About Anchorhead Coffee Co
Anchorhead Coffee Co is a Seattle-based specialty roaster operating three cafes — Downtown, Capitol Hill, and Pike Place — alongside a national roast-to-order subscription program. Known for its flagship Leviathan Espresso Blend and the 'Be Good' single-origin label, the roaster was included in The Infatuation's '21 Best Coffee Shops in Seattle' roundup.



About
Anchorhead Coffee is a Seattle-based specialty roaster operating three cafes — Downtown, Capitol Hill, and Pike Place — with a direct-to-consumer roast-to-order program. Founding details are not publicly documented, but the roaster has built a recognizable identity around the "Be Good" label, applied both to seasonal single-origins and a modest merchandise line. The nautical name pairs with a product lineup that leans into fermentation-forward processing and blend-driven espresso work.
The company's growth pattern — from a single downtown foothold to three Seattle locations plus a national subscription operation — follows a trajectory common among second-wave-to-third-wave crossover roasters that prioritized cafe density before scaling wholesale. The "Be Good" ethos, while loosely defined on marketing materials, shows up consistently across product naming and apparel, suggesting a community identity that extends beyond coffee itself.
Anchorhead's flagship Leviathan Espresso Blend is a 70/30 split of natural Ethiopia Guji and washed Brazil — a structure designed for balance and daily repeatability. Their single-origin work skews toward high-intervention processing: the Be Good Ethiopia Hambela is an anaerobic natural from West Guji, sourced from smallholder farmers through export partner Tracon Coffee. Seasonal offerings rotate through Burundi and Colombia. All orders are described as roasted fresh to order and hand-packed in-house.
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Coffee & Beans Review
The Infatuation included Anchorhead in its "21 Best Coffee Shops in Seattle" roundup, placing the Downtown location (1600 7th Ave) among the city's recommended stops for breakfast and light bites. Seattle Unexplored also flagged the roaster in their Seattle Coffee Shop Awards coverage. The homepage claims "award-winning" status without specifying the competition or year, so independent verification is pending — but the consistent third-party press attention across lifestyle and local publications suggests steady community traction.
All three Seattle cafes are open seven days a week. The Downtown location at 1600 7th Ave anchors the retail presence; Capitol Hill and Pike Place round out neighborhood coverage across the city's most coffee-saturated corridors. Visitors can expect whole-bean retail alongside espresso-bar service, with TripAdvisor reviewers noting the space as a comfortable place to linger. For those outside Seattle, Anchorhead ships whole-bean orders nationally via their subscription program, which offers 50% off the first bag and tiered bulk pricing at 10oz, 2lb, and 5lb increments.
Coffee at a Glance
- Roaster status
- Profiled
- Bean products
- Subscriptions
- Best buying path
- In store or subscription
- Specialty transparency
- Limited
What Anchorhead Coffee Co Roasts
A West Guji, Ethiopia anaerobic natural processed coffee that leans fully into fermentation, delivering dessert-forward, fruit-heavy flavors of blackberry, tangerine, and strawberry wafer with a clean, refreshing sweetness. Low density and gently roasted, it dials in easily on both pour-over and espresso.
sweet, expressive
Anchorhead's flagship espresso blend — 70% natural Ethiopia Guji and 30% washed Colombia — won America's Best Espresso at CoffeeFest Portland in 2015 and is pulled daily at all three Seattle cafes. The Guji contributes cherry cola sweetness and ripe plum character, while the Colombia adds clean acidity, brown sugar depth, and a dark chocolate finish, producing a syrupy, full-bodied shot that also works well as a pourover.
sweet, balanced
See full sourcing detail & the producers behind these beans →
Coffee Profile
Origins
Flavor Notes
Processing Methods
Services
Citations & Press
Third-party coverage and sources for Anchorhead Coffee Co.
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