SLIPSTREAM COFFEE FULL

Read on to meet three shop owners who want to make coffee for the District, and soon. Whether or not there is an expected setting for a cafe, or an expected type of person to open a specialty coffee shop, the three buildouts I visited may ultimately push people to ask and redefine who and what DC coffee is, and where to find it. Streamlining or enhancing the service model in some way was another topic that came up again and again-these embryonic shops embrace the idea that the last part of a seed to cup story is not the barista, but the person drinking what the barista prepares. Transparency, be it on the part of sourcing, roasting or preparing the coffee, is of primary importance for each, and shop layouts are designed with this priority in mind. While each shop will contribute something unique to DC’s current coffee scene, the three had some common ideals for their spaces congruent with a lot of recent conversations about the changing landscape of specialty coffee. Slipstream Coffee, Compass Coffee and Vigilante Coffee are three new shops hoping to push this city’s burgeoning coffee scene even further. This summer, I visited three future shops pushing through long humid days filled with installations and tangos with the city’s zoning permits office, moving closer to opening their doors.

SLIPSTREAM COFFEE FULL

If ever there were dog days of summer, you’d find them in Washington, DC, a city founded in the middle of a swamp and full of hot pavement and sweaty tourists.

Slipstream coffee