Slate Coffee Roasters

Overview

Slate is a Seattle family business launched in 2013 by sister-and-brother Chelsey Walker-Watson and Keenan Walker with their mother Lisanne Walker, after operating earlier from a 1967 Airstream Safari trailer parked outside a Capitol Hill pizza joint. Chelsey came from nine years at Peet's Coffee & Tea as store and training manager; Keenan went to the Bay Area to learn roasting before returning to start the company.

Known for

• Lightest-roasting roaster in Seattle when it opened, in a city defined by dark espresso
• Signature Deconstructed Espresso + Milk service — three glasses (espresso, steamed milk, and the combination)
• Espresso served in wine stemware to concentrate aroma and visibility
• Chelsey Walker-Watson — 2nd place finish at the U.S. Brewers Cup
• "Exposure roasting" methodology aimed at surfacing fruit-like acidity

Why it matters

Slate is widely credited as the cafe that opened the door for light-roast specialty in Seattle. When the Walker family opened in 2013, the city's coffee identity was defined almost entirely by the dark-roast Italian-style espresso lineage of Starbucks and Vivace; Slate's Deconstructed Espresso + Milk service and stemware became one of the most-copied service ideas in third-wave coffee.

Production

destoning

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head roaster

Keenan Walker (Director of Roasting and Coffee Operations)

color sorting

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roaster machine

15-kilo Giesen (original); roasting in SoDo

filter equipment

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cupping frequency

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roastery location

SoDo, Seattle

espresso equipment

La Marzocco GB-5 MP; Compak E10 espresso grinder; EK43 batch grinder for single-shot dial-ins

annual volume tonnes

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Café

5413 6th Ave NW, Seattle (East Ballard, original 2013); Pioneer Square; University District; Chrome Industries Hub (downtown Seattle)

Recognitions

• U.S. Brewers Cup — 2nd place (Chelsey Walker-Watson)

Sources

• https://keystotheshop.com/2017/05/027-founder-friday-w-chelsey-walker-watson-of-slate-coffee-roasters/
• https://sprudge.com/in-seattle-slate-coffees-expansion-is-all-in-the-family-87545.html
• https://www.westsideseattle.com/ballard-news-tribune/2013/05/07/slate-coffee-roasters-opens-shop-east-ballard
• https://slatecoffeeroasters.myshopify.com/blogs/news/17491340-kinfolk-slate-coffee-roasters
• https://dailycoffeenews.com/2015/09/25/in-one-seattle-week-slate-coffee-roasters-opened-two-new-shops/
• https://seattlemag.com/top-seattle-coffee-spots-ballards-slate-coffee-roasters/