A Green Makeover for Starbucks

Starbucks Coffee started their Shared Planet program as an initiative to make the company a lot greener and environmentally friendly. I remember noticing the new logos (like the one above) making an appearance on our retail paper bags about a year ago. Other than that, it was a silent transition. Sure, we started using recycled paper on our whole bean coffee bags, and our napkins began to display similar messages; but honestly, there was nothing about Starbucks' environmental policy that made it stand out from all the other corporate giants of America. That is, until now.

Ever since I was a little kid I loved how Starbucks stores seemed to blend the cozy comfort of old style furniture (think big poofy chairs) with sleek modern curves and angles, spherical hanging lamps, geometric woodworking and abstract wall art. It was a very balanced melding of old fashioned comfort and modern appeal. That's not to say that there aren't any ugly Starbucks Stores our there; trust me there are, but for the most part they don't exude the bleak atmosphere of any other food service chain out there. So it was sad to see Starbucks' creativity begin to decline as they started churning out new store locations like lattes on the bar.

It's about time for a breath of fresh air, and it seems like Starbucks wants to take statement literally. As the video states, every single new company operated store will not only be energy efficient, environmentally friendly, and practically made up of recycled materials; but they will also return to putting substantial creative effort into store design. From the look of it, that blend of modernity and traditional appeals has returned, and there also seems to be a larger focus on coffee itself (a very important step in my opinion) in the store's decor.

The new look is unlike any Starbucks store I've seen so far, and yet distinctively Starbucksy. To see what I mean, check out the video:

Yukon Blend: The Bear is Back

After a short unexplained disappearance from the shelves, Yukon Blend (also known as 'the Bear') is back. Not only is he now available in a swanky new package, he's a changed bear on the inside too. Yukon Blend is now certified Organic.

As a Barista at Starbucks, Yukon always seemed distant to me. Hardly anyone ever purchased it, it was never Coffee of the Day, and I personally took it home as my markout (till now, obviously.) However, many Starbuckians remain familiar with Yukon Blend anyway, because it is one of the major components of a far more popular coffee: Cafe Verona.

Maybe now that Starbucks has decided to make Yukon Organic, the new label will appeal to those of us seeking coffees grown in time honored traditions. This means sourcing coffee from farms that leave out chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which could only be a good thing. So thanks to this, Yukon may finally get some time in the spotlight. Curious about the coffee itself? Well let's see what Starbucks has to say.

One of the first things you'll notice about Yukon Blend is that it's got an interesting back story. It seems to me Starbucks decided to put a little bit more theater behind the history of this bean. The packaging reads, with my comment in the brackets:

"It may sound like a tall tale, but back in 1971 the captain of a fishing vessel asked us to create a coffee that would keep his hard-working crew happy. This kind of thing doesn't happen every day, so we took it seriously. And we got to work blending what would become one of our most popular coffees. [Wait, popular? Oh corporate...] Now organic, this same great blend lives up to its untamed North American namesake: hearty and bold, with deep spicy notes for rugged, adventurous souls."

As for the food pairing suggestion, Starbuck's suggests a bowl of hot oatmeal and dawn at sea. I didn't try Yukon with oatmeal, but I enjoyed it in my frontyard with the sprinklers on for that great west coast ocean-side effect. Very satisfying.

Onto the coffee cupping. I'm not a big fan of reading into things, so I decided to try the coffee before taking a look at Starbuck's tasting notes. That wasn't entirely effective, since I caught a little propaganda from Yukon's history excerpt.

Brewing Method: Drip Brew in a Chemex Hourglass Brewer

1. Aroma:

Yukon didn't wow me in aroma, but what does 'wow' mean anyway? It's not some spectacular unique bouquet of ever escalating smells, but it does have a nice mellow warmth that pulls your face into the steamy cup. That's something every coffee should do, and Yukon definitely does it. A few more sniffs and some guesswork hinted towards a rounded even cup with balanced acidity.

2. First Sip:

Good strong bright acidity. Its the kind of flavor that black coffee drinkers eagerly await every morning; the sharp kick that wakes up your taste buds and brightens your mind. Milk, as it tends to do in all coffees, would definitely tone this down. So if your more of a smooth coffee drinker, reach for the half and half.

