it's that mill town and it kind of.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State What would be really fun to know is the history of this specific building. What was here, because this building is probably nineteen twenties. Yeah. I'm guessing. Yeah. So as Everett has changed over the last hundred years, I wonder what's been in this building?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah. Me too, I don't know. I have no idea. Yeah. Um, the other thing I would say is the food here is fantastic. They do a lot of really good kind of, you know, you got your traditional pastries and coffee shop, you know, those kind of things. But also like I started with the ham and Gruyere cheddar cheese and that is my go to here. I love that sandwich.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I can't say it's my go to, but I followed along with you and it was a great choice. It was excellent. Um, I never thought of a ham and cheese as a breakfast sandwich. I don't know why not add an egg to it? And it's it's right. Is right. But it.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Was sourdough.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State It was, it was wonderful. Um, what I'm noticing also is that almost everybody's getting food. It's not just.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Come in and have coffee.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State It's just not just coffee and go, it's coffee. Come in and sit around. There's conversations going on all around us and almost everybody has food. Yep.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West And I love how they have the two couches up in the front of the shop that are facing. So if you're here with four to eight of your friends, you can kind of sit and almost like be hanging in a living room in your own little corner of the world, right?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State And then also they got the, uh, the window seats so you could sit out there and watch the world go by kind of busy out there today. Yeah. So a lot of people watching.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West And I like that it's right in the core of the heart of downtown. It's a pretty cool. It's a pretty cool spot. Yeah, it's been around. Originally it started with, uh, a gentleman by the name of Maxwell, who originally started coffee, a coffee business with just a single coffee cart in Everett that was just set up outside, kind of getting targeting the downtown core of businesses. So people on a lunch break or, hey, it's eleven o'clock, I want to get away from my desk and, you know, go grab a cup of coffee. And, and Maxwell started that and the coffee cart was doing really, really well that he decided he wanted to open up a brick and mortar.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State So how I first heard about this place was, uh, very dear friend of mine who I met when we worked at the Evil Coffee Empire. He would love to take me around Puget Sound and go, hey, let's go try coffee here. And this was his absolute favorite place because he lived in Edmonds. So it's easy to get up there. And he would. And whenever I'd come over, he'd drag me here. And he's like, he loved the fact that they had rotating coffees here. It's kind of like your local pub scene where you could get rotating taps. They were doing that, and that was to me, that was this was the first coffee shop I was ever at. That wasn't just serving one brand of coffee.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Right. And also, it's really cool that they work with a bunch of local ish roasters who are, you know, craftsmen in their own right, doing these artisanal roasts with beans. Right. And then they, you can come in here and either buy your own bag of beans to take home or that's obviously the beans they're using here in the shop too.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State So yeah, and I liked it. What I'd heard originally was that they really tried to focus on the roasters, that with very small footprints, that didn't have large distribution channels to help them gain exposure. They took great care to present the coffees in the best possible way. Right. Each, each, each coffee brand. So I really, I've always thought this, this company has a really cool coffee aesthetic.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West I would agree. And it's always this is a place to I really like to come to. And they're like, what are you having today or what. You know, what can I get you when they're, when they're taking your order? And I do this at bars too. And I'm like, I don't know. Pour me something.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Right.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West And anytime I've just kind of left it up to them to say, I will drink whatever you put in front of me. And they have made me some incredible coffees. And I've learned a lot just by being open to that.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State So you can't see this. But there's a guy. He's wearing a narrative coffee t shirt, But he's got one of those twin lens cameras.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Oh, yeah.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Hanging off his chest. And he's he's in taking shots of photo shots. And I just think it's kind of an interesting observation of somebody out capturing the moment. Let me ask you something. This is this kind of relates to me to coffee. Well you are right. I mean, that's your thing. So to me, that seems very slow paced. Yeah. Um, are you finding yourself getting away from screens and taking on more leisurely, purposeful activities?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Absolutely.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Okay. I'm. I'm here today. I'm witnessing kind of think people are there. This isn't a Starbucks.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West No. This is an analog place. People are here and they are engaged with each other. Yeah. They are not sitting in a Starbucks engaged with their phone, doing a doom scroll on their Instagram feed. They are here talking with friends, with family, with their children, and having that in person. Yeah. Conversational.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I think that many of us are finding interesting ways to be more present and connected to reality versus our screens. That's just my observation. And this place kind of symbolizes that. Absolutely.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West In coffee, that's a great observation. I, I totally agree.

