recipe | the modern barista

Hacienda Alsacia with lavender goat cheese cookies

November 22, 2015 by jocelyn 1 Comment

Christmas came early this year. The roastery had a very limited amount of the second crop of Hacienda Alsacia on the scoop bar. This went insanely fast, and I was lucky to grab several bags for me and my fellow partners. This is one of my favorite coffees to do tastings with. Not because of it’s sparkling acidity and bright floral and meyer lemon sweetness (which I adore) but because of the story behind it.

Hacienda Alsacia is the first farm Starbucks has owned and operated in it’s history. This coffee is grown by partners in Costa Rica. From partners for partners.

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2015 Christmas Reserve with Mulled spice shortbread

November 16, 2015 by jocelyn 2 Comments

This is the first year that Starbucks has offered a Christmas Blend Reserve coffee. This inspired coffee is a fusion of Aged Sumatra and the second harvest of Hacienda Alsacia, and features a balsam aroma and a sweet brightness with holiday flavors of orange and mulled spices.

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Aged Sumatra with butterscotch bourbon bacon popcorn

November 8, 2015 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

Hands down, one of my favorite reserve offerings is aged Sumatra. When I heard it was coming back, I immediately made a trip to the Roastery and grabbed several bags from the scoop bar. Aged Sumatra has never stuck around long enough for me to do a coffee pairing with it, and I was determined to do it this time around.

This lot of aged Sumatra was resting for three years. The aging process is methodical, as the beans must be handled carefully and tasted regularly. Time and effort are well rewarded in this case. The result, intriguing saddle-leather aromas with flavors of butterscotch and maple….

Kenya Kaganda with a sweet & spicy ugali

October 29, 2015 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

I try really hard not to duplicate pairings, but every so often a coffee will come around, and I’ll be reminded of a coffee of the past. Kenya Kaganda has a vibrant lime acidity, that reminded me of a reserve coffee from last year, Malawi Sable Farms.

Kaganda’s Farmer’s Cooperative Society has 1,300 members who deliver the cherry to the wet mill the same day the cherry is picked. There the coffee is sorted and pulped, using water from the Kihuti river. Once fermantation is complete, the coffee is sun-dried and delivered to the mill for secondary processing. This coffee is fully washed and sun dried, giving this cup a lime acidity, with flavor notes of peach and strawberry.

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Bali Vintage Klasik with lemon marshmallows

October 19, 2015 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

Making marshmallows holds a special place in my heart. In fact, marshmallows were the first thing I actually made from scratch. I have always been a foodie, but I never entered the kitchen. One day I was watching Good Eats, and there was Alton Brown making marshmallows. I had no idea you could make marshmallows, and suddenly I had to make them too.

Making marshmallows always brings me back to that moment, and I love looking back and taking in that bit of nostalgia. I am very glad I watched that episode of Good Eats, because without it, who knows if I ever would have taught myself to cook.

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Ethiopia Bitta Farm with banana & berry gummies

October 17, 2015 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

I have been tracking Ethiopia Bitta Farm at the roastery. To see it unloaded, destoned, roasted and bagged for reserve stores is incredible. To see how many different hands touch the coffee in this final stage, before it reaches us at the store. These are my favorite kinds of tastings, to piece together a story, as I am watching the coffee unfold in front of me.

Sometimes the coffee stirs you…

This coffee comes from the Kaffa region, where legend has it this is where curious goats gnawed berries from shrubs and experienced a surge of energy. When the goatherd tried the berries himself, coffee was discovered. Each bean is a direct descendant of legend.

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White chocolate mocha VIA latte cupcakes

October 12, 2015 by jocelyn 2 Comments

There is a new VIA latte in town – White chocolate mocha!

When I participated in the VIA innovation summit, I said I wanted to see three new types of VIA’s; Sumatra, chai tea latte, and white chocolate mocha. I’m certain that my suggestion had absolutely nothing to do with this product now being available, but hey.. It’s still pretty cool!

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Italian Roast double chocolate chip cookies

October 8, 2015 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

October is Fair Trade month, so I really wanted to make something to highlight our Italian Roast coffee. These cookies are loaded with Italian Roast via, and topped with whole bean Italian Roast. If you do not like chocolate or coffee, these cookies are not for you!

In the United States, Starbucks only offers one Fair Trade certified coffee, and that is currently Italian Roast. In the UK, they are offering Fair Trade Veranda and Espresso (including decaf) and online, you can still find Cafè Estima, which is still Fair Trade certified. Most markets at least offer one Fair Trade offering, and with that being said, Starbucks is one of the world’s largest purchaser of certified Fair Trade coffee!

Now, let’s talk about these cookies…..

Hawaii Ka’u with coconut & mango banana bread

October 5, 2015 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

Most of my recipes and pairings are meticulously planned… some of them happen by accident! I was going to make a smoothie, and all of my bananas were brown. Not just a little spotted, but almost black. They either had to go in the trash, or I had to make something with them, and I thought I’ll make banana bread. Easy enough. Then I decided I wanted to make something to pair with the Hawaii Ka’u, and that’s how I ended up with this!…

Bend Blend no4 with salted caramel rosettes

October 5, 2015 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

Since the launch of Bainbridge Blend, more and more custom blends are popping up. I am constantly amazed by how beautiful the labels are, and how fantastic the blends have all been, as well as the stories behind them. Listening to partners talk about how and why they chose these beans to tell their story of their location is so inspirational. This is why we’re here; to create inspired moments.

One of my friends was in Bend, Oregon this past weekend, and I asked her to pick me up a bag of this new blend. This is one I actually know very little about, but thankfully the label on the bag has a ton of information about this blend. It is a blend of Guatemala, Verona and Kenya….

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