Seattle hasn't always been the center of the coffee universe; in fact the city once served as much bad coffee as the rest of the country. That changed in the early 70's when a group of passionate coffee lovers started a revolution.

Since the beginning, Seattle's Best Coffee has been roasting coffees under the direction of founder and chairman Jim Stewart.  Jim opened his first store, the Wet Whisker, in 1970 in Coupeville on Whidbey Island, Washington.  The combination ice cream and coffee shop was a welcome addition to the sleepy little town.

Using a 12-pound roaster Jim purchased from a peanut vendor on a beach in Southern California, it was there that he learned to roast coffee under the watchful eye of expert roaster Alan McKay. They used the finest beans and roasted to achieve a bold and full flavored cup that was also smooth and mellow.  By the end of the summer, Jim had roasted and sold nearly 500 pounds of Wet Whisker coffee with the help of his new partner, and brother, Dave.

The Coupeville store was sold to a local family, and not quite a year later, Jim opened another store featuring ice cream and coffee on Pier 70 on Seattle's waterfront.  There Stewart Brothers Coffee was born, and was where all of the company's coffee was roasted.  Tourists flocked in - never had they imagined someone would spend so much time and energy for a simple cup of coffee. But there was something different about the coffee at Stewart Brothers - this coffee was good, really good.

Soon after this store, Seattle's Best Coffee opened a retail store in Seattle's famed Pike Place Market. Later that same year, another local company, Starbucks Coffee, Tea & Spice opened a store there as well.  The foundation for Seattle's coffee boom began.  Early on, Jim chose and preferred the Northern European style of roasting for his coffees.  To him and many of the locals who had developed a discriminating taste, this roasting style left the subtle nuances and characteristics of the coffee intact and noticeable in each cup.

As Jim's love for coffee grew, he began traveling directly to the coffee producing countries to investigate the coffee industry firsthand.  And to help keep up with the demand his coffees generated, in 1983 Seattle's Best Coffee moved its roasting facilities to Vashon Island, where they remain to this day!

In 1988, Jim learned of another Stewart in the coffee business and decided to shorten the company name to "SBC".  Then in 1991, a local restaurant held a taste-off to crown "the best cup of coffee in Seattle."  Much to their delight, their little coffee company took first place.  To celebrate the occasion, they officially re-named the company "Seattle's Best Coffee" and the rest is coffee history.

Seattle's Best Coffee has grown over the last thirty-years into a global coffee company.  Their corporate headquarters are in Seattle, Washington and their cafes are found throughout the world.  Seattle's Best Coffee operates together with Torrefazione Italia® coffee under the name Seattle Coffee Company, which is owned by Starbucks Corporation, the leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world.