Speaker 3 Thanks. Y'all. Have a great day.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West So we have moved down really about half a block, if even that from narrative. And we now find ourselves at Nadine's coffee. It's quieter. It's calmer. Um, you know, if you're looking to just come and sit and have a conversation with a friend, there's a couple to our right here that are quietly sitting and deep in the throes of a game of chess. You've got mellow, iconic coffee, jazz music playing in the back. I'm getting some kind of, uh, girl from Ipanema on. The music just ended, as I said that, but the music I was getting kind of the yeah. Girl from Ipanema loft style, with open air ducting, beautiful, uh, old hardwood floors, beautiful wood. It's kind of a really cool melo melo place. I could come and sit here and either just pound away on my laptop and do some writing, come in here, sit and have a cup of coffee and read a book or play a game of chess. Hang out with a friend.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State You wouldn't use the little piano.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West I don't think that's a piano. Is that a harpsichord? What is that?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I don't know, it's a little kid's organ. Is it? Yeah, it's the old school. It's got the buttons, like accordion. It's like a buttons like on an accordion, but it's it's more just this is probably a kid's toy in the fifties.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West That is super cool.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State So let's, let's, let's jump into the coffee. You you copied me here, I did.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West So tell me, what did we order? Because I just got what you got. So tell me what we got.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Called the one in one.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Okay. What is a one on one?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State It was a shot of espresso, uh, with a glass of sparkling water, uh, chaser. And then a cortado, which have. You haven't had a cortado before, have you?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Negative.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I have not. So you just you just finished your espresso shot.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West I did.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State And you haven't tried the cortado yet? I like the presentation. I think it's kind of comes on a little platter here. It's kind of cool. I always, you know, sparkling water to clear the cleanse the palate. Not to sound like a coffee snob because I'm not a snob. I just like coffee.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West What is the rainier of coffee? The what? What is the rainier of coffee? Starbucks. Starbucks. You'd say for you, that's the rainier of coffee.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah. Okay. True. Confession time.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah, absolutely.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State So I gotta say two things. Okay. Number one, uh, explore Washington State. My site, my and my, my podcast, uh, my sponsor is Island Time Coffee Company, which is a friend of mine. It's a little micro roaster up in Whidbey Island and I genuinely love his island sunset French roast. That's. But when he doesn't send me my care package, my go to.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Is Safeway's Italian roast.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Okay.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I find it to be an eminently drinkable cup of coffee. I use an AeroPress at home primarily. Yeah, and it makes a nice drinkable cup of coffee. That's my.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West You're go. Tim.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Well, not my go to, but that's my daily driver, if you will. Okay, okay. How about you?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Um. Lately I've been on a Stumptown kick. Okay, so I've been getting Stumptown now.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Which Stumptown are you getting?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West The yellow bag.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State The yellow bag?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West I can't remember. Homegrown, I think is what? It's the Stumptown homegrown and I believe it's the yellow bag. So that's kind of recently been my go to when I'm making it at home. But back to the AeroPress. I got one on your recommendation from a few years ago. And I've used the AeroPress a lot, especially during the snowboard season, because it's my like, go to for tailgate coffee after a day of being up on the mountain snowboarding all day, and I'm about to make the hour and a half drive home coming down off the mountain pass, need a fresh cup of coffee. And so I use the AeroPress. I just realized something literally about three weeks to a month ago. I think I've been doing it wrong. So what happens is, is when I use the AeroPress, I put the I, you know, put the ground beans into the press, I add the water. And then I've been keeping it like the plunger facing the sky. So as it's blooming, the gravity is still putting it into my cup. And so by the time I go to depress the plunger, like half to two thirds of it is already kind of gone into the cup. So I realized there's an attachment or not an attachment. But the thing came with the AeroPress that I've left at home I've never taken. So when it's blooming, it sits plunger down and that rest. So that doesn't happen.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State So that's called the inverted method.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah. Well I just discovered that by default I was like, oh, I should try it this way.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State And so I have another question for you. Are you using the paper filters?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yes. And I do two, two paper filters.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Okay. So I use the stainless steel metal filter.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Okay.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State And I do that because, um, my, my good friend, that was one of his recommendations when he. He introduced me to the AeroPress. Okay. Into the cult. Yep. And back then, they weren't. AeroPress wasn't even selling stainless steel filters. You. They. The company has changed a lot over the years for the better in a lot of ways. Okay. But then I started looking on YouTube of like, are you aware that there's AeroPress championships? No, there's coffee competitions where baristas come. They have them in Seattle on occasion. They come in with their best AeroPress recipes and compete. It's crazy.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West That's wild.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State So my recommendation to you is the inverted method is a great way of doing it. Okay. Letting it bloom, giving it a quick stir, and then inverting it onto the cup in one quick motion. Yep. Careful. If your plunger is not really secure, it can pop off and you will get hot grounds on your hands, which is no fun.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah. Safety first. Yeah. Safety first. Okay, that makes sense. I'm with you.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Okay, so I love coffee shops that have AeroPress as an option.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West How many coffee shops have you been to that have AeroPress options?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Blue Star Coffee and Twisp.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Okay.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Great. Coffee shop in in the Metro. I mean, I love I love what they're doing. There's one I cannot think of the name of it because I'm on the you know, you got put me on the spot down in Vancouver that they also, uh, competed in the AeroPress competitions.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Okay.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State And there's, uh, one in Wenatchee that offers it. Okay. And more and more of them are doing it because it's a, a, it's a, in my opinion, it's a little easier than doing a pour over for the barista behind the counter.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah, that makes sense.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State And then if you go to like coffee shops.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West But essentially wait, hold on. Essentially, sorry to interrupt, but essentially an AeroPress is just a French press. How is an AeroPress different than a French press? It's the same concept, same hybrid.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State It's a hybrid because it's number one. The grounds are finer, so it's not as it's not as coarse of a grind as with a French press. So the flavor profile is different than what you get on a French press. AeroPress is a cleaner cup of coffee without the sediment of most French presses.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Okay, yeah.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State That's right. And I love French press coffee. This is not no, no shade. Second of all, except I will say this I have not ever been good at making a single or two cup French press and getting a good cup of coffee. I have to make a big eight cup to get good coffee.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West And I found out the time I go back for the second, it's cold cold.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State So I like the AeroPress because it gives me that. So it's kind of a hybrid between an espresso shot and a French press.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Got it. Okay.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State That's my.