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In Seattle, hometown of Starbucks, coffee is a topic locals debate with buzz-induced fervor -- with a piping cup of java in hand, of course. When baristas hold regular competitions to determine who brews the meanest macchiato, you know the topic has endless appeal. Here are some of my recent favorites among Seattle's most beloved coffee joints. And yours?

Editor's note: Where do you prefer to get your buzz on in the Pacific Northwest? Weigh in on our Travel Message Boards.

It's easy to get bad coffee in Seattle, says Bob Prince, sales manager at Caffe Vita ([206] 709-4440 or [888] 223-VITA; www.caffevita.com). "There are lots of people selling coffee who just aren't passionate enough."

The Vita boys, by contrast, are so passionate that they were forced to start locking their back-alley dumpsters when spies from other companies began making nighttime dives in attempts to find out what goes into Vita's divine espresso blend.

Mike McConnell, Vita's founder, travels the coffee-producing world -- between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn -- to forge relationships with farmers and educate them about the coffee profile he seeks. Once he finds the beans he wants, such as the single-origin Ethiopian Yirgacheffe or the Kenyan Peaberry, he establishes direct trade.

Back in Seattle, he has a factory-like roasteria (the centerpiece of which is a massive late-1930s Probat roaster that, yearly, turns 900,000 pounds of green coffee beans into the artisan product), a cupping lab, a training room and three Bohemian-style cafes in which highly satisfied customers -- and the occasional dog -- get their fill amid chill music (think mellow reggae or Amy Winehouse) and sparse art. Dave Matthews and Pearl Jam are fans and can sometimes be spotted at the company's Capitol Hill outlet.

Three Seattle-area locations: Capitol Hill, Queen Anne and Olympia.

There's usually a line snaking past the boundary of Espresso Vivace's ([206] 860-5869; www.espressovivace.com) checkered floor and out the door. The crowd is eclectic: hipsters wearing newsboy caps, tattooed girls with dual-tone hair, students sporting fauxhawks.

But the product they're waiting for, Northern Italian-inspired espresso, is homogeneously consistent, smooth and precise, qualities for which it has won an unwaveringly devoted fan base. For nearly two decades, owner David Schomer has developed a scientific methodology about the way he chooses, blends and roasts espresso. His research is so extensive that he wrote "Espresso Coffee: Professional Techniques," a book that has become an industry mainstay.

At Vivace's Capitol Hill location, the baristas are blasé enough to make you feel as though you're buying something exclusive, but not so disengaged as to let you buy the Dolce bean blend if you mention that you're going to have the brew with milk -- that calls for the Vita blend (duh). Bar backs, on the other hand, are perpetually sunny.

Music, likely to be country or down-home classic rock (the Eagles), seems to soothe customers, many of whom sit on retro-style bar stools facing windows overlooking a park. Clientele, which is often chatty, can also sit in the powerfully scented roasting room.

Three Seattle locations: two in Capitol Hill and one in South Lake Union.

You'll have to hunt for Lighthouse Roasters ([206] 634-3140; www.lighthouseroasters.com, 400 N. 43rd St.). Its only retail location is tucked away in a residential segment of Fremont, wrapped around the quiet corner of 43rd Street and Phinney Avenue.

When you get there, don't plan on doing work: It's one of Seattle's only coffeehouses without Wi-Fi, though you usually can catch a patchy signal from elsewhere.

A deep, nutty aroma greets customers. In the back of this small space (only six tables; minimal bar seating) sits a large, circa-1960s cast-iron roasting machine that fires up five days a week to churn out small batches of premium beans.

Chris Wilson offers this advice to indecisive customers: "You can just get a regular coffee if you want." So you order Captain Bert's Breakfast Blend, a French-pressed mix from Central American and Sumatran beans. It's good but pales in comparison to the mocha Wilson can make. With an artist's attention to detail, he laces an espresso shot with milk and a unique chocolate mix, then whisks the foam on top to picture perfection. The taste is flawless.

Bauhaus Books & Coffee ([206] 625-1600, no website, 301 E. Pine St.) sits on a prominent Capital Hill corner (Pine Street and Melrose Avenue). This beloved urban gem attracts sophisticated intellectuals -- and the coffee's great. Lattes are heavy on the milk, mochas are deep and rich with a lovely aftertaste.