3. Second Impression:

Spicy, but not overly so. It's definitely not a Sumatra (for coffee novice's, that's not a racy Kama Sutra position, but rather a coffee growing region famous for pungent spicy beans.) Hearty, definitely not bland, and has a very subtle bittersweet background that screams to be paired with some quality chocolate on the side.

4. The rest of the cup:

The first and second impressions carried out through the rest of the cup. If the initial flavor seemed a little bouncy, it definitely mellows out towards the end. The coffee is well balanced, flavorful, but definitely not unique. I can see why they used it in Cafe Verona. It seems like it would be a good foundation for blending in higher more aggressive single-origin beans.

Now the Starbuck's Tasting Notes:

Hearty,Well-Rounded; Bold.

Well Starbucks, I must say I agree.

Rating: 7 Beans out of 10

Starbucks Card iPhone App

Starbucks Coffee has worked with Apple Computer in the past; they've had their own music store portal on iTunes, distributed iTunes gift cards in their cafes, and worked through AT&T to provide free WiFi to Apple iPhone users. Now, Starbucks is taking a new futuristic step forward with their very own iPhone App.

This Starbucks App isn't just a small collection of Starbucks facts thrown together with an electronic interface, it's more than that. It can function as a portable Starbucks Card. Using the App's feature, you can actually display a bar-code on the iPhone's screen which a Barista can then scan and charge just like any other barcoded product.

You can check it our for yourself here:

While it only works at select stores, serious props to Starbucks for being one of the first retailers to experiment with this new concept. As a bit of a technology junkie myself, I can see an interesting future for ideas like this. Perhaps one day through Bluetooth (which is built into every iPhone) one can simply walk to the register, place their order, have the charge wirelessly applied to their online Starbucks Card and leave.

Sound's far fetched, but only a few years ago a phone without buttons was equally unrealistic, and yet here we are.

Starbucks Via Ready Brew

Some of you may have heard that Starbucks Coffee has launched a new product, which they call the very first innovation for 'instant coffee' in 20 years. As someone who absolutely despises instant coffee, it's safe to say I was skeptical at first. But being open to things is always good, so I was willing to give Via a shot.

A quick search on the web will show that Starbucks is pretty forward about letting people know that Via isn't just any instant coffee. Starbucks claims its a completely new category, "not instant, Instant!". Well that's all fine and dandy, but the average consumer will want to know how is it actually different? Starbucks hasn't been silent there either, even if all appearances seem to say its the same thing. For example. let's take a look at the instructions for enjoying a pack of Via.

Wait a second, that sure does look like instant coffee to me, and I expect it'll look that way for most Americans too. Which is probably what Starbucks was aiming for. Starbucks wants to appeal to people who may be afraid of Triple Venti Soy Caramel Macchiatos, overzealous teenage Baristas, and fast-paced Starbucks stores. Their research has shown that these non-Starbuckians get their fix at home, and usually through instant coffee brands such as Folgers or Maxwell House. For these people, the only message Starbucks needs to convey is: "Hey, drink this. It's instant and it tastes good." (And with taste challenge samplings about to start at Starbucks locations across the country, they're ready to deliver that message to a big audience.)

But things get more complicated for Starbucks when they try and pitch this idea to the experienced coffee drinker: Coffee lovers like you and me.

I imagine that most people reading a blog on coffee prefer quality coffee, and therefore they know that quality coffee demands good beans. This is absolutely not the case for most instant coffee, which is often freeze-dried blends of crude quality 'robusta' beans. Come to think of it, I don't know of a single unprocessed Arabica bean in the entire instant coffee market. That is, until Via Ready Brew.

Which is what brings us to the 'innovation' Starbucks is advertising. Via Ready Brew isn't made of freeze-dried coffee crystals or whatever you might find in the coffee flavored dust of generic instant. Via (which is Italian for 'road' or 'way') claims to be real micro ground arabica coffee beans. .What this means is that they're ground so fine the coffee dissolves instantly upon contact with water. Anyone who has tried Turkish Coffee will be familiar with this concept (even though Turkish coffee is a very viscous and thick while Via is more like drip-coffee.)

I imagine many of you are either still skeptical or curious as to what I think of Via. As a Starbucks Barista, I got to try Via at a meeting before pretty much anyone on the outside. All I can say is it's not what I expected (up to you to figure out if that's good or bad.)

I'll save my official review for a later post on thiscoffeekid.com, where we'll see how Via performs in the cup, where it counts.