Not mounted like trophies. Stacked — dozens of them laid horizontally under a wood cap rail, shafts out, so the whole seat back is brand names at eye level. Sher-Wood. CCM. Titan. Reebok. Bigshot. Model numbers that meant something to whoever bought them: 5030, T20, 7000, TPM 1010, 10K. Words that were once features — Heat, Ultimate, Top Prospect, Street.

It reads as decor. Look at it a second longer and it reads as a list.

The list

The thing worth writing about is that a wall of retired equipment is also a record of an industry consolidating. These sticks are wood. Almost nobody plays with wood now. The brands printed on them went through the same twenty years that the material did, and several of the names on that wall no longer mean what they say — bought, retired, or licensed onto something else.

Titan is the clearest case. Gretzky won in Edmonton with a Titan, the 2020 model. Titan belonged to a Montreal company that renamed itself The Hockey Company in 1999, and it sat in a portfolio with Canadien, Heaton, Jofa, Koho and CCM. Reebok bought the lot in 2004 for 329 million US dollars. Adidas bought Reebok the year after. Everything except CCM was phased out. A Titan on that wall is a name that was retired by a company that was itself bought twice.

Reebok is on the wall as well, a few sticks along, which is the part that makes me laugh. Reebok put its own name on hockey sticks after buying and shelving the brands it had paid for. Then Adidas sold CCM in 2017, for 110 million, to a Toronto private-equity firm. CCM changed hands again in 2024.

Sher-Wood is the Canadian one, out of Sherbrooke, Quebec. It sent composite stick production to China in 2011, which cost about forty jobs; the Sherbrooke site stayed on as head office and distribution with around a hundred and ten. The name belongs to Canadian Tire now, along with Hespeler and Victoriaville.

CCM is the survivor. Of the six names in that 2004 sale it is the one that still fronts a full line of sticks.

Then there is the material. Easton released the Synergy in 2001, the first one-piece composite that NHL players actually took to, and within a few years most of the league had switched. Every stick on that wall is from the losing side of that.

Nobody assembling the wall was making that point. They needed a back for a bench and had a supply of dead sticks. The meaning is accidental, which is the part I like.

The room it is in

Saturday, one in the afternoon, late May. On the big screen: PSG and Arsenal, 1–1. That is the Champions League final, in Budapest, and one in the afternoon in Alberta is nine at night in Hungary. It finished 1–1 and PSG won it on penalties after extra time, so what we were watching over lunch was a European club final going the distance.

On the screen beside it: hockey.

Two sports, two continents, one room, both being watched at once by different tables. That is not incidental to the format. The room is built for it — kegs cut down into light fixtures, bottles lit along the wall, screens angled so that no booth has a bad one, and a floor plan that swallows a group our size without anyone having to ask.

Our server ran the whole table without it ever feeling like work. Drinks kept coming, she checked in often, nobody waited. Feeding a large travelling group fast, while a game is on, is a specific job, and this is a building designed around it.

What we ate

Burgers, poutine, fish and chips, a Caesar salad. The fried pickles were delicious. Everyone enjoyed their meal.

I had the steak bites and a side salad with balsamic, to stay off the carbs. At a Canadian brewhouse. Where the menu is poutine and fried pickles and the fries come in a bowl the size of the salad plate.

There is a whole small piece in that and I am not sure it belongs in this one.

That should probably bother me more than it does.

I did not find this place. A friend did. She had been to Japan, and this reminded her of it, which is a better basis for the judgment than anything I had. I went once on that recommendation, in 2016, and have never had a reason to reconsider.

The food is genuinely good, and it is worth being specific about why, because “good sushi” is not a claim. The fish on the rainbow roll is sliced thick enough that you actually taste it, not just rice. The ratio is right. The cuts are clean, and it arrives plated neatly without looking fussed over. The miso comes out hot, with the right amount of tofu and seaweed. None of that is remarkable on any one visit. All of it being true on every visit is the remarkable part.

It also helps that the field is thin. The other option nearby is supermarket sushi. Everything else is a longer drive. Against those two, somewhere genuinely good and close is not a hard call.

What consistency is actually worth

At some point a restaurant stops being a decision. Not on the first visit or the second — somewhere further in, once it has been right enough times that you stop checking.

That is a real service and almost nobody writes it down, because there is no story in it. Food writing is built around discovery: the new place, the surprising dish, the thing you did not expect. Somewhere I have been going since 2016 — not constantly, but often — ordering the same two things, produces no anecdote at all. It just quietly removes a small recurring problem from the week, and has been doing it for ten years.

