Relevant Coffee
1703 Main Street
Vancouver, WA 98663
I first visited Relevant Coffee in March of 2017, shortly after they opened, and shortly after beginning documenting my coffee shop adventures. In the slightly over two years that Relevant has been serving coffee in their own cafe, they have grown and become one of the mainstay Vancouver coffee shops. Last week, they opened a new cafe, just around the corner from their old one, but approximately 10x bigger, complete with space for their roastery to move on-site. Remington and I (and the children) went to check it out and support them in their soft opening on May 7.
The shop was pleasantly full with a cheerful hum of customer conversation, coffee grinding, and milk steaming. The windows covering two sides of the shop let in lots of beautiful natural light. The mix of wood, white, and light gray, along with plants and fresh-cut flowers, encourage the light, bright, and welcoming atmosphere. There is ample seating with small tables along a bench along one of the windowed walls, couches and comfy chairs, a big table in the middle, and smaller, standing-height tables along the wall adjacent to the bar. The roastery area is located behind a wall of window, wood, and coffee bag panels behind the counter.
Relevant serves two rotating single origin espressos, a filter coffee option, and three cold tap options: a nitro cold brew, a single origin cold brew, and a nitro iced tea. Of course, they also have the usual macchiato, cappuccino, latte options, as well as chai, a house turmeric latte, and a mocha made with local Ranger chocolate. We ordered a single origin cold brew (Ethiopia), a breve macchiato with their Columbian espresso, and a steamer for the kids.
The drinks were lovely, my macchiato came out in a teal demitasse with a spoon and sparkling water. It was creamy and smooth, with a gentle espresso flavor that paired well with the half and half. The cold brew was exceptional, it was so juicy, Remington and I both thought it reminiscent of mango juice, in a really wonderful way. Of course Everly and Jude enjoyed their steamer, although Everly was more interested in watching the people working on some of the finishing touches on the exterior of the shop.
As far as child-friendliness goes, it was overall really nice. It wasn’t library-quiet, which is always a relief, and my children found the cactuses behind one of the benches quite engaging to look at. As they move the roastery into the space they have set aside for it, I would expect that would offer another source of diversion if a steamer and coloring or books isn’t sufficient to maintain attention. The only downside was that there is no changing table in the bathroom, which is a common problem in that part of Vancouver. On account of that, I would have to give it a 5 out of 10 for family friendliness, even though the shop itself was very welcoming.
Overall, Relevant is a great shop. I am so excited to see them embark on this next step in their business, with a larger shop and moving their roastery on-site. I will continue to be a semi-regular customer, and would suggest Relevant to anyone looking to get together with a friend, get some work done, or needing a midday coffee stop, especially if you’re ordering cold brew.
