Best of Spokane 2011: Best Coffee Roaster & Coffee Shop

Coffee, it's what's for dinner… Or something like that. Anyway! Here are the result of your coffee roasting company votes:

1 - (1) DOMA Coffee
2 (4) Roast House Coffee
3 (2) Bumper Crop
4 · Anvil Coffee Roasting
5 (3) Thomas Hammer
6 · Tom Sawyer's Country Coffee

I mean, really, there was and is no contest here. DOMA is head and shoulders dominant over the competition because they deliver truly fantastic products. We know it and apparently so do you, judging by the votes.

This category was dominated by DOMA from the start, and they never relinquished the number one spot. (And you'll see them again when we do our all encompassing "Best of Inland Northwest" category. But you knew that.)

All respect to the other roasters of course. Some of them truly care about coffee, and others really know how to market their products. It's interesting and positive to see Anvil and Tom Sawyer's hitting the list—their names have really started to take off over the last few years.

It's all an evolution, but maybe Spokane can turn into a coffee-town sooner rather than later. We have the roasters, now the customer just needs to move past drive-through shacks.

Speaking of!

1 (3) Atticus Coffee and Gifts
2 - Rockwood Bakery
3 (1) Taste Cafe
4 · Petit Chat
5 · INDABA Coffee
6 (5) Madeleine's Cafe

Atticus jumped up two spots to conquer the throne. And fair enough, though as they recently stopped carrying DOMA, we can't help but wonder if the result will be the same next year. This is an unfounded rumor—shame on us for listening to those!—and DOMA is still found at Atticus! The space certainly is great, though, and we've often had excellent coffee there.

Petit Chat hit number four with a bullet, probably not so much because of their coffee, but for having what we consider some of the best bread (their Tuscan loaf is excellent) and baked goods in the region. We haven't tried INDABA in a while, but with the positive buzz it has been getting lately, we're thinking it might be time again.

Special SpoCOOL honoree: Hey, because why not name a Best Barista? And so we will: Mister Keaton Violet, currently pulling at your sixth favorite coffee shop, Madeleine's Cafe. The spot might have a few issues to overcome, but go in and get a DOMA coffee drink pulled by Mr. Violet, and you'll be a happy person.

Best of Spokane 2011: Best Brewery & Winery

Yesterday we established that Spokane likes its quality beer, and therefore the results of the "Best Brewery" category should come with few surprises as far as the winner goes…

1 - (1) Laughing Dog Brewing
2 · Budge Brothers
3 · 12 String Brewing Co
4 (2) Northern Lights Brewing Co
5 (3) Golden Hills Brewing Co
6 (4) Coeur d'Alene Brewing Co

… however, that's not to say there weren't any surprises at all there.

Laughing Dog, though, is without much doubt the best brewery in the area, though it might be a stretch to call it "local". Local-ish. Hey, we have no regrets including it! It's a great brewery, one that can stand shoulder to shoulder with many to most national ones.

The surprises came from two new entries—Budge Brothers and 12 String Brewing Co—which shoehorned themselves between Laughing Dog and last year's number two, Northern Lights.

I've yet to sample Budge Brothers' ales, but recently had a chance to check out 12 String, which is an instantly promising brewery.

They go hand in hand with the advent of great ale houses, these new breweries, showing that the region is taking the craft beer "revolution" (really, it has been more of an evolution) seriously.

As for wineries…

1 (2) Robert Karl Cellars
2 (1) Barrister Winery
3 - (3) Townshend Cellar
4 · Trezzi Farm
5 · Mountain Dome Winery
6 (4) Arbor Crest

They duked it out last year and it was close again, but this time Barrister's justice was not rough enough to take out Robert Karl. Townshend Cellar, meanwhile, sat put as the region's third best winery, followed by two bullets from Trezzi Farm and Mountain Dome.

Overall it seems people quite enjoy local wines. The category was, going by the average of weighted scores, the fourth highest ranked one. Not too shabby.

Tomorrow: Best Coffee Shop and Coffee Roaster.