Seattle’s Neptune Coffee Destroyed by Fire, Assistance Campaign Launched

The scene of the explosion and fire at Greenwood Avenue North and North 85th Street.

An early-morning explosion and fire caused by a gas leak has destroyed three businesses in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood, including the independent multiroaster café Neptune Coffee.

No employees of Neptune or the two other businesses leveled in the fire — Mr. Gyros and a Quick Stop convenience store — were reported as present at the time, although emergency responders have told numerous local sources that nine firefighters were treated for injuries.

According to a Sprudge piece last year, after seven years under founder Dan Baumfeld, Neptune Coffee had been taken over by the husband-and-wife team of Baltazar Soto and Christine Esparolini who transitioned the shop into a multiroaster platform. The company’s website lists reputable wholesale roaster partners including Kuma Coffee, Velton’s Coffee, George Howell Coffee, Sweet Bloom Coffee and Spyhouse Coffee. Last year, we briefly featured Neptune’s “Espresso Tonic with Rosemary,” made with Spyhouse coffee, in a roundup of summer coffee cocktails.

Jason Malcolm of Seattle-based coffee-related groups NW Space Agency and the Baristas Guild of Washington State (Facebook Group) this morning set up a GoFundMe campaign to assist employees of the local businesses. “We will be using the funds here to directly support the team members, employees and business owners during this difficult time. There are other things happening to try to create local jobs for those displaced, but this campaign is all about financial support to those team members,” he wrote in the campaign.