Espresso Vivace

Overview

Espresso Vivace was founded in 1988 by former Boeing metrology technician David C. Schomer — also a Cornish College BFA in classical flute — and Digital Equipment Corporation mainframe technician Geneva Sullivan, then married, with a coffee cart at 5th and Union in downtown Seattle. Schomer's combination of Italy research trips beginning in 1989, baristas including Amy Vanderbeck, Sarah Hunting and Lisa Parsons, and the 1995 video and book 'Café Latte Art' / 'Espresso Coffee: Professional Techniques' is widely credited with developing and popularising latte art and modern espresso technique in the United States.

Known for

• Founded 1988 in Seattle by David C. Schomer (ex-Boeing) and Geneva Sullivan (ex-Digital Equipment Corporation)
• Schomer is widely credited with developing and popularising latte art in the US, including the rosetta — published the 1995 'Café Latte Art' video and 'Espresso Coffee: Professional Techniques' (now in its third edition, translated into Japanese, Korean and Russian)
• Co-developer with La Marzocco / Versalab of the first PID-controlled espresso machine, completed February 28, 2001 in Ballard
• Slow ristretto extraction style — roughly 22ml in 35 seconds — referenced by Stumptown, Intelligentsia and Ninth Street Espresso
• 37 years of continuous operation and active in-person training at the Alley 24 / Yale Avenue cafe

Why it matters

Schomer is, alongside George Howell and Alfred Peet, one of the foundational technical voices of US specialty coffee — the rosetta as the global default latte-art motif, the PID-controlled espresso machine, and the published curriculum that subsequent baristas in Portland, New York and Chicago learned from all trace back to his work at Vivace. The Seattle Times' framing — 'Schomer is as influential in the gourmet coffee world as Howard Schultz is in the mainstream coffee industry' — understates rather than overstates his footprint.

Production

destoning

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head roaster

David C. Schomer

color sorting

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roaster machine

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filter equipment

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cupping frequency

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roastery location

Seattle, Washington

espresso equipment

Custom PID-controlled La Marzocco Linea (Schomer / La Marzocco / Versalab collaboration, originally 2001)

annual volume tonnes

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Café

227 Yale Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109 (Alley 24 flagship); the Capitol Hill Brix bar at 532 Broadway E remains open while the original Broadway location closed permanently in May 2023

Recognitions

• David Schomer credited with popularising latte art and modern espresso technique in the US
• Author of seminal 'Espresso Coffee: Professional Techniques' (1995, now in 3rd edition)

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espresso_Vivace
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Schomer
• https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/vivaces-david-schomer-is-on-a-mission-to-pour-the-perfect-cup-of-coffee/
• https://espressovivace.com/education/news/
• https://www.discoverslu.com/story/espresso-vivace-celebrates-37-years/
• https://perfectdailygrind.com/2022/01/understanding-the-history-of-latte-art/