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Interpretation. Yeah, that's a good interpretation. Yeah. You know what's interesting about a French press? And again, I'm about to give medical advice. I am not a doctor. So take this with a grain of salt. But many moons ago, I worked with a professional dietitian at one of my previous jobs, and she shared with me something about French presses that if you were on a statin. There's something about the way the French press does whatever, and it messes with your ldls and something along those lines. I don't know all of the detail, but she was like, if you're on a statin, you shouldn't be drinking French press, at least on a daily basis, as you're.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Perfect reason for me not to do that.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West So there you go.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I'm not on statins and I don't want to be.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West So yeah, there you go.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State All right. So here at Nadine's, they don't offer AeroPress. That's fine. But they do have French press offerings which we didn't try. What did you think of your cortado?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West The cortado was fantastic. I think I'm going to be a convert of this. This is.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State A nice. I encourage the listeners to, uh, if you're looking for a slightly different drink versus your, uh, daily driver latte. Yeah. Give give a cortado, a fair shot. No pun intended haha. Um, give it a fair because it's a it's a nice simple drink.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah. And I like that again. You called it out that they come in these nice little like little kid juice cups. And so to be able to sit here and have it be in my juice cup has been a nice little, uh, it's like an adult. I like it, I like it. Glassware, juice cups.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah, yeah. I want to circle back to the AeroPress for a second.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah, go for it.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Now, do you have the original kind of the smoked plastic ones? Yes. Okay. Do you know the story of the AeroPress?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West No.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Have you ever heard of the Aerobie flying disc?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yes. Loved it. That thing would sail, right?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State The guy that invented the Aerobie flying disc invented the AeroPress.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Are you going to tell me he's a Washingtonian, too?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State No he's not, he's not. This, unfortunately, doesn't tie to Washington. It's Washington adjacent. Okay, so this this guy bought or created the AeroPress. And he his goal when he created was to create a simple, good cup of coffee. You know, he kind of had the same, uh, in an interview I listened to kind of had the same comments about a French press as I do is that, you know, it's, it's a little finicky for one and all that. AeroPress had been out there for a while, had that octagon packaging, and it was just kind of a, if you knew, you knew type product, right. So there is a investment company up in Victoria, British Columbia.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Okay.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State And they buy small businesses and they ended up approaching this guy.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Okay.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State To buy AeroPress. He told them it was a story that I heard from the, from the, from the guy, the, the, the, the guy who runs the company is called tiny.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Okay. The van up in Vancouver.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State And on Vancouver Island, I believe they bought AeroPress for seventy million dollars. So since tiny bought the company, most of the time when you buy a company, you know, you make some changes well.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West And you also signed a non-compete that you can't turn around and start a new one, right?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State So now AeroPress is available in a few different shades of plastic. There's a clear plastic. They have come out with a stainless steel AeroPress because a lot of people are concerned about plastics, right? But the one that I want, they have a glass AeroPress. It's a double walled laboratory grade glass.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Cool.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State AeroPress. So they and they come out with a larger AeroPress. So you can like do two cups simultaneously. And they've come out with all sorts of accoutrements to the, to the line. That's where now these metal filters are prevalent. But yeah, AeroPress has got this.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West They got their game, they're on point.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State But they also have this really cult following of fans. And I, I send them to people randomly. Like the my Island time coffee guy. Yeah. They came over to visit us recently and we were talking about coffee and he's like, well, how are you making my you know, where are you? How are you making my coffee? And what are you doing with my coffee? And I said, I use an AeroPress. He goes, I, I don't know what that is. And I'm like, how can you be a coffee guy and not.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West And so you made him one.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I so, so they were they visited us in Wenatchee and they were going to go stay at a state park for a couple nights. So when I got home, I just went to Amazon and ordered it and it was on his doorstep when he when he got home.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West But you didn't make him on that night?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State No, no, because they weren't at the house. We were.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Having dinner.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Okay. So, um, they were um and so when he got home, there was a, an AeroPress on his doorstep.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Has he followed up with you?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yes. I talked to him the other day and and he hasn't used it yet because his son is coming up from California and they're going to be filming a whole bunch of new, uh, content, uh, how to, you know, island time coffee, blah, blah, blah. And so they're going to use that's when they're going to try the AeroPress.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Okay.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State He's going to use, make his son do it.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Why is he too scared?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I think he's, you know, he's, he's a, I think he no.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West He's a coffee curmudgeon.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State No, no, just because he has a Mr. Coffee doesn't make him a curmudgeon. Um, no. Just. Sorry, Chris, if you're listening to this. Um, no, I, I think Chris is a very busy guy, and I think he's a little overwhelmed by the thought of learning a new platform.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Got it. Fair. Yeah. Okay. That's fair.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State But this is a really this would be a place where I'd come in and read a book. Yeah, that's on my laptop.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Work on my laptop. I would love to come in here. I could write in here with the music just kind of going and get in the zone, a good cup of coffee and really enjoy the process of writing would be really easy here. Read a book would be good here.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah. No, this is this is another great suggestion. You had to check it out.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West And the couple next to us over there is they're they're sitting just playing a game of chess. Yeah. Lots of plants here that I like. Yeah.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State No, it's very cool.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah. It's a cool spot. So Nadine's coffee shop, uh, right in the core of downtown Everett. The one thing I do want to call out if you decide to come to these coffee shops from, say, Mother's Day weekend through till, I don't know, I think it's like early October. Mhm. On a Sunday, the farmer's market is happening right out in front here. And so the farmer's market is really cool to come and visit to all sorts of not just produce and, and, you know, handmade artisanal food products, but also there's other, you know, artistry craftsmen as well selling their wares. So you could easily come grab a cup of coffee, sit and then just right outside the door of either one of these two coffee places, go and explore the farmer's market.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I will say this about Nadine's. It's not on the street itself. It's not a storefront on Wetmore. So it's a little it's you have to go kind of into the parking lot and look for the sign. Right? It's not hard to find, but it's you're not gonna stumble on it if you're walking just down the street looking for it, you're going to miss out. So be on the lookout for that.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West I would agree. So if you do find yourself in Everett and you're looking for a different experience, a little quieter, a little more laid back, Nadine's is a great place to come for just a great cup of coffee and a pastry.