The room is part of it. Modern, low key, big windows. I have eaten here alone and with friends and it works either way, which sounds like a small thing and is not — most rooms are built for one of those and merely tolerate the other. Service is steady without being attentive at you. They bring what you need and then leave you alone.

Every one of those is a decision somebody made. None of them announces itself.

The part I notice

I spend a lot of time looking for what is strange about a place — why it is built the way it is, what it is optimised for, what it says about the people who made it.

This is the one where I do not do that. I go in, I order the same two things, I eat, I leave. It is the kind of place I do not have to think about.

None of which is my doing. She had been to Japan, this place reminded her of it, and she told me so in 2016. I have been eating off that one judgment ever since.

I ordered it on Uber Eats.

What arrived

Wake and Late, on North La Cienega in West Hollywood. Three breakfast burritos and one Juárez, four items, $55.00 of food that cost $75.59 delivered, after $8.49 of Uber One savings. Ordered at 10:37 on a Sunday morning, at the door at 11:05.

The breakfast burrito is twelve dollars and the menu describes it precisely: house organic tortilla, pasture-raised eggs, organic avocado, tater tots, cheddar, choice of sauce. Bacon is four dollars more, and it is a specific bacon. The menu says Neuske’s, the way a restaurant does when it is proud of a supplier. Two of ours came that way. All three came with cilantro crema. The menu marks the breakfast burrito as its most ordered item.

It was very good. The tots stayed crisp, which is the whole difficulty of putting tots in a burrito. The avocado was ripe without going to mush. The tortilla was toasted just enough to hold together.

Then there was the Juárez.

The one I ordered to find out

I added it for no reason except that I did not know what it was.

The menu is exact about it. House, organic tortilla, organic refried pinto beans, grass-fed mozzarella. Garlic crema, pickled onions and blistered chilies on the side. Three things in the tortilla, three things next to it.

It was delicious.

So the difference between the two is not care. The same kitchen sources both and says so about both, in the same words, on the same page. The difference is how much is in it. One is the breakfast burrito as a thing to add to: eggs, avocado, tots, cheese, a sauce, bacon if you want it. The other stops at beans and cheese.

The burrito is a northern Mexican invention, out of the wheat-and-cattle states and specifically Ciudad Juárez, and the northern format is small: a flour tortilla around one or two fillings. The version most Americans picture, big enough to need two hands and packed with rice and beans and everything else, is the Mission burrito, which appeared in San Francisco in the 1960s, a thousand miles north.

So the Juárez on that menu is not a callback. It is the older thing, still being made, sitting one line below the newer thing on the same list. Beans and cheese in a flour tortilla is what a burrito was before California got hold of it.

A shop selling the bigger version keeps the smaller one on the menu anyway. It would be easy not to. Somebody decided both should exist.

Why I ordered it

Because I was never coming back.

I was eating a regional food I cannot get at home. There was exactly one order to place, and no second visit to learn anything on. So I spent an extra $8.50 buying information instead of breakfast.

That is the opposite of the sushi place I have been going to since 2016, where I have ordered the same two things for a decade and never once looked at the rest of the menu. Same person. One place I go often enough that I stopped deciding; one place I would visit once, so I had to decide everything at once.

Both are reasonable.

The Discovery: Electric Kettle Meets Electric Vehicle

It’s a fall October evening. The sun is sinking behind the Cascades as my Rivian hums quietly at a charging station. The air has that unmistakable Northwest bite – cool, damp, and earthy. I’m leaning against the tailgate, watching the light fade, when a simple craving hits: I want a cup of coffee. Maybe tea. Or even instant soup.

That’s when it clicks. Why not keep an electric kettle in the truck?

The Rivian has 120V outlets built right in. Silent power on tap. No generator, no gas stove – just plug-and-play convenience that makes a charging stop feel like home.

My Complete Budget Rivian Coffee Setup

Total cost: under $75 (less than most people spend on coffee in a week)

Sure, you could spend $200+ on a fancy temperature-controlled gooseneck kettle. But for tailgate coffee while your EV charges? This budget setup delivers café-quality results without the premium price tag.

1. Amazon Basics Electric Kettle

Get the Amazon Basics Electric Kettle →

This is the foundation of the whole setup. The Amazon Basics Electric Stainless Steel Kettle is compact, durable, and surprisingly fast. It holds just over a quart of water and boils in 4-5 minutes thanks to a 1500-watt heating element.

