“The only good thing about Saint Helena is the coffee.” –Napoleon Bonaparte
At the beginning of August 2016, the Starbucks Reserve Roastery & Tasting room in Seattle offered a micro lot of Saint Helena. Starbucks purchased 1/3 of the islands yearly production (around 200 pounds), and only 20lbs of it was reserved for the Roastery to sell. It sold out very quickly, as one could imagine, but I was lucky enough to have a few ounces sent to me. This coffee was made available to reserve subscribers on the Starbucks online store, and sold out in less than 24 hours. ($80 for an 8.8 ounce bag with hand numbered card, for those interested)
At $10 an ounce, is it worth it?
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When I first started working at Starbucks in 2005, I was obsessed with the toffee almond bar. I think we all were. It was the most delicious blondie, with chunks of dark chocolate, white chocolate and toffee. It was, hands down, the best Starbucks pastry. Every once in a while, a conversation will come up about “What Starbucks thing do you miss the most” The list is long, but toffee almond bars (and valencia!!) are always number one on my list. So I decided to make my own, and pair it with the Paradeisi Blend from the Roastery.
Ethiopia Gedeb is one of the newer coffees at the Roastery, and will be hitting all Reserve stores in September. Have you ever had a coffee that you just couldn’t stop drinking? That is Ethiopia Gedeb for me. I have a doppio espresso of it every morning since I got it, and have been making small batches of cold brew to drink in the afternoon. It is one of those coffees that is just delightful any way you brew it.
Once again, Kopelani has returned to Starbucks stores. This tropical inspired blend made it’s debut in 2008, exclusively on the Hawaiian islands. A blend of coffees from East Africa, Latin America and 10% Kona coffee, the name Kopelani translates to heavenly coffee, and this coffee definitely lives up to it’s name.
As you all know by now, I am a huge fan of the VIA category. This year, Starbucks Japan has released a Via matcha essence, which like the other products in the Via category, instant. Just add milk or water, and you have a matcha green tea latte in a flash!
Last year, my husband and I went to Portland for the weekend. We went on our usual coffee crawl, and one of our stops, Barista, had a new drink on their menu. A coffee shrub spritzer. Espresso cold brewed with balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and sparkling water. I am one of those crazy ‘apple cider vinegar cures everything’ people, so I had to try it out of my love for everything vinegar.