Portland where I live has a very local-oriented environment where the whole community supports local businesses, and big corporate names like Starbucks in such communities are almost taboo to talk about. I visit different local coffee roasters (like ones from my previous blogs about Roasters in Salem and Portland), and I should almost even never mention the "S" words (I mean Starbucks) in those shops.
But I have to admit that I like coffee from Starbucks, and how they have changed the entire industry of drinking coffee around the world is absolutely amazing and I admire. Their new venture of Starbucks Reserve is surely something more than worth a mention as a coffee lover.
The first Starbucks Reserve store opened in 2011 in UK; the concept of the store is a place where you get to visit the actual roasting facility of Starbucks where you can try their premium coffee roasted right there in front of you. They just opened one in Seattle, WA in December 2014 where their headquarter and the first store is located. I had to visit, and so I did.
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| Starbucks Reserve, looks like some jewelry store from outside |
Starbucks Reserve is located near Seattle's First Starbucks at Pike Place Market. On their website, they make it sounds like it is just blocks from the First Starbucks, but it does take about 15 minutes to walk between; and in the rainy city of Seattle, cab or Uber might be a better options when visiting both (both areas are not an easy spot to find parking lot).
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| Huge roaster is being displayed nicely inside |
Once I step inside, I notice that there are so many... people. I visited right after they opened for the public for the first time, so their entry way was a long line of people waiting to get their coffee.
The store does look amazing; their decor is just nicely and pleasingly done; they have left the rustic taste of old roaster "look" and yet they manage to have a touch of modern feel with shiny pipes running around in the huge open space of 15000 square feet (Their tasting room is 6654 square feet).
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| They give out freshly roasted beans to customers where we get to smell and touch the warm bean right out of the roaster. |
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| Tank that holds the bean, but it is really a piece of beautiful art. |
Well, I have to say that they should have thought better for the system for people lining up to get the coffee though. People are just lining up in an open area; it is nice that once in a while a barista brings sample coffee to try out, but that gets quite annoying after waiting for 30 minutes just for a cup of coffee. They should have thought of some system like Disneyland where people can come back in time to ride rather than just standing and waiting.
During the 30 minutes wait, you are presented with "menu" of today's coffee choices where you get to choose which bean you want in your Latte or their selected drinks. Their already heavy labor intensive espresso making is being accented by yet another complex process to add more values and obviously more cost. My premium latte now costs me $7 with 30 minutes wait.
The result? Yes, it does taste wonderful. I felt that the coffee aroma is augmented a lot, and yet has that distinct Starbucks dark roast touch that I like.
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| Worth the 30 minutes wait? The cup does look premium and nice! |
When you are in Seattle, WA, I do recommend a visit to the new Starbucks Reserve, and my only suggestion is that you make sure you have enough time to enjoy the whole experience.
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