Espresso Vivace is a

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

area coffee shop and roaster known for its

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

and roasting practices. Vivace's owner, David Schomer, Allison, Melissa
Vivace founder, David Schomer is a coffee prophet
''Seattle Times.'' Sunday, July 2, 2006 is credited with developing and popularizing

latte art Latte art is a method of preparing coffee created by pouring microfoam into a shot of espresso and resulting in a pattern or design on the surface of the latte. It can also be created or embellished by simply "drawing" in the top layer of foam. ...

in the United States.

David Schomer

Espresso Vivace was founded in 1988 by former

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engineer David C. Schomer and

Digital Equipment Corporation Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC ), using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. The company was co-founded by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson in 1957. Olsen was president un ...

mainframe technician Geneva Sullivan, who were married at that time. Espresso Vivaces's first incarnation was a coffee cart at 5th and Union, serving mainly financial industry workers, whom Schomer says did not consistently frequent the same cafes or pay close attention to quality. Schomer and Sullivan opened a second street-facing, covered stand near the Broadway Market QFC grocery, and later a larger

roastery Roasting coffee transforms the chemical and physical properties of Coffee processing, green coffee beans into roasted coffee products. The roasting process is what produces the characteristic flavor of coffee by causing the green coffee beans to ...

cafe on South

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. Both were in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, where customers took greater notice, though the

Seattle Central Community College Seattle Central College is a public college in Seattle, Washington. With North Seattle College and South Seattle College, it is one of the three colleges that comprise the Seattle Colleges District. The college has a substantial internationa ...

customers "didn't know any better" without other nearby coffee shops operating on the same gourmet level. To make way for the Capitol Hill light rail station they were forced to move, choosing a new location five blocks north, near "high-end housing." Here Espresso Vivace found customers who Schomer said were more able to appreciate gourmet coffee as an art form, and who generally became "rabidly loyal" to their favorite haunts. Sullivan and Schomer's business partnership continued after their divorce in 2008.

References

External links

* * {{Restaurants in Seattle 1988 establishments in Washington (state) Capitol Hill, Seattle Coffee brands Coffee in Seattle Coffeehouses and cafés in the United States Companies based in Seattle Food and drink companies established in 1988 Restaurants in Seattle