Speaker 3 Thanks, y'all have a great day.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West We've made it through two of our four coffee stops and covered everything from favorite coffee drinks to the AeroPress, and even tackled the question, what coffee is the Rainier of Java? After the break, Scott and I continue our walk through downtown Everett as we visit our final two cafes, sharing a few more stories, and of course, enjoying another great cup of coffee. So stay with us. If taking the scenic route and discovering the roads less traveled is more your style. Be sure to check out our sponsor, Scenic Washington. Discover all twenty nine of Washington State's scenic byways with Scenic Washington's twenty twenty six guidebook and map packed with route details and must see stops. Best of all, it's free. Pick up one at visitor centers all across the state or at scenic wa dot com. You can also click the link right there in this episode's podcast description. So order yours today. What are you waiting for? Start planning your next adventure. Welcome back to our coffee adventure through downtown Everett. I'm Brooks from RV Out West, joined by Scott from the Explore Washington State podcast. We've still got two more cafes to visit, more coffee to sip, and plenty of conversation ahead. So let's get back on the sidewalk and continue this collaboration one cup at a time. We are at the loft bake shop and cafe here on Hewitt Avenue in downtown Everett. About a year ago April, this coffee shop sold and has been under new ownership for just a little over the last year. The inside of the space hasn't changed at all over the exchange of ownership.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I think I was here maybe five years ago and it seems very familiar.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah, this is kind of, I would say, more of like your stereotypical what you kind of expect from the inside of a coffee shop. It's got a lot of tables, comfy chairs. There's a couple of sofas, you know, there's local artists, painters, photography on the wall. Uh, you do have some cool old historic, uh, Everett pictures of, like, Everett in the maybe thirties.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State No, that's that's no early twenties. Early twenties. Yeah. Those are model A's.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah. So it's got old, old timey pictures of, like, Everett. What's really cool, too, is that in the course of this last year, since the new owner took over, their bake shop is now internal. So they make their baked goods here on property on site. So if you're looking for a pastry or a little light snack or a little satiate a sweet tooth, right? They have all of those that they now bake and make here on property, which is really pretty cool about it. Of the coffee shops that we've been to back when I was one hundred percent work remote, this was probably my go to where I would come down here. It's of the ones we've been to. This is the largest one from an interior square footage space and we didn't even go to. But in the back there's a whole back area back behind in the back there too. So if you want to come in, put some headphones on, listen to the Explore Washington State podcast or listen to RV out West and, uh, knock out some work. You know, you can kind of come in here, put your headphones on and just kind of be left alone and, and.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Write.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West And do what you need to do.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State And, and hear the coffee that they serve as Fidalgo. So it's a local, well, regional, uh, coffee that's prevalent in a lot of places, grocery stores and all of that. So it's a solid cup of coffee. I'm drinking the cold brew. Brooks is copying me, drinking cold brew as well. Yeah. Um, you know, full disclosure, we're doing four shops today. We have to pace ourselves. Yeah. So cold brew is a little easier for me sometimes. Yeah. It doesn't feel like coffee, but it's coffee. So when you were coming here before kind of as your, you know, remote work spot, what were you drinking back then?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West I really, I'm kind of boring. I'm an Americano kind of guy. I just like a good cup of black coffee.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Well, yeah. There's nothing. Don't. I hate it when people go, oh, I only like good coffee. I mean.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West No, I love a good Americano, black coffee. You know, uh, I'm not going to put the sugary crap in my coffee because I want to taste the beans. No.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State No hate.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West I'm not hating. I'm not hating. You know, it's just I don't need all of this sweet sugary, you know.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I'm I'm I'm with you.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West I'm not going to get a frappe or any of that, you know, not that this place serves a frappe, but.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State No, I will say I will share a story. It has nothing to do with Everett, but I was up in Bellingham. Okay. Um, and I visited, I think, thirteen coffee shops in two days.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West That's baller status.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State It was. And, and my goal was to go into each shop and say, what should I have? Okay, so I, I knew I was fully opening myself up for, you know, something other than a pour over. Right. Okay. And so I went to the Alphabet Street's coffee shop up in Bellingham. Yeah. And I can't remember what the drink was, but it was basically lavender and golden something. And it was like I. And the barista said, oh, you should have this. And I'm listening to her describe it and thinking to myself, I'm going to hate this. This is gonna be horrible. And but I promised I would.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Give it a try.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State And so she told me what it was and it had oat milk in it. I mean, everything that I'm probably philosophically against in a coffee. And it was actually delicious. I have to be honest, it was delicious.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Well that's great. See, I love that as an experience. When you again, you open yourself up to say, hey, what are you drinking? Or I'm not going to order my go tos. You know, I want to try something new, right?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State And, and if we open ourselves up, sometimes it can be kind of fun. That being said here, we didn't try any of the pastries. No, they look pretty darn good. Yeah, and I do like the fact that a coffee shops trying to do something besides just coffee and. And besides Saran wrapped muffins and scones. Yeah.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Or bagels. I mean, nothing wrong with a bagel, but. Right.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State But kudos to them for for offering all that. That's great.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Lots of seating here when we're here now it's afternoon and it's pretty quiet, so it's not busy like the earlier shops were, but that's okay. And, uh, but I could see working here, coming here and having a meeting conversation. Yeah. Place.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West You could easily have your earbuds in and take a zoom here and do a Zoom meeting. And it'd be totally fine and not awkward.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Right. Lots of parking.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Lots of parking is easy down here. And that's one of the great thing about Everett parking. It's mostly free. There's no metered parking. And so it's easy to get parking right out in front. Right.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State And I think one of the things that is helps these city shops is the abundance of parking. If it's difficult to park somewhere.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah, people.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Are probably more inclined to stay in their car and go through a drive through and grab, grab a cup of coffee on the car and go on. But I, I do like the idea of us being more purposeful, slowing down.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Going in and having that experience. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Exactly.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West And that's the one thing too, that I've witnessed today, as we've done this collaboration, is that of all the places we've gone, I mean, even here, there's three people sitting right next to us in a sofa situation, and they're all just having a cup of coffee and chatting, right? Nobody here is really even on a screen there. There's one person maybe in the back there working, but well.