This tiny, new, women-owned coffee company makes Seattle's best latte

WHEN IT COMES TO COFFEE, is there anything new under the sun? Especially in Seattle, it can seem like all of the things have been done, and the path of least resistance and greatest ubiquity might have its allure. But if you're hearing the siren song of Starbucks - maybe for a toasted coconut latte, for a treat - listen: Tiny new local cafe-and-roastery Bonhomie is hugely better.

Start with Bohomie's kremas latte. Based on a Haitian holiday cocktail, this is a coffee drink that takes you places - capturing natural tropical sweetness, luxurious creaminess, a ping of citrus, toasty and nutty and caramel notes with warm spices. Bonhomie's default setting for all beverages is oat milk, but you'd never miss the dairy here; the coconut cream and vanilla in the drink's housemade vegan syrup take care of that. A dose of nonalcoholic rum adds depth, lime (both juice and zest) provides zing, almond lends nuttiness and the trinity of cinnamon-nutmeg-anise pushes all kinds of memory buttons. The espresso itself stays mellow, with low acidity - unlike a certain mermaid-branded behemoth, Bonhomie neither over-roasts its beans nor runs its shots too long - but there's definitely complexity, with hints of cherry and dark chocolate. Damn, the kremas latte is good.

A Starbucks toasted coconut latte defaults to 2% milk; along with their espresso, it's got the corporate coconut syrup, which is water, sugar, "natural flavors (coconut)," citric acid and potassium sorbate.

Enough about that entity. Bonhomie's so different, its Seattle start - its existence on the same planet - feels radical. The company is proudly Black-, queer- and women-owned. Wife-and-wife proprietors Michelle and Victoria Dean source coffee beans from Haiti as a celebration of Michelle's heritage, and their three kinds boast Haitian Creole names: There's Flannen, "to wander"; Lakou, "the yard"; and Nou La, "we're here."

Haitian beans are especially moisture-rich, Michelle says; the ones they source are Blue Mountain arabica. Bonhomie stops their roast before the second crack, which is coffee-nerdery for the actual sounds heard as the beans toast.

"We feel like that's where it shines the most," Victoria says, "just medium enough for it to really express its flavor, but not too dark to overpower it."

Michelle says the aim of the kremas latte is to "surprise and delight," and that's 100% on target. There's also the Bonhomie Haitian mocha latte, which comes from Michelle's memories of her mom's chokola - Haiti's full-bodied hot chocolate. "If you had to taste warmth," she says, "that is what it would taste like." The bannann dous latte tastes like toffee plus the earthy sugar of plantains with a welcome touch of salt. For summertime, choosing between the kafe ak lèt - cold brew incorporating cardamom, cinnamon and star anise - or an iced kremas is the kind of problem we all wish were the only one weighing on our minds.

For snacks, Bonhomie offers two kinds of Haitian-adjacent patties, gold-tinged puff pastries with beef or black bean filling, plus a light, velvety butter cake (the kind that's perfect for breakfast). Isaiah Ruffin of Pizza by Ruffin makes it all. After connecting with the Deans on social media, "I could feel how community-focused they are - a value we deeply align on - and we instantly vibed," he says. "Now we're friends." He says it's his joy to make "diasporan-forward goods" for Bonhomie.

Michelle and Victoria met in the MBA program at Georgia Tech. Michelle had studied marketing in undergrad; Victoria, engineering. "She is a tinkerer and a learner," Michelle says of Victoria, but also acts as a force of progress, of courage. To Michelle's ideas, she says, Victoria would respond, " 'Yeah, you got it. I believe in you and me … it's going to be worth it.'"

"Her public persona is very fun and bubbly," Victoria says of Michelle. "I'm a little bit more reserved … But she's definitely a nerd behind the scenes.

"If I can get aligned with whatever she wants to do and power whatever dream she has, I know that it will be successful," Victoria avows.

Michelle had briefly been a barista, and after a move to Seattle, she started playing around with Haitian flavors making coffee at home. To Victoria, these experiments clearly had potential. "Talking about Haitian culture through the language of coffee - that really started to hit in a meaningful way," Michelle says.

So the idea of Bonhomie was, collaboratively, born - a coffee company that would support Haitian coffee growers while also celebrating the culture and the rich, deep and bright flavors treasured there.

Then, serendipitously, they connected with David Pierre Louis, who imports coffee beans from Haiti with his local Haiti Coffee Co. Victoria took a course to learn the science and artisanship of roasting coffee. And in 2024, the Deans started holding at-home pop-ups, testing coffee drinks on friends, Michelle making them on their household espresso machine that they'd eventually burn out.

By early 2025, Bonhomie Coffee Bar had a mobile cart and a residency at Pizza by Ruffin, in South Lake Union's Fairview Market Hall, then brunch pop-ups at Belltown's Lenox. Parties and corporate events followed, and so did events like The Block, a meetup uniting and showcasing all kinds of Seattle-area mobile cafes. Then there's LAKOU, Bonhomie's roving DJ parties with Haitian-and-adjacent music. The business wasn't just to make superlative Haitian coffee, but also to build community.

Now Bonhomie Coffee Bar has found a new, albeit temporary, home at what has to be Seattle's best-kept secret of a cafe - inside Belltown's Labour Temple, historically home to local unions and now painstakingly restored into a coworking and event space. Just off the building's gleaming lobby, the setting is low-key posh and overall lovely, with perfect lighting and paint color choices you might want to borrow.

It's an appropriately jewel-box-like setting for Bonhomie, and while their residency here is scheduled to end June 30, they're making the most of it and making it their own. Take, for example, the Little Library - the cafe's selection of Haitian literature, history and more, available via a sign-out-sheet honor system. The cafe is tip-free, but those with extra generosity are guided to donate to P4H Global, an award-winning nonprofit devoted to teacher training in Haiti.

Michelle talks about Haiti's historic production of coffee and sugar, about the country becoming the first Black free republic in the Western hemisphere when it won independence in 1804. "Knowing those things," she says, "and also committing them to the heart, is very, very empowering. There's a legacy in this culture, and we get to share that legacy with people."

When it comes to the name - pronounced "baah-nuh-mee" - Michelle says she'd just loved the word since she first heard it. From the French, in English it means "cheerful friendliness," but she likes that it also looks like "good homie" and sounds like "bon zanmi, which means "good friend in Haitian Creole.

What's next for Bonhomie is T.B.D. - more residencies; more events; eventually, hopefully, their own cafe. Come what may, it'll surely be true to their slogan: "We bring together bon moun - good people." It takes them to know them.

5 favorites from Bonhomie's Michelle and Victoria Dean

Lenox: "Our play cousins at Lenox were one of our brunch and dinner staples, and now we collaborate on regular brunch pop-ups."

Fat's Chicken & Waffles: "Our favorite Sunday brunch spot with the kindest Erikas [White and Kidd] running the show."

Marjorie: "Donna [Moodie, owner] has curated a menu and space that blends southern comfort, upscale dining and seasonal PNW ingredients. Our team holiday dinner was at Marjorie and I think we accidentally started a new tradition."

Taquería El Ranchito: "Hands down our favorite tacos in the metro - al pastor everything!"

Stevie's Famous: "Now they got me working since we have to 'make it a Normie,' but a Normie and a small house salad is our post-big-event tradition."

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This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 4:55 PM.