the modern barista

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….

Tanzania Mount Meru with crushed fruit petite fours

September 28, 2015 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

Tanzania Mount Meru was the first coffee from the Starbucks Reserve subscription, that wasn’t previously available at the roastery. Just from reading the coffee fact sheet, I knew I had to have this coffee. Sun-dried, with ripe berry notes that highlight grape jam and orange marmalade with a dark chocolate finish. Oh yes.

One thing I love about the subscription is that the coffee is announced a month out, so that gives me plenty of time to brainstorm pairing ideas. The other is being so close to the roastery, I get to see the action, See the coffee unloaded and roasted, the smells, sometimes the roaster will slip me a freshly roasted bean to try. It is a total attack on all of my senses, and this is when the very best tastings come together.

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Tastefolio: Tanzania Mondul

September 24, 2015 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

Tanzania Mondul paired with blackberry petite fours and candied fennel seeds. Made to celebrate a partner birthday, these petite fours are stuffed with a blackberry jam, coated in white chocolate and sprinkled with candied fennel seeds….

Sumatra Longberry with wajik brown sticky rice cake

September 22, 2015 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

Sumatra Longberry

Sumatra is my favorite core coffee, and I love how rich and smooth it is, the flavors of earth and herbs in a cup. It is something I look forward to every single day. When I heard a Sumatra was coming to the roastery, I was very excited. I knew nothing about it, but I just assumed it would be along the same vein as core or even aged Sumatra. I was so wrong. I took my first slurp and was blown away at how sweet this coffee was, with layers of milk chocolate and toffee. Completely different, but completely amazing. This quickly became one of my favorite offerings on the clover and I wanted to create something as surprising as this coffee….

Komodo Dragon with Ketan Serundeng

September 18, 2015 by jocelyn 1 Comment

I was shopping at Ross the other day, and I saw a shelf full of coffee, so of course I went to investigate. Previous Ross adventures had led me to bags of decaf Casi Cielo, so I am always on the lookout. This trip did not disappoint; half pound bags of DECAF Komodo Dragon! Starbucks used to carry decaf Komodo several years ago. It was our only Swiss Water processed coffee. Curious, I decided to pick up a bag.

I had already been researching Indonesian recipes for an upcoming coffee pairing, but I came across ketan serundeng, which is sticky rice with a spicy coconut topping. I instantly knew I had to make this and pair it with Komodo Dragon.

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pumpkin spice latte via bundt cakes

September 15, 2015 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

It’s September, the air is starting to get crisp, the leaves are starting to change color…. and it’s pumpkin spice latte time. Everything pumpkin has begun. To celebrate, I decided to make pumpkin spice latte bundt cakes! This cake is coated with cinnamon, sugar and coffee, and is made with pumpkin spice VIA. A great way to kick of the season of pumpkin.

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Costa Rica Bella Vista with chili & lime grilled cantaloupe

September 7, 2015 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

Social media has allowed me to connect to so many partners, all over the world. I am so proud to call them not only partners, but my friends as well. The Roastery in Seattle sells the Decaf Costa Rica Bella Vista F.W. Tres Rios, but they do not sell the caffeinated version. Starbucks in Costa Rica sells the caffeinated version, but not the decaf. I was lucky enough to swap coffee with my friend in Costa Rica, so we could both do side by side tastings of this coffee, and note the differences between the decaf and regular.

Of course, I put together a little coffee tasting to go with it 🙂

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Uganda sipi falls paired with salted caramel mandazi

August 21, 2015 by jocelyn Leave a Comment

One of the reasons I love working in specialty coffee is it allows me to continue my exploration of food. It’s traditions and cultures, and experience things I might not come across in my every day life. Coffee and it’s origin, allows me to dive into a specific culture, to create a food pairing to not only honor the coffee I am enjoying, but the many hands that helped this coffee from bean to cup. During this food and coffee journey, I have found myself most drawn to Africa. The coffees tend to be wild, exotic and unexpected, and the food, while simple at first glance, is incredible. I have been hooked on the Uganda Sipi Falls for a few months now. I love it as cold brew, it’s sweet and creamy finish is almost habit forming. I challenged myself to take the traditional “coffee & donuts” idea to Uganda. Meet the mandazi….

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