The Most Popular Kitchen Tool In Washington Might Not Surprise You

If you want to suss a person, check out their kitchen. According to House Beautiful, this room is pretty much the heart of the home, and will tell you quite a bit about who inhabits it. The style, the palette, the functionality, and yes, how clean (or not) it is, all serve as indicators of just what kind of person is cooking there. Ditto the tools, which, according to Eat This, Not That!, are a must for any well-appointed kitchen. Americans spend more than $1 billion annually on kitchen gadgets, per Statista. In 2021, the most popular items were the air fryer and the slow cooker, according to Southern Living.

It turns out that kitchen trends vary widely by state, and not all are so elaborate. A recent study by Eat This, Not That! took stock of the most searched items before the holidays, to get a handle on who was looking to buy what, and the results were interesting, to say the least. The most searched kitchen gadget in New York, for example, was the ice cube tray. And in Alaska, it was ice cream makers. Missourians were hunting down hot dog toasters (yep, they are toasters that you insert the dog and bun in and out pops a cooked dog and warmed bun ... who knew?) Texans searched for meat tenderizers (the hammer kind). Georgians wanted taco holders. Californians wanted juicers (go figure). And in the heart of the Pacific Northwest? This one's not too surprising.

The most-searched kitchen gadget in Washington State comes as no surprise, as coffee is kind of their thing — the espresso machine topped the list. Is it any wonder that the residents of the state that gave Starbucks its wings, and is the epicenter of the craft coffee culture, searched out espresso machines as holiday gift ideas? Seattle itself, Washington's largest city, is often recognized as the number-one coffee city in America. In 2016 Washington designated coffee the official state beverage, making it the first state to do so, per Sprudge. People in Seattle consume more espresso than the rest of us, per The Daily Meal, and that's not just from Starbucks. There are, according to Matador Network, 278 coffee shops there. Two other Washington cities, Vancouver and Everett, make the top 10 list of the most coffee shops per capita in the U.S.

Why is coffee so big in Washington? Coffeehouses are very much a part of the landscape there, which may have something to do with their familial nature and intellectualist vibe. In a state where it rains all the time, perhaps the smell of a good roast, conversation, and community lend pseudo-sunny rays of contentment. Starting their day with a slug of espresso and heading out, umbrella in hand is apparently how Washingtonians are facing 2022. A good cup of Joe and a smile can make even the rainiest days happy.