Spill the beans: Starbucks launches premium coffee line

MANILA, Philippines - The world’s largest coffee house company roasts and brews only the highest-quality arabica coffee. As a result, the coffee is a rich and flavorful experience bursting with the flavors of its source and preparation method.

Now, Starbucks is upping the ante in the global coffee arena by launching its new Reserve line, which will soon be available in select Starbucks branches. Starbucks Reserve is a line of exotic, rare, and exquisite coffee sourced from the best coffee beans around the world.

“It’s a whole experience. We want to combine the coffee with the look (of the new stores) and our partners,” said Starbucks COO Noey Lopez as we sat down for a cup of joe. “It’s more elevated than the normal coffee experience. It’s our way of sharing what we feel is an ultra-premium coffee experience.”

The Starbucks Reserve line will be sold in limited quantities in select Starbucks Reserve branches in the Philippines.

• Starbucks Reserve Sun-Dried Ethiopia Yirgacheffe. Sun-dried coffees from Ethiopia are known worldwide for their lush and intense flavors. The fruity taste of this coffee is due to its location 6,000 feet above sea level where the combination of sun, air, and soil yield a sweet juiciness of ripe berries. Beans are then dried on raised beds to absorb the flavors.

• Starbucks Reserve Finca Nuevo Mexico. This coffee is grown in the mountain range of Mexico’s Sierra Madre de Chiapas. The Finca Nuevo is a family-owned farm, located in a lush refuge for rare wildlife. The resulting coffee is a bright and complex cup with a candied citrus and brown sugar sweetness that taste unique and toasty.

• Starbucks Reserve Sumatra Blue Batak. The Sumatra Blue Batak is grown on the southern shores of Lake Toba, in Sumatra’s famous coffee-growing region. The Batak tribesmen grow bold coffee with smooth, earthy, and deep flavors with a syrupy body and sweet herbal notes.

• Starbucks Reserve Zambia Peaberry Terranova Estate. The Zambia coffee is grown in the Terranova Estate, located 4,000 feet above sea level. The coffee here is medium-bodied with hints of apple and vanilla, mixed with handpicked peaberry beans.

To date, the only Starbucks Reserve branches are in Tomas Morato and Burgos Circle, but four more branches are expected to open in 8 Forbestown (BGC), Keyland Center (Makati), Central Square (BGC), and Signa.

Unlike regular Starbucks stores, Starbucks Reserve will have a more upscale feel to it. According to Lopez, all their baristas are called coffee masters and are dressed impeccably in dress shirts and neckties under their Starbucks green aprons. As Lopez puts it, “all our employees are good, but these are the best of the best.”

Aside from offering the Reserve line, these specialty coffee bars will offer a selection of food not available in standard branches, like the granola cheese muffin, carrot muffin, and different varieties of scones, including the black pepper and cheese scone.

“Starbucks Reserve is an ultra-premium coffee experience and it starts with the coffee,” said Lopez. And true to the nature of Starbucks, it leads to a communal experience in a carefully-designed store, and ends with the connections you make with the people who matter.

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