When visiting Seattle, I highly recommend taking a trip to one of six Starbucks Reserves worldwide for an expanded espresso experience from America’s favorite coffee plug. Nine blocks away from this Pike Street location, this brand had its beginnings in the Pacific Northwest. This special site is designed for you to experience its foundational offerings of coffee and artisanal baking. The Roastery has five features inside, including a Main Bar, Scooping Bar, Mixology Bar, and Experience Bar.
The Experience Bar is where I spent most of my time at the Roastery, where we took two immersive experience offerings: Coffee Chemistry and the Oleato Tasting Experience. I learned three things from those experiences during my visit that revived my love and appreciation for coffee.
Starbucks Reserve
Seattle, WA
1. You need a proper measuring spoon
I’m an early riser with an inconsistent sleep pattern, so the effort to make my coffee must have the most minimal steps possible. I’m not too good for instant coffee (hello, Nescafe), but I’m not a fan of the wasteful convenience of single-cup coffee pods. Overall, my coffee setup is pretty minimal as possible.
What ultimately changed my coffee brewing pattern was the desire to support my local black-owned coffee brand: they only sold coffee in whole beans. I yielded to shopping for more additional accessories, and I landed on my essentials.
With my electronic kettle, a coffee grinder, and a simple IKEA coffee press in place, I could enjoy a whole new world of coffee indulgence. Little did I know I was still missing a critical piece.
I was purely winging it on measurements and found myself always making my coffee too bitter or too watery. At my Starbucks Reserve experience, I listened to the barista explain best practices for making a good cup of coffee, and besides the quality of the water, I found that my measurement game needed to be stepped up.
In the Seattle Reserve Roastery store, I picked up a simple 1-ounce copper measuring spoon (2 tablespoons). Every cup of coffee I have made ever since came out perfectly balanced.
Bonus Tip: When grinding your coffee beans, add a few drops of water to the coffee beans before grinding them. It keeps the grounds together (similar to the photo above).
Clips from the Starbucks Reserve® Seattle Roastery experience:
2. Black coffee is good with higher fruit notes (and chocolate).
Photo credit: Starbucks
The Coffee Chemistry Experience I took presented a tasting experience through the world, starting with where coffee all started: Ethiopia. This brew alone let me know I could definitely appreciate a black cup of coffee. It was the first time I was introduced to a more fruit-forward and balanced coffee. It was simple and paired really well with chocolate.
I took home a small bag of Starbucks Reserve® Ethiopia Yirgacheffe® Chelelektu (pronounced “yirg-uh-chef chel-el-eck-too”) whole coffee beans, and the experience was just the same: I loved it black. I sat the creamer on the counter as a part of my usual ritual, but I never used it after I took a test sip to see if I would have the same experience. From here, I can look forward to exploring more beans and blends that are more on the fruity side.
3. Olive oil and fruit combinations can expand your coffee.
I visited the Reserve just before the official release of Oleato to local Starbucks store locations. To be honest, I had the same thought that everyone would likely experience a more “gastrointestinal effect,” but at the Reserve, it was a well-balanced experience of tasting the olive oil by itself and blended beautifully with select coffee drinks.
Photo: A photo of Oleato Golden Foam Espresso Martinis in the making (2023)
In small ways, we can see how olive oil elevated the sip of espresso we had in four different beverages from the experience menu. It wasn’t distracting or overwhelming. It was a smooth addition to a cup of coffee that we tasted similarly to how one would taste test wine: you inhale the coffee aroma, slurp the coffee to allow the different notes to spread across your mouth’s palette, and swallow to finish.
The best addition to coffee that we had in one of our drinks was the passionfruit cold foam. This is where I was more encouraged about exploring fruit with my coffee. This light, sweet blend of passionfruit with the Starbuck Reserve Doppio Espresso was a memorable experience that I had to figure out how to recreate for another time. Unfortunately, the passionfruit foam is made of a proprietary syrup or ingredient that isn’t readily available to the public, but I am determined to figure out something to bring me closer to that flavor at home for a spring or summer coffee drink.
See additional Roastery locations in Chicago, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Milano if you can’t make it to Seattle to try an experience for yourself.
Location:
Seattle, WA
Cost:
$$
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