EVERETT — On an uncharacteristically cold and foggy summer day at the Port of Everett, a new whiskey bar and coffee shop sticks out, gleaming like a gilded island in a sea of gray.
At first glance, the dark gray exterior of The Muse Whiskey & Coffee, housed in the historic Weyerhaeuser Building, blended in well with the stormy sky behind it. On the pier just steps away, dogs frolicked in the surf as their owners put up hoods against whipping waterfront winds.
From my cozy perch by a window inside the bar, I sipped a cocktail while watching people outside walking their dogs. I was early, the lone customer in the bar at 4:30 p.m. on a Monday, but my opulent surroundings lent the afternoon an air of being in a classy coffeehouse.
That’s not on accident — the Muse, open in the portside Millwright Loop since early July, doubles as a café before 4 p.m. The whiskey bar is in a separate space from the coffee shop, but in the late afternoon, I could still faintly hear the sounds of everyday routine in the cavernous Art Deco-inspired room beyond: espresso machines being cleaned, croissants and breakfast sandwiches being wrapped up.
A charcuterie board at the Muse Whiskey and Coffee in Everett, Washington on Monday, July 24, 2023. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
It’s the kind of place you could impress a first date with, or simply sit alone in one of the plush jewel-toned velvet chairs nursing one of the bar’s luxe house cocktails, as I did. When Herald photographer Annie Barker eventually joined me, the marble-topped two-seat table we occupied became pleasantly cramped, the way it does during late-night work sessions or deep chats with friends on evenings like these.
In tribute to the century-old building it occupies, the Muse’s whiskey bar borrows a sense of casual opulence from the Prohibition-era speakeasies popular when the Weyerhaeuser first went up. The room is rich in velvety emerald greens and sapphire blues, and gold accents abound, not least in the sparkling, gilded shelves holding the bar’s tasteful selection of liquor. The mirrored, gently backlit case reaches up to the ceiling, so bartenders climb up regularly on a sliding ladder (also golden, of course) to grab patrons’ selected poisons, offering a little in-house entertainment as you linger over your drink.
But don’t fret if you turn up after a portside walk in your cargo shorts and sandals — the atmosphere is classy, yes, but casual enough for a quiet after-work get-together or evening hang with friends. Reservations are recommended for seating in the small bar space and require a deposit of $20 per person, which is applied back to your final bill. But on a slow afternoon like this one, it’s worth a try to score a seat when the mood strikes.
A collection of whiskey on display at the Muse Whiskey and Coffee in Everett, Washington on Monday, July 24, 2023. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Open the Muse’s leather-bound menu to find a listing of house cocktails ranging from the fruity and flirty — like Bootleggers Gold ($20), which combines vodka and chartreuse with lemon, lime and pineapple for a moody-yet-sunny sipper — to older-fashioned concoctions harkening back to Prohibition, like the Roy Rum Runner ($18): white rum, rhum agricole, lime juice and seasonal simple syrup.
The craft bar can turn out any drink your heart desires, so don’t hesitate to get a little creative. When Annie requested an alcohol-free mocktail, the bartender presented us with a gorgeously layered, picture-perfect strawberry lemonade, garnished with sprigs of mint and wedges of citrus. There’s a full selection of beer and wine on hand, too.
But it’s a whiskey bar, after all, and there’s something on hand for all palates. For whiskey skeptics, or those (like myself) traumatized by past encounters with the low-quality stuff, get your sea legs under you with a whiskey-based cocktail to smooth out the sting.
I opted for the Dark Walnut ($22), characterized by my host, Brock, as a fuller-bodied, sharper version of an espresso martini. A mix of Jameson Irish Whiskey, housemade walnut and pistachio syrups and espresso, it arrived in a wide coupe glass topped with a fine foam of chocolatey bubbles, like those on an artfully-poured latte. It’s the perfect sipper for an afternoon like this one, too early to go in for the harder stuff but late enough that you could use a caffeinated pick-me-up. The nutty syrups soften the bracing edge of the whiskey but don’t mask the much-needed bite of the liquor that keeps the drink from being overly rich or sweet.
Inside the Muse Whiskey and Coffee in Everett, Washington on Monday, July 24, 2023. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Care to test the limits of your whiskey knowledge? The Muse’s bar is stocked with hundreds of bottles, a full four-page list of which Brock handed me on an iPad to browse. Start off easy with a $9 glass of Wild Turkey and work your way up through the dozens of handcrafted, imported and unique whiskeys to the bar’s highest-end offerings, rare bottles sought after by collectors the world over. A pour of one rarified option, a Kentucky bourbon bottled by the James E. Pepper distillery in 1933, will run you about $1,200.
And that’s not even the top end. In the Weyerhaeuser Building’s two-story, concrete-lined vault, once used to store the lumber company’s payroll, the greatest treasure among the Muse’s collection is now a bottle of Rémy Martin Louis XIII Iconic Cognac. Displayed pride-of-place behind a metal grille, the 3-liter bottle is one of 50 ever produced, only 20 of which remain unopened, Brock said. The ultra-rare collector’s item can be all yours for the cool price of $48,000.
If hunger should strike as you linger at the bar, the Muse’s menu includes a handful of small plates perfect for sharing or grazing. We went for the charcuterie board ($35), an impressively curated selection of fruit, cheese and cured meats that paired surprisingly well with my assertive espresso cocktail.
The Muse Whiskey and Coffee in Everett, Washington on Monday, July 24, 2023. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Charcuterie boards can run the risk of being repetitive or uninspired, especially when played against such strong centerpiece drinks, but here it’s all about the attention to detail. Plump, tart green grapes were drizzled delicately with a floral honey that worked beautifully in tandem with the mild Gruyère and creamy brie. Rosemary-scented cloves of garlic confit can be spread over crostini or paired with balsamic-topped pickled asparagus for a heavenly combination of flavors and textures.
And the cambozola cheese — a soft-ripened, unapologetically funky mix between triple cream brie and Gorgonzola with a tingly aftertaste that leaves your tongue faintly buzzing — was a truly indescribable experience I hope to have again. Next time, I won’t let the smell scare me off.
Riley Haun: 425-339-3192; riley.haun@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @RHaunID.
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