Gravitas Blend number 2. A blend of three African coffees; Rwanda Abakundakawa, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Chelba and Burundi Murambi. Paired with grapefruit and buddhas hand brioche wrapped in dark chocolate….
Chuao chocolate tasting
My friend Melody asked me if I could help her out with a coffee tasting with Chuao chocolates. Obviously, this was a no brainer.
I have been a huge fan of Chuao chocolates for a long time, and was absolutely delighted when we started selling them at Starbucks! I love their unique flavor combinations, and there are so many different kinds that could work well with our coffees. Since we started carrying these, I have been sampling them with our coffees at the register. So this was a fun project for me to take on!
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Everything Matters
As we get closer to our move date (June 1st), my focus on creating recipes & pairings have shifted to full on clean and get ready to move mode. It is always stressful moving, but especially moving across the country, to a place we have never been. Very soon I’ll be slinging lattes in Michigan, but in the meantime, I am cleaning and organizing.
In this process, I found an old photocopy of a poster called ‘Everything Matters’. It must have been from some leadership meeting in the Bay Area, circa 2007? (just based off of the other papers it was with). The top of the poster had the logo evolution and a quote from Howard Schultz. Even with the outdated pictures and the typos, the message was strong and clear, and I decided to update it.
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Tastefolio: Rwanda Mahembe
2015 Rwanda cup of excellence second place winner Rwanda Mahembe. Vibrant flavors of orange, peach and honey. So sweet it’s like eating candy! Served in Loliware’s yuzu citrus cup….
Ethiopia with chocolate cinnamon bread
When people ask me about my favorite promotion at Starbucks, I always answer without hesitation. 2007 coffee is culinary campaign. A collaboration between chef Marcus Samuelsson and master blender Andrew Linnemann, this promotion brought us two spectacular coffees, two new bakery items, and a cookbook. The Joya del Dia and Ubora blend have never resurfaced, along with the caramelized apple pecan coffee cake, but the chocolate cinnamon bread has popped in and out a time or two. This bread was always my favorite. Intense, rich cocoa notes with a hint of cinnamon, and the best sugar-spice crust. …
Heal the Bay blend with spicy oatmeal cookies
I caught wind of a limited time custom blend offering in California, and I was lucky enough to have my friend Alia snag a bag and send it to me.
Heal the bay and Starbucks have joined in a year long partnership, to help promote clean local beaches and watersheds. This partnership spans 92 stores (!!) from Thousand Oaks to El Segundo. The Heal the Bay blend is being offered through February, so if you are in Southern California, check to see if your store carries it. Each bag is $5, and all proceeds go directly to Heal the Bay!
If you are not able to grab a bag, I’ll post the recipe for this blend so you can try this pairing and share with your partners!
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Sumatra Aceh with chocolate banana bread
When you think of Sumatra, you probably think of a coffee with incredible earthy notes and a heavy syrupy body. This is not that coffee.
Core Sumatra is one of my favorite coffees at Starbucks, but when a Sumatra reserve comes out, I always get excited. They are always so different, and the Sumtra Aceh is no exception. With big fruity notes and a silky chocolate finish, it has quickly become one of my favorite reserve offerings.
Aceh (pronounced ah-chey) is a province on the northwest tip of Sumatra. This coffee is semi-washed with a low acidity and a medium body. It has this great sweet banana flavor, and I love pairing it with Starbucks banana loaf. I had a bunch of bananas that turned, so making banana bread had to happen!…
Burundi Murambi with black tea jelly
A few weeks ago Burundi Murambi appeared on the scoop bar at the roastery. We have not seen an offering from Burundi in a very long time (about 3 years) so I was ecstatic to go over there and pick up a few bags.
I believe this coffee will be launching in all Starbucks Reserve stores in March or April, so it is not a roastery exclusive. One of the perks of being so close to the roastery is to be able to try all the reserves months before they hit the stores!
Burundi Murambi is a complex blend of lemon, black tea and cinnamon spice notes. This coffee goes through a double fermentation, where beans undergo both wet and dry fermentation stages. This process, unique to Burundi and Kenya, extends the processing time to produce limited batches. You can taste all of the hard work and love in this cup, unfolding layers of lemon and cinnamon.
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Caffè Verona with dark chocolate mochi
It’s February, and that means it’s time for everything romance and Caffè Verona! Caffè Verona was one of the first core coffees I fell in love with. I love how rich and roasty sweet it is, and when you pair it with dark chocolate, it is out of this world amazing.
While we were in Hawaii, I rediscovered my love for mochi, and I knew I wanted to do a coffee tasting with it when we got back home.
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Nicaragua Maracaturra with honey-apricot granola
Nicaragua Maracaturra is the first reserve subscription for 2016! What an epic way to kick off the year! This coffee has sweet herbal aromas, with notes of peach, apricot and honey. This is the second time Starbucks has offered this coffee, the first being in 2012.
Before I get into the pairing, let’s talk about this long name this coffee has…. maracaturra. What does that mean? Maracaturra is a varietal, a naturally occurring cross between Maragogype and Caturra. Maragogype beans are also known as ‘elephant beans’; these beans are huge! It should also be noted that mara translates to crowded in Spanish. Once you see how large these beans are, try to imagine the cherries all on a branch. Crowded, indeed!
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