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State It's a weekend. I mean, they're hopefully, you know, I mean, if we were here on a Monday, Monday, Monday through Friday, it might be a little people might be working here, but. Right. Once again, here's the other thing about this. Observationally lots of outlets. Yeah. So it's a good place to work. You don't have to like have the one. You don't have to fight for the table with the outlet.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West No. And and I agree, and I would say that that's one of the things that makes this place why I think it made our list. Yeah. To come and check out.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State So since this is kind of your stomping grounds, what else is around here? This location. Like what? Shop wise and all that.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Two doors Down is an absolutely fantastic tattoo shop I couldn't give a pitch for, but they're a fantastic sunken ship. Tattoos does great ink, so you can come get caffeinated and go to get inked. Uh, but around the corner is what we call the hippie grocery store in my house. But you have the sno-isle food. That's where I.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Parked. Parked. That was the only parking I could find.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West So the co-op is great for, you know, a small hippie grocery store. There's a yoga studio right over here. There's shoo Shoo Bakery, which I think is our next and final stop just around the corner that does like croissants and like other big kind of cool pastries, coffee. And they have records, which is cool. Uh, there's some restaurants and there's a great taproom just a block away. Obsidian.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State So we're, this is your stomping grounds. Let's, let's talk about Everett in general for a second here. Sure. Sell me on Everett. Like what's what's really cool about Everett. Because I'm older than you and I grew up in Tacoma, and when I.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Tacoma. Aroma.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Well and but Everett was was the other armpit of Seattle. I mean, we were the the south armpit. This was the north armpit, right? No offense to anybody. No, I've, I've made derogatory comments about Spokane and people have literally emailed me and saying I'm a mean, mean, horrible person. But every of my memory was kind of me.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West I have moved thirty seven times in my life.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Okay.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Uh, some of those have been just across town moves. Some of those have been bigger.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Well, how many of them were forced?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West I, I don't even know, but I like I one time went through and did count. I've moved thirty seven times. Uh, and so even in my twenties, everybody knew just to keep my address in pencil because you just don't know where I'm going to be. That said, kind of my formative elementary middle school day life, I was in Snohomish County, and if you had told me I would be living in Everett, I would have said, you're crazy.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Right.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West I have been in Everett now since twenty ten, and I absolutely love this city. And I love living here.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Why? What is it about it? I'm not.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah, I know, so let me I want to answer that question. And what's so cool about it is it's a city. So it still has its grit, right? So, you know, being the county seat, if anybody needs any resources, those resources are here. So yes, we, you know, homeless and, and drugs and, and other crimes exist in the city because people are here. Or if they go to jail, we're the county jail. So that's kind of where Everett, I think has gotten its its bad rap. That said, there is a thriving art community here that is, you know, everything from people doing podcasts and, and videos and murals. There's the whole community of of graffiti artists who came here and painted a bunch of murals, uh, about four years ago. So we have these beautiful now murals in our city. We have the hockey team, we have the Everett Silvertips part of the WHL hockey. We have our baseball team for the, the AquaSox for, you know, farm League baseball. We have Billy Strings coming to town in October, you know, so we have a lot of great music. And the food scene I, I've been open. I am a food nerd. I, I search out looking for quality places to go and eat. I don't have a problem spending my money on a nice meal. And there's a lot of different places here. That doesn't mean you need to spend a lot of money, but you know, right here from where we are, a block up is a place called the New Mexicans. And they're like New Mexico Mexican food. So it's, you know, it's hatch chilies and rich moles with rich, thick chocolate mole and kind of more of what you would find in in Taos or Albuquerque or Santa Fe. So there's just this, this food scene to that is really great. And in the realm of things, maybe not so much right now, but if you look at things, it's affordable from a cost of living situation.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State One thing you didn't say, and I don't know that you know the answer to this, but what about Funko for somebody who's not from around the area? Uh, they might still know a Funko Toys.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah. Funko pops.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State How did that get started here? Do you know?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West I don't even know, I don't know. And the other thing I will say, transitioning the waterfront down here is bumping. I mean, there are so many great restaurants and there's distilleries and breweries and taprooms all popping up down in the waterfront now, too. Right. You know, that is just live music in the Marina. They're doing all the FIFA watch parties right now. So there's all of that stuff going on that just makes this, you know, farmers market, the sort of culture. There's all of these different kind of street things over the summer that just happen here. So lots are happening. Lots of things are happening here.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Okay, I'm saying this tongue in cheek, so to speak, but bring it on. It's really cloudy today. It's not blue sky. I want blue sky. That's that's my, my.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West That was yesterday.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I know yesterday was from what I was told yesterday was a, you know, a, a bluebird day here, if you will, you know, it was. Yeah. Beautiful so far. You know, this, this, this episode is mostly coffee, but we're throwing in some local stuff. What you get, I'm going to give you one last question about Everett. And for this question, you can snap your fingers and you have ultimate power. Okay. What would you change?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Oh, what would I change? What would I change? Man, we got a record store. That's awesome. I don't know if there's anything right off the top of my mind.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Well, I've got something I'd change from what I've seen today.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West What is it?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Coffee shops that stay open past three p m.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Oh, yeah. That's a really solid point. None of the coffee shops are open.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State That's my that's my negative. I will say that. Yeah. I don't mean it negatively, but the one my wish as a someone who's coming to Everett and on my show, I. So you know, you've been on my show and I always ask you where's a great place to get coffee near you? So, Brooks, where's a great place to get coffee in Everett? You're going to say, you know, the loft or, or narrative or wherever you want to say. My follow up question would probably be, how late are they open? And you're going to go, are they close at three? And that's as a as someone who's coming into town as a quote unquote tourist, for lack of a better word, I would like them to be open to five o'clock. That would be my my request of Everett is that let's get those coffee shops open past three p m. Yeah, I gotta believe you guys are drinking coffee here after three p m.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah, I think that's fair.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Should we go to the next shop?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West I think we should.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Awesome.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West We're gonna mosey just around the corner, and our next and fourth and final stop is shoo shoo bakery.