Why it’s perfect for the Rivian:

• 1500W power draw works perfectly with Rivian’s 120V outlets
• Auto shut-off prevents battery drain if you forget it
• Boil-dry protection for peace of mind
• Stainless-steel interior (BPA-free and easy to clean)
• Compact enough to store in the gear tunnel or under a seat

The affordability is a bonus – it’s cheap enough to keep permanently in the truck without worrying if it gets knocked around on rough roads.

2. Hario V60 Plastic Coffee Dripper

Get the Hario V60 Dripper →

The Hario V60 Plastic Coffee Dripper 02 is lightweight, unbreakable, and built for travel. Plastic might not sound premium, but it’s actually ideal for a vehicle setup – no broken ceramic or chipped enamel to worry about.

Perfect for EV camping because:

• Practically indestructible
• Weighs almost nothing
• Makes exceptional pour-over coffee
• Fits over most mugs or thermoses
• Takes up minimal storage space

3. Mini Manual Coffee Grinder

Get the Mini Hand Grinder →

Fresh-ground coffee makes all the difference. This Mini Manual Coffee Grinder has 40 adjustable settings and a small crank that feels satisfyingly mechanical. There’s something about grinding beans by hand that slows time down just enough to appreciate the moment.

Why hand-grinding works for road trips:

• No power needed (save the battery for the kettle)
• Compact and portable
• Consistent grind quality
• Becomes part of the ritual
• Quiet operation (no 6am blender noise at campsites)

How to Make Pour-Over Coffee in Your Rivian

The next morning after ordering my setup, I made my first pour-over coffee from the tailgate. Here’s the process:

1. Plug in the kettle to your Rivian’s 120V outlet (front trunk, bed, or cabin)
2. Grind your beans while the water heats (about 30 grams for a 16oz cup)
3. Set up the V60 over your mug with a paper filter
4. Pour slowly in a spiral motion once the kettle boils
5. Enjoy as steam rises into the cool air

As the kettle reached a quiet boil, I poured a slow spiral of water over freshly ground beans, steam rising into the cool air. The smell of coffee mixed with pine and damp leaves. No gas stove, no noise – just quiet, efficient heat from the truck’s battery and a ritual that felt grounding.

That first sip was everything.

Maybe it was the crisp air, maybe it was the silence – but it reminded me that simple comforts don’t need to be sacrificed when you travel electric. With a few compact tools and some fresh beans, even a charging stop can feel like a café in the woods.

Beyond Coffee: Other Uses for Your Rivian Electric Kettle

This setup isn’t just for coffee. The electric kettle opens up a whole world of possibilities:

• Tea – proper brewing temperature for any variety
• Instant meals – ramen, soup, oatmeal, dehydrated camping food
• Hot chocolate – perfect for kids on family road trips
• French press coffee – if pour-over isn’t your style
• Hot water bottles – instant warmth on cold camping nights

Storage Tips for Your EV Coffee Kit

I keep this little setup packed and ready in a small stuff sack:

• Kettle stores in the gear tunnel or front trunk
• V60 and grinder nest together in a small bag
• Coffee beans in an airtight container
• Filters and a small towel complete the kit

Everything fits in a space smaller than a shoebox, and it’s always ready for the next adventure.

Budget Coffee Setup: The Complete List

Ready to upgrade your charging stops? Here’s everything you need:

• Amazon Basics Electric Kettle – Fast-boiling, reliable, perfect for EV use
• Hario V60 Dripper – Portable perfection for pour-overs
• Mini Hand Grinder – The ritual of the road in 30 grams

Total investment: Less than $75 for café-quality coffee anywhere your Rivian takes you.

Whether it’s a dawn departure or a sunset stop, there’s something satisfying about brewing coffee right from the Rivian – electrons in, caffeine out.

FAQ: Making Coffee in Your Rivian

Will using an electric kettle drain my Rivian’s battery? Minimally. Boiling water uses about 0.1-0.2 kWh, which is less than 0.2% of your total battery capacity. You won’t even notice the difference in range.

Can I use this setup in other electric vehicles? Any EV with a real 120V household outlet can handle a 1500W kettle. The F-150 Lightning, the Cybertruck and several GM EVs have them. Note that the Tesla Model S and Model X do not: their accessory outlets are low-voltage and nowhere near enough for a kettle.

Do I need special filters for the Hario V60? Standard V60 size 02 paper filters work great. Buy a pack of 100 and keep them with your kit.

Can I use pre-ground coffee instead of the hand grinder? Absolutely. The hand grinder elevates the experience, but pre-ground coffee works fine if you want to simplify the setup even more (and skip the grinder).

