Ballard Starbucks

I decided to venture away from the Downtown/Capitol Hill area and explore some coffee shops in different neighborhoods of Seattle. Armed with my backpack crammed with studying material, I headed over to Ballard. My first stop was the Ballard Starbucks. I noticed, standing on the corner of NW 45th, that from my vantage point I could see three different coffee shops. A Tully's, a Starbucks, and a Chai House. I expected these shops to be extra good in order to beat their close range competition.

I entered the Starbucks and was immediately greeted by the barista, which was impressive. The store had a few patrons, but wasnt busy. The barista's immediately whipped up my Americano, however, I noticed the barista demolished the crema (the description of a crema and the proper way to make an Americano were mentions in the post about Starbucks on 12th and Columbia, if youre interested), so it tasted slightly bitter. I am beginning to think bad Americano's is the norm at Starbucks.

Anyway, after I got my Americano I settled down to enjoy an afternoon of studying. This Starbucks was the perfect place as it was not too busy, like the stores downtown, nor were there many people in the store to distract me (like the stores on Capitol Hill).

Although the coffee wasnt that great, the atmosphere was perfect. I will definitely return to Ballard if I need some intense study time.