Speaker 3 Thanks, y'all. Have a great day.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West So we are at our fourth and final stop here in Everett on Grand Avenue at Shoo Shoo Bakery. This is more of a bakery than a coffee shop, but they have incredible pastries. The croissants here are off the hook. The baguettes, the French breads, the sourdoughs like this is a true like boulangerie. If we were in France, I would call this like a boulangerie. And you can come in and get a nice cup of coffee. They'll pour you an espresso or make you a cappuccino or abreva. Abreva.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I had a baby.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West So they have all of that. It's tiny. There's only two tables inside. Outside. If it's a nice, sunny, beautiful day, there's a bunch of outside patio seating so you can kind of sit outside and do that. But what I love about this place is the turntable with a ton of dusty, musty records that I have no idea. You might find Lawrence Welk to. I found mine at Work Cargo, and before we started recording, I was busting out a little minute work, which is amazing.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I'm looking up there at the platters.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yep. I found the guess who they had, the Smiths, I found Santana. Yeah. You know.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State It'd be kind of fun to go through this and in in and find what we think is the most, dare I say, the the hidden gem. Ooh.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Okay. Yeah.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Nice album wise. You know what would be like, you know. Ooh, let's play this.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Okay, I think there's Sarah McLaughlin there. See that sad music I can't do? I can't do that. Um, the the zap band.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Oh, yeah. Now you're dating yourself there.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State You know, but, you know, and then anyway, I'm looking I the albums here all look like they were from the discard bin at a vintage store.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West I was gonna say at a valley village or something trashed.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I mean, the spines are trashed.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West You know, these are not taken care of.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State You cannot read the spines and go, oh, there's this or that. No. And that's kind of cool because.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Then you gotta dig. And I'm a crate digger.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah. No, and I also, but I have no problem with playing it either. Like that's the whole point is like, oh, this is a pristine dah dah dah. No, no, no, no, I like that. I'm going to full disclosure. Brooks tapped out on coffee. He didn't have coffee here. Nope. So I can only speak to this. So I had a, a an eight ounce brev. Yeah. Because I'm a coffee guy and they serve Olympia coffee here, which is, you know, one of those regional brands that's. Uh, regional roasters got a big presence. Um, it's good coffee. It's very good coffee, but it's not like, oh, I found that that, that brand of coffee that's hard to find.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West No. And like I said, this is to me more of a bakery. Yeah. Than a coffee shop.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah. But they have, they have a full on espresso machine. They do. They're equipped to, to present good coffee here. So I'll give them they'll still call the coffee shop. Yeah. It's not, it's not like they have an old consumer kitchen Breville Breville coffee maker on here on the counter. And I've been in places where that's, you know, right. And the coffee, you're like going, oh, this presents coffee. Well, to.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Me, this is a place I come in to take just a quick break, sit down, have a pastry. Really to have a croissant here.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I'd probably spend more time digging through the albums, to be honest with you. Right. And going, what's this one? And put it on for a few minutes because and here's the other thing the turntables beat up and it's. But it's approachable. That's where I'm going with this. None of this equipment is like, oh, I'm. Can we use it? No, it's here to be used. Now they have the. Here's the sign. You can't read it because it's behind you. But. It says, please do not stack records on top of the receiver. Thank you. And then if you look at the receiver, there's a bunch of books stacked on top of it. So it's like, okay.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah that's true.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I just got a chuckle.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West So Scott, I got a question for you. Let's talk about Camp coffee. Now, I know you're not a big camper right now, right? Maybe in the future.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State You're.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Working on me. Yeah, I'm working on that. But let's talk about what it would be like for you. We'll call it tailgate coffee, right. What would be your go to in the field being mix? How would you make it for this conversation? I'm going to take the AeroPress out because we've already talked about the AeroPress a bunch today. Okay. So that is not an option for this question.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I'm bringing a Keurig and a one hundred and fifty foot extension cord.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Nice. And where are you gonna plug that in?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I don't know, Um, so jokingly my idea of camping is bad room service. That's right.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West We've talked about that on my show.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah, it's been the joke, but playing along with the spirit of it. What I've been thinking about doing full disclosure was with an AeroPress. But I'll go on. I'm I'm thinking about buying one of those like Jetboil or like a portable camp stove that I can heat some water on. So I have a Honda Pilot. Yep. And I drive around a lot. And so lift the tailgate, have a camp chair out, make some coffee. That's what I want to do.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah, and that's exactly what I'm talking about. A camp coffee to me is the same thing. So.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State So I can't use an AeroPress, which makes me think what else I would do? I'm probably going to go with the pour pour over. Okay. And because it's a pour over, which to me can be a little more finicky than the AeroPress. See, the beauty of the AeroPress is it's, it's, I got that dialed in and an AeroPress, I kind of fiddle or not, excuse me with the with the pour over, I kind of fiddle more. Yeah. And I think of Camp Coffee. What I think of Camp Coffee is that it's saving me from going through a drive thru at a big box brand, whether it whether it be Starbucks or, um, Dutch brothers. Yeah, I, I don't want to, I'm probably going with because I like dark roasted coffees. I, I like and primarily Latin American beans.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Okay.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State So I'm probably going with something like, well island time. It'd be, but you mentioned Stumptown. Yep. Another solid, very solid brand. Um, so I would probably go with a, an Italian or a French roast. Okay. Of Latin American beans by somebody.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Single origin.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Not necessarily. Not necessarily. Um and one of the things I like to do when I travel around is try local roasters coffees. So like up in Bellingham. Have you ever had hammerhead? Yeah.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah, I get hammerhead at the co-op.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Okay.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Right here.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State The hippie store?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah, yeah, the hippie grocery store. Um.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Hammerhead has a velvet Elvis. Have you had the velvet Elvis? No, it's just a cool name. Yeah, it's a.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Cool.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Name. Yeah. And, um, last time I was in Bellingham, I bought a bag of that and took it home, and that's a really, really good dark cup of coffee. So I would probably in this fantasy.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah. Let's make it a reality though.