What about cleaning while on the road? The beauty of this setup is how easy it is to clean. Rinse the kettle and V60 with water, compost the grounds and filter, and you’re done. No soap needed between uses.

Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you buy through one, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Hotel Wi-Fi. Airport Wi-Fi. Cruise Wi-Fi. It’s all one giant roulette wheel of frustration.

I used to just accept it. I’d go through the “agree to terms” captive portal, connect every device one by one, and pray that the connection wouldn’t drop right in the middle of an upload. Until one day, I saw Dave’s Garage and Network Chuck both talking about something called a travel router — specifically the GL.iNet Slate AX (GL-AXT1800) — and it completely changed how I connect on trips.

What Is a Travel Router?

Think of it as your own portable Wi-Fi network in a box.

You plug it into the hotel’s Ethernet jack or connect it to their Wi-Fi once, and it creates your own secure Wi-Fi bubble for all your devices. Laptops, phones, tablets — they all reconnect automatically to your network, not the hotel’s.

It means you only have to deal with the “sign-in page” once, and everything else just works. That alone was worth it. But this little box does a lot more.

Why I Picked the GL.iNet Slate AX

After watching Network Chuck set it up like a pro (coffee in hand, naturally), I went down the rabbit hole. Here’s what sold me:

• Wi-Fi 6 performance: Dual-band speeds up to 1800 Mbps (600 Mbps on 2.4GHz + 1200 Mbps on 5GHz).
• VPN-ready: WireGuard (up to 550 Mbps) and OpenVPN pre-installed, compatible with 30+ VPN providers.
• AdGuard Home integration: Block ads and trackers across your entire network.
• OpenWrt: Customize it, install plugins, or even build your own private VPN gateway.
• Guest Mode & QoS: Keep things organized if you’re sharing Wi-Fi with family or coworkers.
• NAS support: Plug in a USB drive and instantly share files on your private network.
• Cloudflare encryption & IPv6: For faster, more secure browsing.

This router is small but mighty — about the size of a deck of cards, yet packed with serious power.

Real Talk: Why It Solves a Real Pain Point

Every trip I’ve taken — from hotels to Airbnbs to RV parks — I’ve wasted time reconnecting devices, troubleshooting dropped Wi-Fi, or exposing my laptop on an untrusted network. This little device fixed all that.

Now I just plug it in, connect once, and my devices think they’re back home. My VPN kicks in automatically. No random networks, no throttled speeds, and no sketchy public hotspots.

And because it’s portable and USB-powered, I can toss it in my tech pouch next to my chargers and adapters.

Final Thoughts

I wish I’d discovered this years ago. If you travel even a few times a year — for business, vacation, or content creation — a travel router will instantly upgrade your digital life on the road.

You can grab the same one I use on Amazon here: 👉 GL.iNet Slate AX (GL-AXT1800)

Trust me: once you’ve set it up once, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it.

Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you buy through one, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Update, 5 September 2026

The Roastery closed for good on 25 September 2025, about eight months after I wrote this. Starbucks shut both Seattle Reserve locations the same day, as part of a wider round of closures. The building is a restored 1920s auto showroom on Pike Street and it ran for nearly eleven years.

I have left the piece exactly as it was. It was true when I wrote it, and a place that no longer exists is still worth a record of what it was like to stand in. Everything below is written in the present tense about somewhere you can no longer go.

Seattle is synonymous with coffee, and at the heart of this caffeinated culture lies the Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Pike Street in Capitol Hill. A unique experience that transcends your typical coffee shop visit, the Roastery is part coffee shrine, part artisanal laboratory, and part culinary adventure. Whether you’re a casual coffee drinker or a seasoned aficionado, the Roastery is a destination that showcases the art, science, and passion behind Starbucks’ Reserve line.

A Feast for the Senses

Walking into the Roastery is an experience in itself. The warm glow of copper accents, exposed brick, and polished wood invites you into an atmosphere that feels both industrial and luxurious. The scent of freshly roasted coffee permeates the air, mingling with notes of caramel, chocolate, and freshly baked bread from the onsite Princi bakery.

The space is vast and open, designed for exploration. You’ll see sacks of unroasted coffee beans, massive roasting machines, and baristas meticulously crafting drinks like chemists in a lab. It’s more than a café—it’s a sensory feast.

Coffee Innovation at Its Best

The Starbucks Reserve Roastery isn’t just about serving coffee; it’s about showcasing the journey from bean to cup. Unlike a typical Starbucks location, the Roastery offers small-lot coffees from around the world, roasted onsite in small batches for peak flavor. These exclusive blends are available for tasting and purchase, making it a perfect spot to expand your coffee palate.

