(Image: Ghost Note Coffee)

(Image: Ghost Note Coffee)

By Domenic Strazzabosco

With Ghost Note Coffee’s detail-oriented approach to craft coffee, it should not be a surprise that growth has taken time. Born eight years ago on Capitol Hill, Ghost Note has finally made its second cafe permanent on the ground floor of 3rd Ave’s 96-year-old Seattle Tower.

Ghost Note’s careful expansion downtown gives them a small footprint and a more feasible and affordable way of expanding in terms of inventory, equipment and employees. They also found the space to be gorgeous.

“The building is something that we’re just so proud to be a part of. It’s a pretty stellar place,” said Christos Andrews, co-owner of Ghost Note. “I’ve noticed when people walk in the door and it’s their first time at Ghost Note, you can see the experience seems to be more impactful, which is really exciting.”

After opening with limited hours last year and slowly expanding operations through the holiday season, the space is now open six days a week. It is Ghost Note’s second location after its spot in Capitol Hill, which opened on Bellevue Ave back in 2017.

CHS reported here on that debut eight years ago of Ghost Note and its effort to take craft coffee to a different register of nuances and raising the bar with custom mugs from a local ceramics maker, collared shirts and uniformed employees, no tipping, fresh herb and citrus garnishes, and “an emphasis on housemade elements borrowed from craft bartending.”

The approach has made the Bellevue Ave shop a unique stop at a smaller scale in any tour of the Capitol Hill coffee scene. It also fits in well downtown.

The Seattle Tower, which opened in 1929, is noted for being the first Art Deco building in the city. The 27-story structure is designated as a city landmark and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places back in 1975. The coffee shop is located just to the right of the main lobby — an ornate, all-gold marvel in itself that is well worth walking through while your drink is being prepared.

Like at the Capitol Hill location, Ghost Note Downtown will partner with many other Seattle businesses to host pop-ups and events. Recently, they teamed up with Lovely & Dapper Desserts for an event that Andrews described as both very busy and a ton of fun. The day CHS was talking with Andrews, they hosted a pop-up from Grayseas Pies.

Andrews says that since opening, many people have told him the coffee selection downtown is lacking compared to other neighborhoods and how they’re happy Ghost Note has arrived. Though he doesn’t have an explicit mission for what he hopes to bring to the area, Andrews strives to continue doing what Ghost Note does best — offering artisanal, progressive coffee to Seattleites.

Known for giving unique spins to traditional drinks, you can find favorites like the London Smog — made with black tea, smoked honey and oat milk — or the Sun Ship — espresso, smoked grapefruit rosemary syrup, lime, sparkling and coconut water. They also offer revolving seasonal favorites that have proven popular, especially the Oatnog — a house-made holiday eggnog — and the Naima — an espresso-based drink with cookie butter, cinnamon biters, non-alcoholic amaretto and spiced cookie crumble.

Keeping with the system established in Capitol Hill, Ghost Note Downtown automatically applies a 10% gratuity to all orders and gives customers the option to add an additional tip, helping create a guaranteed employee rate, one less dependent on public opinion. Andrews described the system as giving employees assurance they’ll make their standard hourly rate regardless of the day, with the best-case scenario being they’ll earn more.

Along with the new location, plenty of other projects are in the works. Ghost Note hopes to soon offer canned drinks, like their Espresso Soda, as well as jugged drinks in larger quantities. They are also continuing their search for new locations in different neighborhoods around the city.

Ghost Note Coffee’s is now open at 1218 3rd Ave. Learn more at ghostnotecoffee.com.

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