Our Story | Victrola Coffee Roasters
From the beginning, Victrola, named for the popular home phonograph of the 1920's, embraced the liveliness, exuberance and fun of the Jazz era. In our popular imagination the roaring 20's represent excess, prohibition, flappers, and speakeasies. The era's fingerprints mark much of what we do, from our passion for live vintage jazz to our cafes unique architectural charm.
When Victrola opened in 2000, the little 15th Avenue neighborhood had a big need. The community not only lacked great coffee it also had few great spaces to hang out or to meet friends. The cafe was so popular after only a year we doubled our space, taking over the storefront next door. In 2003, we took a huge step and began roasting our own coffee in the tiny back room of our café on 15th. In the cramped back room we spent countless hours experimenting with roast profiles and blends for our espresso. Early on, we committed ourselves to the task of sourcing, roasting, and preparing the finest coffees available. Since then, innovation has marked our roasting operations and coffee preparation.
In 2007, we cut the ribbon on Victrola's showcase cafe, located in an old 1920's auto row building just off downtown at the base of Capitol Hill, complete with our roastery, training facility and cupping room. This beautiful cafe is an exceptional place to learn more about coffee at a tasting, watch the roasting process, or simply enjoy a great book.
In 2009 Victrola acquired a great neighborhood cafe just down from the Library and light rail station on Beacon Hill. This cute little space reflects the comfort, passion for quality, quirkiness and community feel that characterizes all of Victrola's cafes.
2022 we added the Seattle Coffee Works brand and locations. This also gained us access to an expand our thirst for amazing coffees with a new relationship in Guatemala. It was this learning that created the plan to merge the brand into Victrola Coffee in May of 2024.
Now, as Victrola moves into a third decade, we look forward to new opportunities to fuel our passion and show our exuberance. We are actively seeking out new neighborhoods to share our great coffee and community space with, new partners to serve our coffee, and new and deepened relationships with farmers and producers.