Scooters Coffee

Location: 649 W. Washington St., Ste. 3, Sequim

Phone: 477-4219

Hours: 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday; 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday

With its cocoa and cream decor, accented by rough-sawn paneling, Scooters Coffee is a relaxing retreat to while away an hour or two over your favorite brew. The coffee shop is the brainchild of Suzan Mansfield, whose other full-time business, Sequim Licensing Depot, is right next door.

“A lot of times people having to wait at the licensing office brought in coffee and I noticed the lack of sit-down coffee shops in this end of town,” Mansfield said. “I wanted to give them a place to relax while they were waiting and I wanted to offer local products.”

Mansfield’s official duties keep her plenty busy so she asked her daughter, Amber Larson, with some barista and lots of service experience under her belt, to move from Forks to manage the shop. It’s been a win-win proposition for both women since Scooters opened on June 8. Four other employees keep the business humming.

Mother and daughter give much credit to Don Batcheller of Rainshadow Coffee Roasting Company in Sequim for training Larson as a barista and sharing his coffee grinding and brewing expertise. And it was natural to look to his company to supply a product they wanted to serve. Six different bean blends are available and if you like a particular one, you can purchase a bag of beans to take home, Larson said.

“There’s a lot to grinding the beans — the coffee has to be brewed within a certain timeframe to get a good ‘shot,’” Mansfield explained.

“It’s a science for sure,” Larson added.

Coffee-based beverages include lattes, macchiatos, Americanos, mochas, cappuccinos and espressos. The shop also offers blended and iced drinks, personalized with a wide variety of syrups and flavorings, plus Italian sodas, Red Bull spritzers and hot teas.

Scooters is much more than a coffee hound’s hangout, offering warmed fresh pastries daily from local providers Bell Street Bakery and Panne d’Amore, plus deli sandwiches from Pacific Pantry. Its smoked chicken and roast beef sandwiches and smoked chicken salad pitas come from locally sourced, organic and cured meat.

“If you buy the chicken salad once, you’ll buy it again,” Larson promised.

The shop has a “meal deal” for lunch with a sandwich, chips and a drink. Fruit, yogurt, juices and soda also are available.

“We’re trying to hit on what people want,” Mansfield said.

“When people come in, we tell them we’re a small business supporting other small businesses like Bell Street Bakery, Pacific Pantry and Rainshadow. Sequim is a very awesome community in supporting other businesses,” Larson said.

The the quiet and airy coffee shop, with large windows facing the hubbub of Washington Street, seats 22 and is ADA compliant. Its rustic yet clean-lines design is due to the contractor skills of Mansfield’s partner Dan Forshaw.

“I seriously couldn’t have done this without him — he was instrumental in what you see — and he’s our IT guy,” Mansfield said.

As for the shop’s name, it was the couple’s joint passion for riding motorcycles that fueled it being dubbed Scooters Coffee and a motif of vintage motorcycles adds to its charm. Customers are encouraged to join the book exchange or linger to play cribbage, chess or checkers while nursing their favorite beverages or access Scooters’ free WiFi.

“We just like giving people a social place to come,” Mansfield said, with Larson adding, “And everyone really likes that!”