reserve subscription | the modern barista

Honduras La Campa with plum fruit leather

August 30, 2017 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

August’s reserve subscription is Honduras La Campa. This is only the second time that I have seen a coffee from Honduras, the first being Honduras Premier.
The terrain in Honduras is rugged and precipitous, so getting ripe cherries has been a challenge. I am extremely delighted by this cup, unexpectedly fruity and complex with notes of plum and caramel.

This is the second to last reserve subscription coffee that will be available, as the online store is closing in October. I will miss my exclusive coffee every month, but I know Starbucks will come up with something new and exciting to continue to delight us and expand our coffee journey. The final coffee will be Colombia la Casiana, which you can still get (until September 3rd) here….

Burundi Gakenke with grapefruit bitter marshmallows

June 22, 2017 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

Friday’s are one of my favorite days. Not only for the obvious reason, but that is the day that my Starbucks Reserve subscription arrives! This months offering is Burundi Gakenke. The flavor profile of this coffee intrigued me from the get go. Elegant flavors of grapefruit, dark chocolate and sweet rose. Three very distinct flavors that all compliment each other, but if out of balance, could create chaos.

Challenge accepted.

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Tastefolio: Papua New Guinea Moanti

April 28, 2017 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

Starbucks Reserve subscription coffee Papua New Guinea Moanti paired with a dark chocolate macaron, stuffed with nutella and topped with candied yellow bell pepper and edible gold stars. I served the coffee in a red bell pepper for a visit from my regional director and regional vice president….

Ethiopia Kayon Mountain

March 3, 2017 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

My regional director was kind enough to purchase me a year long Roastery subscription, so I am kicking of 2017 by hosting monthly reserve seminars! Starting off with the first subscription coffee of 2017; Ethiopia Kayon Mountain.

Ethiopia Kayon Mountain is from a small lot farm in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. Kayon translates to goal, and it is the mantra for the farm owners who are driven to take extra steps in the name of extraordinary coffee. Using methods that are not commonly seen in Ethiopia, such as shade growing coffee, to having their own washing station, to exporting directly. The farmers of Kayon mountain maintain full control of every step of the process.

An extraordinary coffee deserves an extraordinary tasting.

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Colombia El Peñol with chocolate currant bars

December 13, 2016 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

Colombia El Peñol is back! This coffee was one of my favorite offerings from 2014, in fact, I created one of my favorite pairings with this coffee (which never made it to the blog. Maybe I’ll recreate it with this new offering!) This coffee randomly appeared on the scoop bar at the Roastery for a short time in mid October, and is the subscription coffee for the month of December. This coffee is elegant and balanced with notes of black currant and a touch of bittersweet chocolate.

While I was in Sacramento, I came across a lot of very old recipes, and I have been having fun recreating them, and breathing new life into them. The jam bars are very easy to make, and are the perfect compliment to Colombia El Peñol!…

Mexico Finca Nueva Esperanza with concha cookies

October 29, 2016 by jocelyn 3 Comments

Every Friday, my store does something called French Press Friday. This idea was adopted from another partner, Cookie, who is on the other side of the country. Thanks to social media, we were able to connect and she inspired us to commit to doing french press Friday each and every week. By doing this, we have completed our passports, and now are moving on to Reserve coffees! I am kind of a coffee hoarder. I’ll get a coffee, and keep it hidden until I have a special tasting or a meeting. Mexico Guadalupe Zajú is the Reserve subscription for October, so I really wanted to use that, but the idea for this tasting goes a bit further back.

In March, at the Starbucks shareholders meeting, I was able to sample a reserve coffee I had never seen or heard of before; Mexico Finca Nueva Esperanza. A few of the Roastery partners were sampling it on the siphon, and I was struck at how sweet and soft this coffee was, with vibrant notes of almond and lemon. I knew I had to have this coffee, and I knew that I wanted to make conchas, because the artwork of the card reminded me of the neon sugar paste. Getting this coffee was not an easy task…..

Paradeisi Blend no. II with a toffee almond bar

August 25, 2016 by jocelyn 1 Comment

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.

This blend of three single origin coffees from Colombia, Uganda and Papua New Guinea carries flavors of chocolate, caramel and butterscotch, and is a perfect pairing with the toffee almond bars!

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Colombia Café Mujeres with mandarin orange lava cake

July 9, 2016 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

Colombia Café Mujeres was the Starbucks Reserve subscription for the month of June, and I had a heck of a time trying to get this coffee to my house!

My reserve subscription, even though I had updated my address before we moved, went to our house in Washington. I tried re-routing it with FedEx, I reached out to neighbors to watch for it, but the coffee had vanished. A friend suggested that I contact a partner on the reserve team, and she quickly sent a box to my new address in Michigan! I was so excited! Seeing that little black box on my doorstep is something I look forward to each and every month. Even more so since the Roastery is no longer in my backyard. I wanted to do a special tasting as a thank you to Jessica for coming to my rescue!…

Nicaragua Maracaturra with honey-apricot granola

January 20, 2016 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

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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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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