Green Bean Review

This is a review of the coffee house run by Sanctuary Church. (where Sarah and I are attending) It's next door to Taproot Theatre.

Friday, October 28, 2005
With the Green Beaners, kids -- and adults -- will find a happy scene
By REBEKAH DENN SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
There's already plenty of good karma to go around at the Green Bean Coffeehouse, but the supply just increases each time we walk into a radiantly friendly greeting from the counter barista, or hear the storyteller at 10 a.m. Tuesdays exclaim, "I'm so glad you came!" to complete strangers. Don't even worry about overstaying your welcome; flowery chalkboard script on the wall instructs customers to "sit long, talk much."
The real do-gooding is endemic to the coffeehouse's existence, though. It's all organic, free trade ... and dedicated to using its money to help others, with plans to become a registered 501c3 organization. Proceeds from the tip jar, for instance, go straight to the cause of the month, such as the $2,400 sent last month to the Salvation Army for Hurricane Katrina victims.
The artwork on display benefits those in need -- and is sometimes created by them, such as the fabric aprons assembled by women in the Amani Ya Juu program -- a training project, as the Green Beaners explain, for African women affected by wars and ethnic conflicts.
There are connections throughout the store to both local and international causes; one line of greeting cards benefits a downtown non-profit, another benefits schoolchildren in Sierra Leone.
"People are going to buy coffee anyway, right?" said Lisa Etter, who conceived the business with friend Hayden Smith. "Why not do something with it that's going to help people, and raise awareness?" The business is loosely associated with the Sanctuary church, which meets down the street at the Taproot Theater, but none of the money generated by Green Bean goes to the church, she said.
Neither cause nor comforts would matter, of course, if Green Bean's coffee wasn't good. Fortunately, it is: Beans come from Brown & Co. in Shoreline, lattes are well-made, there's a short list of decent food (quiche, soup and the like).
Bakery goods are better than average, with the big plus of being freshly made (some premixed), so that we sometimes walk in just in time for muffins or scones that are hot from the oven.
Decorations are warm and charming, from the china teacups and plates built into the corner fireplace to the colored prisms dangling from the ceiling lights. And, while all this positive energy could induce guilt among customers for their own shortcomings (remember that peanut butter jar that went to the trash instead of the recycle bin?), it seems to spread goodwill instead.