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Capitol Hill food+drink | Remedy still steeping six years later on Capitol Hill

Anthony Arnold at the cafe (Image: Suzi Pratt for CHS)

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  • You know Starbucks is watching. It has been six years since Remedy Teas opened its cafe on 15th Ave E. As its sometimes sleepy street undergoes a sea change — an overhaul of Coastal Kitchen (here) an injection of new energy and new investment from Rione XIII (here), The Wandering Goose (here) and, coming soon, Ada’s Technical Books (here) — we visited with Remedy to learn more about its contribution to Capitol Hill’s cafe culture. And, of course, to say happy birthday.

“Tea has been going through this renaissance in the last 10, 12 years,” Anthony Arnold tells CHS. “It has completely mirrored what has happened in coffee.”


Arnold is part of the family-backed ownership of Remedy spanning its 15th at E Harrison cafe and online and wholesale businesses. Six years ago, CHS was, um, a little excited about Remedy’s arrival. “Every crumb was a delight. The chocolate was heartbreakingly good.” CHS was a little different back then. So was Remedy.

“We built Remedy on the idea that the first one on Harrison was a prototype,” Arnold said. While the expansion plans haven’t yet fully brewed, Arnold said Remedy has grown into a successful, family-run independent business.

“We’ve been resisting the idea of working with other parties, investors,” he said. “We want to keep it in the family and focus on becoming a profitable business. Our goal is never to build multiple chains.”

Anthony Arnold along with his wife AJ Arnold and his brother Chris Arnold employ around a dozen employees. In addition to sales at the cafe, Remedy also supplies teas to restaurants across Seattle. But the heart and soul of things remains the numbered brews of dozens of teas served from the wall at 15th and Harrison.

“We are always reminded how lucky it is to be able to be directly involved in the customer’s satisfaction,” Arnold says of owning and operating a showcase for their product. “A lot of companies can just put their stuff on the shelf and not have a real relationship with their customer.”

With six years under its belt, Remedy has hung in there long enough to be come part of a new 15th Ave E. While it’s busier, more commercial and the parking can suck even more, the change also means more smart people practicing their food+drink arts.

“Look where 15th is going,” Arnold said. “There are great specialists. It’s finally shaping up to where people are really good at specific things.”

That connoisseurship and the practice of doing “specific things” might be part of a defining characteristic of the Hill’s cafe culture. The trends in tea, Arnold says, fit right in with a growing focus on both creative and functional blends and finding “the best” of classic varieties of black and green teas.

Tuesday, November 6th, Remedy will share Election Day and celebrate cafe connoisseurship and its sixth birthday. The cafe is handing out “Free TNT For All” — the “spicy chili-turmeric-ginger detox tonic that many folks fiend for,” Arnold says. Customers who buy loose leaf will get goodies and online customers who order will have “treats stuffed in their packages” (Arnold’s words, not ours!).

“But mostly we want to express a heartfelt and sincere ‘thank you,’ Arnold said. “We can’t help but get a little misty over all that we have shared over six years with our friends and neighbors. It’s a great thing.”

You can learn more at remedyteas.com.

A food press release:

The North Hill Bakery ( 518 15th Ave. E.) has a guest baker making sourdough english muffins and sourdough baguettes. 

There you have it. 

 

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gypsychic
11 years ago

Thank you Remedy for making my days better for the past 6 years! YUM!

Uncle Vinny
Uncle Vinny
11 years ago

…because I’m a hopelessly biased Bang Bang Cafe fanboy, but the new Pettirosso is fantastic. It looks terrific, the people are super nice and the food is great.

songstorm
songstorm
11 years ago

Amen! Remedy is one of my favorite things about living on 15th, even though I don’t drop in as often as I would like. But I have a cupboard full of their teas at home!

Jeana
11 years ago

Hi, thanks for the shout-out. Just to clarify, Waitsburg Bourbon Whiskey is in stock. We are just barreling more. So good news: another cask, and more good news: no long winters for anyone.

jseattle
jseattle
11 years ago

Thanks for clarifying :) I’ll make a note up top

SaChevy
11 years ago

I could not agree more!!!
Anyone who hasn’t made Remedy part of their routine is just plain missing out!
…And the icing on the cake… the ‘views’ are fantastic!

pod
pod
11 years ago

I concur. I love Remedy Tea. Such a great little spot.