By LIz Steen

Grand windows frame morning light and fall leaves as Café Verde’s owner, K.C.  pours a horchata for one of his neighbors. “This is great! A long time coming! I was rooting for you,” a woman running out the door to catch a bus says as she leaves. “You’ve been patient with us!” K.C. responds as he and his wife, Tatiana, turn back to the line of customers, most of whom are from the neighborhood. “The community has been really amazingly welcoming to us. I’m really surprised how many people are walking in. I didn’t expect that,” K.C. says. He estimates that 90% of the café’s visitors live within walking distance and “Only about 10% will be stopping in their cars… I kind of expected it to be reversed.”

The 1927 historic location and its twin neighbor buildings are, he thinks, “the oldest probably” on 35th Ave SW. K.C. and Tatiana removed seven layers of vinyl flooring, replaced falling lathe and plaster, and painted everything a bright, warm white to bring the longtime neighborhood spot back to life. “They had this (floor) and like, 100 years of this, on top. That was fun getting down to the actual floors.” K.C. found the building while ferrying their son to swim practice. “I saw the sign on the door and we had been looking for a while, and I thought, oh, that’s a great spot!”

The are located at 7354 35th Avenue SW.

They want the warm, bright space they’ve created to serve as a showcase for their organic coffee beans from Peru. The couple  met in Peru where they were part of the “coffee revolution.” They opened a café in Peru in 1987, when there was one Starbucks in the country. By the time they moved back to the Seattle area in 2022, there were 76 Starbucks. K.C. worked in Peru in development with organic coffee growers exporting coffee to Seattle for 40 years. “My wife owned the shop and I helped with roasting.” He also worked with co-ops and farmers on ways to improve their processing and connect with the market. “Through that process, learning how to roast from roasters, and just on the quality control side, how to do sample roasting” inspired the couple to become roasters themselves, according to K.C. Their coffee beans are organic because, “That’s one thing that’s fundamental for us…. One thing we believe in.”

The couple roast their Peruvian coffee every Tuesday in a 1952 Gothot roaster saved for them by longtime friend and coffee roaster Michael Phinney, of Eugene Oregon. Phinney, famous in coffee circles, was one of K.C.’s “original customers” for the Peruvian coffee farmers. “He had heard that I was wanting to come up, and he saved the equipment for me without telling me,” K.C. says, showing off the solidly built machine that takes up most of the back half of the shop. “It’s a pride and joy to us.” The machine operates almost completely by hand, with a drum, cooling tray, and an after burner that burns the smoke to keep the air clean.

The coffee is wonderful, and prices are surprisingly low. K.C. says he and Tatiana want the shop to be a showcase and a gathering spot for neighborhood families. The menu is classic espresso and the baked goods selection is a great morning snack. The shop is open from 6 am to noon every Monday through Friday.  

You can find them online at https://cafeverdecoffee.com/