Hi!! It’s been a few days; if you’ve been following me on Instagram, you might’ve seen some pictures taken from Seattle. I was there during the long weekend and though I’ve been down many times, it was great having a friend who was living there to take me around to places I never been before! One of the highlights of my short and sweet trip was a stopping at Starbucks Reserve Roastery & Tasting Room.
Starbucks Reserve Roastery & Tasting Room is located on Pike St (nine blocks away from the original Starbucks aka first Starbucks store ever.) This Starbucks is not just the place where you get your coffee and go, it was an experience. They served a variety of specialty coffees that I can’t name because I’m a noob and all I wanted was a latte and a pastry..as well as a bunch of photos. I had to catch a bus to Vancouver after and didn’t have time to try other things; I would’ve totally stayed here for 2 hours + next time!
If I was at Hogsmeade, this was like the Three Broomsticks. The Starbucks Reserve was the ultimate gathering place for friends, families, and tourists. You can get your coffee brewed in multiple ways; such as Pour-Over, Chemex, or Siphon (which I want to experience for next time!)
So I don’t know much about making coffee and harvesting beans, so this is the gist that I got off from their website!
Our master roasters’ craft is displayed with ever-escalating focus and precision. Master roaster Brad Anderson explains, “It’s like conducting a symphony.” Capable of roasting up to 260 lbs of beans at a time, the larger of our two customized Probat™ roasters, the G120, is what we use for roasting Starbucks Reserve® coffees shipped worldwide and served outside of the Roastery. The coffee roasted in the smaller P25 is available only to customers at the Roastery — each bean for every coffee drink we serve.
They use air in vacuum-powered tubes to convey the beans around the space, which is pretty cool to look at; watching the beans move around the Roastery in the open area.
Y’know me, there’s no going to Starbucks without getting a coffee AND FOOD. Ugh, I love you Canada but I wish we served more variety of pastries and such over here. (Hong Kong Starbucks usually have some really tasty desserts too!) Choosing a drink was difficult too; sucks it was a gloomy day cause I wold’ve gotten a Nitro Cold Brew coffee OR a Cold Brew Float..or an Iced Sparkling Espresso with Mint…or a House Affogato. SO. MUCH. VARIETY. I never wanted to throw so much of my money at a Starbucks before. Let’s not even get into the tasting menu, I would’ve loved to try a Siphon Flight even though it’s $22USD for a choice of two flavours.
Of course I ended up choosing a drink that was a SLIGHHHHT let down, I had the Smoked Butterscotch Latte (see, I really felt like I was at the Three Broomsticks and I somehow thought it would be like Butterbeer.) The SBL is infused with small-batch smoked butterscotch & black pepper…which somehow tasted like Cream of Mushroom Soup. Bloody hell it was $6.50SUD too.
My friends got a Cappuccino ($5.50 USD) and a latte ($5.50 USD) with one of their specialty beans. Note that these are prices for a small size (8 fl oz) so this Starbucks is definitely a bit pricier than others. Oh, first time getting latte art too at a Starbucks; never seen that happen at any locations locally here!! Did I mention pastries???!?!!
Since it was our Thanksgiving weekend, we got a pumpkin pie and I felt like a Ron Weasley and eating his chicken; the pie was SO GOOD. And it had dat pumpkin spice whipped cream.
We grabbed a quick lunch right after all that at Serious Pie, a place serving wood fired pizza, located inside Starbucks Reserve as well. Between three people, we ordered two pizzas: soft eggs, smoked prosciutto, local greens, pecorino sardo ($18USD) and roasted seasonal mushrooms, truffle cheese ($19 USD.)
The soft eggs pizza was a bit burnt at the bottom, but it was a really nice breakfast/brunchy type of pizza. Having eggs at the bottom was different from any pizza I’ve tried. However, the mushroom truffle cheese pizza was heavenly. The mushrooms were cut in quarters rather than halves, and I could taste the truffle oil. I never loved any non meaty pizza that much before. Ever.
Just realized as I’m typing this, I had a dessert pie before a savoury pie.
Mini Newt Scamander was in my bag the whole time and he definitely approved of this whole Starbucks Reserve and Serious Pie business. Sucks that he has to travel around with a Muggle (or a No-Maj) like me. Even if you’re a non-Starbucks fan, I think this would be a fun experience, and if you’re any type of coffee lover; definitely make a trip here if you’re in the area!!
(If you’re wondering, I already got my Fantastic Beasts movie tickets.)
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