Nudibranch Coffee Surfaces with Thai Flavors in Seattle

At the grand opening of Nudibranch Coffee in Seattle. All images courtesy of Nudibranch Coffee.

Coffee is riding a wave of Thai spices and culture at a new cafe at the south end of Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood with the recent opening of Nudibranch Coffee.

Thai-grown coffees sourced from Chiang Rai form the backbone of the menu, showing up in espresso drinks and lattes flavored with pandan, jasmine and burnt banana. Sunlight fills the cafe through tall windows during the day, while paper lanterns and floor lamps take over in the evening.

Mellow pendant lighting over the bar is dressed in natural wicker, while ceiling drapery and cozy furnishings in the adjoining lounge add to the relaxed vibe.

“Thailand is a country that mixes a lot of naturals and homegrown aesthetics into their design, so that’s our inspiration,” Nudibranch Coffee Founder Emily Sirisup told Daily Coffee News. “Our goal is to be a space people feel like they can spend a long time in, so our design choices all revolve around being a third place for the community.”

Sirisup, the daughter of immigrants from Bangkok and Ayutthaya, built her coffee expertise through multiple roles at Starbucks, including at the now defunct Seattle Reserve Roastery on Capitol Hill. Now she’s running a 2,200-square-foot cafe of her own, pairing Thai-grown coffees with flavors like tangerine, ginger and coconut.

Espresso moves through a 2-group La Marzocco Linea machine paired with a La Marzocco Jay grinder. Batch drip options, manual pourover and cold brew coffee will soon be added to the program.

Sirisup buys green coffee from Chiang Rai-based Alexta Coffee, then manages international shipping to the Kuma Coffee roastery for production roasting.

“We flew to Thailand last February ourselves to source the coffee, and luckily found Alexta,” said Sirisup. “[Chiang Rai] is the mountainous region of the country and grows really nice high elevation coffee. We do want to expand people’s palettes to include southern Thailand coffees as well, but for now we’re focusing on our one partnership.”

Food includes familiar cafe pastries alongside Thai curry puffs, with Thai toasties and other Southeast Asian-inspired desserts planned. Nudibranch joins a dense coffee corridor, even by Seattle standards, with Overcast Coffee, Anchorhead Coffee and Caffe Vita all within a couple of blocks.

“12th Ave is slowly becoming a hub for specialty coffee,” said Sirisup. “We love our coffee neighbors.”

At Nudibranch, Sirisup plans to build a regular calendar of community-focused events.

“We are going to use our platform and space to uplift other creatives, food and drink creators and people who can’t yet afford their own space,” said Sirisup. “It’s really important to us to host community events and also uplift other people in a similar position to us.”

Nudibranch Coffee is located at 1400 12th Ave. in Seattle.

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