Turn the table. Columbia These are the places where most of the world s coffee is grown. But, SBC, or Seattle s Best Coffee, formerly Stewart Brother s Coffee, is still largely locally owned and operated. SBC coffee is tasted here first, and then, if it s good enough, if it holds up after storing, after traveling, and after roasting, well, then it may become one of SBC s fine specialty coffees. Many mornings you can see the cupping going on through the window at SBC in Center.
Cupping means tasting in coffee talk.
Peter Larsen, David Wickberg and Jim Stewart often spend their mornings tasting different beans, deciphering which bean might blend nicely with another. On little freestanding stools they sit, bent over a rotating table. Rinse the spoon. Turn the table. That s how it goes.