For those curious about the brewing process, the Roastery offers a variety of brewing methods, from siphon and pour-over to nitro cold brew. Watching the baristas expertly prepare these drinks is a performance in itself.

Exclusive Beverages and Food Pairings

One of the highlights of the Roastery experience is the exclusive menu, featuring drinks you won’t find at your neighborhood Starbucks. Whether it’s a Nitro Molé Mocha, a Shakerato Bianco, or a seasonal creation, these beverages are crafted to highlight the unique qualities of Reserve beans.

The onsite Princi bakery elevates the experience further. Freshly baked pastries, artisanal pizzas, and desserts are prepared daily, pairing perfectly with the Roastery’s coffee offerings. For a savory option, try the focaccia topped with seasonal ingredients, and for something sweet, the cornetti with a creamy filling is a must.

A note I owe this paragraph: Starbucks had announced it was pulling the Princi name out of its US Reserve stores in September 2024, four months before I wrote this. I did not know that when I visited, and the bakery was still operating as Princi when I stood in it. The whole location closed a year later.

Educational Opportunities

For those looking to dive deeper into the world of coffee, the Roastery offers tasting flights and interactive classes. These sessions are a great way to learn about the complexities of coffee, from regional flavor profiles to roasting techniques. The staff are incredibly knowledgeable and eager to share their expertise, making the experience both educational and fun.

The Perfect Spot for Coffee Enthusiasts and Visitors

Whether you’re a Seattle local or visiting the city for the first time, the Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Pike Street is an unforgettable destination. It’s a place to savor coffee in its finest forms, marvel at the craftsmanship behind each cup, and indulge in delicious food. The Roastery embodies the essence of Seattle’s coffee culture while offering a global perspective on the art of coffee.

Pro Tips for Your Visit

Struck through: there is no visit to plan any more. Left here as a record of what one was like.

1. Arrive early to avoid the crowds, especially on weekends.
2. Plan to spend some time exploring the space, as there’s a lot to take in.
3. Don’t skip the specialty drinks and pastries—they’re worth every penny.
4. If you’re shopping for coffee gear or Reserve beans, the Roastery has a curated selection you won’t find elsewhere.

The Starbucks Reserve Roastery is more than just a coffee shop; it’s a celebration of coffee as an art form. Next time you’re in Capitol Hill, make sure to stop by and immerse yourself in this one-of-a-kind coffee experience. You can’t. It closed on 25 September 2025.

Most places mark that with a plaque and a sheet cake.

They tried to break a Guinness World Record instead.

A thousand people, one book each, five metres

The plan was simple enough to explain in a sentence. Get more than a thousand people to the Saratoga Library on a Saturday morning, put a book on each of their heads, and have all of them walk five metres at the same time.

Anyone can balance a book on their head. A four year old can do it. That is the whole appeal of a record like this one, and it is also the trap.

The Guinness record for the most people balancing books on their heads at once stood at 998. Danielle Di-Masi set it in North Sydney in November 2012.

So the challenge was never the book. It was finding nine hundred and ninety-nine people who would show up in one parking lot, on one morning, and all do the same easy thing in the same thirty seconds, while somebody counted.

609 walked.

What a record attempt actually looks like

It looks like a crowd that mostly doesn’t know what to do with itself.

People arrive early. People arrive late. Families spread out on the grass. Kids test their book on the walk over and drop it four times. Batman was there. So was S.J. Sharkie, in from the San Jose Sharks, which is its own kind of Bay Area logic.

Then somebody with a megaphone starts organizing several hundred strangers into something countable, and you understand what the record is really measuring.

Not balance. Attendance.

I was in the middle of it with a hardback on my head, which is the correct way to see one of these.

Shot on an app that was eleven days old

Instagram released Hyperlapse on August 26, 2014. The walk was September 6.

So I filmed it on an iPhone running an app that had been on the store for less than two weeks, and I did the whole thing as a time lapse because two minutes felt like the honest length for a morning that was mostly waiting. I cut it in Final Cut Pro X afterward.

The speed is doing real work here. At normal speed it’s a few hundred people standing around in a parking lot. Sped up, you can see the shape of it. The milling, the slow gathering into a line, the moment the whole crowd moves at once and then immediately stops being a crowd again.

That last part is only about four seconds long. It’s the part everyone came for.

The number they got

The record stayed in North Sydney.

But 609 people gave up part of a Saturday to walk five metres with a book on their head, because a library system was a hundred years old and asked them to.

For a birthday party, 609 is a good turnout. It just isn’t a world record.