Coffee cool: The "other" teen drinking scene

Article by:
Julia Sommerfeld - KRT Direct

SEATTLE - The clip-clop of platform shoes grows louder. A hand-me-down sedan grinds into park while still coasting into a prime spot. Overstuffed backpacks hang low and whack behinds in cargo pants with every step. You can almost hear the jangle of belly rings. The barista behind the familiar amoeba-shaped laminate counter readies herself for the glass door to swing open. "They're h-E-E-e-r-r-e," she whispers.

At 11:45 in the morning, the Judkins Park, Wash., Starbucks, which breaks from the chain's cookie-cutter decor with a colorful jazz-inspired mural, is transformed from mellow refuge for breaking businesswomen and retirees into a high-school lunchroom as dozens of students from nearby Garfield High pour in.

A carpooling clan of sophomores and juniors interrupts their squabble over who gets shotgun on the ride back to toss down parent-issued Starbucks gift cards. They order Frappuccinos with the barely concealed excitement of a Gen-Xer asking a bartender for the latest trendy cocktail from the New York Times Shaken and Stirred column.

They're here, all right, before, between and after classes. And at the Tully's in Redmond, Wash., Caffe Vita on Seattle's Capitol Hill and at coffee houses across the country.

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