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State No, no, I'm talking about like finding a local, like, where am I? Okay. Like if I'm in Twisp, I'm going to grab some blue star.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yep. Yeah, yeah. Fair.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State So if I'm in Yakima, what am I going to grab? I don't know, down. You know, if I'm in Spokane, I'm probably going to First Avenue coffee and roast house. Okay. Um, that's a Spokane is another great city for coffee. Spokane's got a great coffee scene. We should go to Spokane and do this in Spokane. We should, um.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Version two point zero.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Well, I'm actually two point oh. I two point oh. I think we should go to Bellingham. Okay. Because it's a lot closer for both of us. So that's what I'm doing is a dark roast. Probably going to pre grind it because I'm lazy and I don't want to take a hand grinder with me in the car. I'm just lazy.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West No I get that. I don't I don't grind coffee when I'm making tailgate coffee. I.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah yeah yeah. So it's cut cut some corners. But that's probably what I'm doing as a pour over.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Okay.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West With the jetboil.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Pour over.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West That's fair. Makes a great cup of coffee and you know what I mean.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State It seems like it's no fuss, no muss. Yep.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West And that's what Camp coffee should be. It should be good quality. So you're using good beans. You're getting quality there. No muss, no fuss. Easy to do.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah. Uh, pour over paper filter. You know, put the paper filter in the trash can. Easy peasy.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West And you're.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Done. We're good to go. Now for the filter or for the pour over. Probably going to go with the ceramic one versus plastic or metal because of the way the container.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West You mean to hold the paper filter? Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State And because from the thermal aspects of it. Right. But.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Well, you don't want plastic leaching into your Java.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State No, it's not so much that as that plastic doesn't retain the heat quite as well.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah. So by the time you get to drink it, it's cold.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State So I'd probably go that way.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Okay. You should put a warning on your cup just to let you know that the contents might be hot, so you don't sue yourself for spilling coffee in your lap or something. I'm just saying that, you know.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I appreciate you looking out for me.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah. You need a sticker on your coffee mug that you know.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah. Contents may be hot.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah. Warning.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State So let me ask you this. When you're when you're on the road and you're in the RV and you're doing coffee. Yep. So scenario I'll throw at you. Last year, you sued your Content Creators Summit up at Angel RV resort. Yep. Very cool. I stayed in New York. Yeah. So I had the best, best place. Sorry. That year it was you didn't see it that year. It was off the.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Chart, I believe.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State It. It was cool.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Although I have a twelve inch memory foam mattress in the trailer, so.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah. Yeah. You're packing up. you're closing up the trailer, you're going to make a cup of coffee and you're going to drive away. So you're driving from there towards your house. Okay. What do you put in the coffee in?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West You mean mug wise?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West I have a, um, whatever. It's not a Yeti tumbler, but it's like a Yeti tumbler.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State It's a metal.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Okay.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah, that's what I use.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Okay.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Doesn't burn my hand. Keeps the coffee warm. Okay. You know, keeps it warmer for.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State And the truck's got enough cupholders.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State So the pilot, the pilot's lacking.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Oh, well, that's the pilot.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State The pilot. The single biggest failure point in that my Honda pilot is the lack of cupholders that work.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West That's a bummer. That is a real bummer.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Fun fact. Before my pilot, I had a Honda Fit. You know, the little.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah, we had a Honda Fit.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State The little clown car.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah, we had a Honda Fit. Great gas mileage.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I'm six four. Yeah. Climb in.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Now, did you sit in the back like Hightower in police Academy? Did you take the whole front seat out?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State No, actually, I had plenty. Shockingly, that was a very roomy driver's compartment. For me it was okay and I loved my Honda Fit. It had ten cupholders in that little car. I mean, I had five cupholders in the front that I could reach because, you know, it's so small I could get to the passenger side. Right? My pilot only has two in.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West The center.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Console and it doesn't handle big cups. So you're doing you're doing a metal double wall, stainless steel. See, I'm.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West I know you got.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I'm.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West You're.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I'm not anti metal, but it does something to the coffee. But I have yet to find a good ceramic travel mug. Mug. Yeah.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West All right.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah. Let me ask you this. Yep. We've been to four shops today.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yep.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I'm not going to ask you to pick your favorite. Okay. But give me the high point of today.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West So that's a really good question. We when we planned this trip and looked at doing this kind of collaboration tour. These are four very different Establishments. And so it's not like I can compare them apples to apples, even though they all kind of fall under the coffee shop window or umbrella, if you will. They were for very distinct different places. I would say narrative and Nadine's are probably the most similar in atmosphere, vibe, quality of, of coffee and presentation and all that. They were both, you know, high end, you can tell that they really, really, really care about, right? You know, the quality and the presentation of how they do their coffee. The loft is probably one of my go tos here in town because I can go, I can sit, get my work done, or, you know, take my laptop and do what I need to do. And they make a great cup of coffee and it's no frills, and you just go in and get it done. And then here as shoo, shoo again, this is a place I come for a croissant. Mhm. But they sell out of croissants often. So if you're here at three o'clock in an afternoon, they're not going to have croissants. You got to come in the morning.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State But I'm going to pivot the question slightly. So you mentioned to me in between our recordings, you have a friend in Pennsylvania. Okay. Okay. Imagine your friend comes out here to visit you.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West What about I take him?

