My name is Seth Lester.  I am 27 years old and currently live in Philadelphia, PA!  For more info about me, read "About Me."

The Americano to go! Project is a project I've dreamed of doing for years but never really had the gumption to initiate.  The short story behind this project is that I will be living and working in 16 United States cities over the course of the next 4 years.  At each stop, I'll attempt to scour up a job in a coffeeshop while I live there for a period of 2 - 4 months.

On the side, when I'm not busy at work behind a coffee counter, I am diligently combing through research for a book that will chronicle in detail the evolution of specialty coffee in the United States from post-WW2 to the modern day.  Collecting stories and data on shops long gone and haunts in new neighborhoods has been thus far the most exciting part of the project and I'm always encouraged by the prospect of exploring and learning more!

To see what I've got planned in the future, check out the Itinerary.  For an interactive look at where I've been, check out my Work History.

About Seth

Waiting on a NYC Subway platform, February 2010. (Photo by Ashley Rawlings)

I was 22, and a philosophy/computer science double major at NC State when I took a job in 2004 at the Third Place, a coffee shop where I had previously spent my nights reading, doing schoolwork, and socializing.

What awaited me behind the counter was an introduction into the vast world of specialty coffee and a subsequent open door to explore the nature of the American coffee shop's modern anthropological role.

One day at work, I was struck by an idea.  The idea was simple:  Discover all there was to discover about Americana through the one commonality that unified the daily routines of fatcats and plebians, moguls and hoodlums, and of professionals and punks, alike.  The accessibility and appeal of coffee was widespread, spanning socioeconomic strata.  Everyone loved it, and why not?  It was delicious, sociable, fashionable, and America's top-selling drug.

So, with the lofty goal of taking in a panoramic slow-exposure snapshot of the United States, I quit my job, sold or got rid of everything I owned, hopped on my bicycle, and hit the road.  Now, I spend my days observing everything I can about the beverage that's responsible for many of the vast and sweeping stitches of the quilt of American experience.

How awesome is that damn logo?

You (and more importantly, I) can thank Mr. Cody Moorefield for it. He's a fellow coffeeslinger and design-student-extraordinaire at the NCSU College of Design in Raleigh, NC. If you want him to design stuff for you, I'm sure he'd be up for it.

UPDATE! Cody just informed me that he's graduating Summa cum Laude in May! Great job Cody - sorry you have to pay $20 extra for your cheap golden fabric sash!