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah. Where are you taking him?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West If my wife isn't listening, I'm going to take him to a bikini. Barista. I'm just kidding.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Which one? I don't know.

Speaker 4 I bet I don't know that. I don't know, I'm just kidding. I would say probably.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Narrative or naviance because it's that whole kind of what I would think of that more kind of traditional coffee shop.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah. Showing those are both of those places to me are, and especially narrative narrative has a very northwest coffee culture vibe.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yes.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Okay. It's coffee forward.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yes. And that's Yeah, that's what I would do. Yeah.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West And you and I were talking about some of the last bastions of coffee shops in Seattle. And so, you know, I had talked about the last exit that was on Brooklyn Avenue in the U. District that I used to go to a lot umpteen decades ago. And that place, really larger scale than narrative is from a square footage space. But very much narrative brings back to me that reminiscent right, minus the stage where last exit, you could go in and there'd be, you know, somebody doing acoustic folk music on a guitar, you know, or whatever.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Right. So if, if I were bringing my wife into Everett for coffee, I'd bring her here, okay? Because she'd want pastry. Yeah. So she's not as coffee forward. I'd make her happy here with the choices of pastries, because I know her taste. And that counter is dangerous, right?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Right, right.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State The loft, however, would probably be a good solid one also for her. I think all four of these show to me, that coffee's not an afterthought in Everett.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West No it's.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Not. Yeah, and that makes me happy.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Yeah. And I think that that scene here in Everett, you know, there is a community around it that appreciates being able to go and find a good quality cup of coffee.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Right.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West And understand that and have those expectations. So when they go, they know what they're getting and to be like, hey.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State So I would say to anyone listening, if you're in Everett, we just gave you four places to check out.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Absolutely. And we will make sure to have in the show notes, uh, all of these four stops. I'll link to the record store and some of the other places that we discussed. So that way too, there'll be links in the show notes for all this. So you can go over to RV dot com or to explore Washington State dot com and get additional information for the things that Scott and I talked.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State I got one last impossible question for you.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West Okay.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Out of all these four coffee shops, if I'm bringing my RV into Everett, where's the best parking?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West I would leave your RV at the campground and come in on your towed or your dinghy, unless you're in a class B like sprinter van. Then you can find parking. But I would not bring my RV. There's nowhere to park. Okay. There's really good to know. Yeah. There's nowhere to park.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State You're not going to pull your your thirty six foot Airstream in here?

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West No, because let's be honest, when I'm hooked up to my twenty six foot trailer with my my tow vehicle, my one ton truck, I am fifty five feet in length.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State Yeah. Yeah, there's no parking.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West There's no parking for that place for anywhere here in town.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State All right.

Brooks Smothers, RV Out West All right. Well, I think we are going to end that here. So thank you all for tuning in. And, uh, it's been great. Thank you for joining us as we have tried something different here with Scott Cohen of the Explore Washington State podcast and Brooke Smothers of RV Out West. And I hope you guys enjoyed this different kind of show episode. Thanks for listening.

Scott Cowan, Explore Washington State All right.

Speaker 5 Today we visited four great coffee shops in downtown Everett Narrative Nadine's The Loft and Shushu while talking about everything from vinyl records and good food to brewing that perfect mug of coffee at camp. It was a fun collaboration and a chance to explore something a little different here on the podcast, and I hope you found it both enjoyable and worthwhile. If you did, I'd love to hear from you. So leave a comment on social media. Send me a DM or email me at Ravi dot Kumar at gmail dot com. Thanks so much for listening, and I'll see you on the next adventure. If you enjoyed this episode, I hope you'll share it with a friend or family member. Coming up Monday, we're sitting down with Smokey and the bandit you can find on Instagram. He's a photographer, van lifer, and traveler who has spent countless miles creating incredible images across the Pacific Northwest and beyond. He has a remarkable story to share about photography, life, and the road ahead. I hope you'll join us next week. Thanks so much for listening to RV Out West. Join us again next week. Please like and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you choose to get your podcasts so you never miss an episode. I sure would appreciate it if you left a rating or a review of this show. Special thanks to Scott Holmes Music for providing us the intro song. We Are One RV Out West can be found on Instagram and Facebook, where you can interact with us and follow along on our RV adventures around the Pacific Northwest. So get out there, explore and go see what's beyond the horizon.

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