Starbucks Reserve Coffees, The World’s Most Exotic, Rare and Exquisite

Starbucks recently launched Starbucks Reserve Coffees here in the Philippines.

Starbucks Reserve is a category of ultra‐premium coffees that represents the pinnacle of Starbucks coffee perfection and passion.These coffees are rare and extremely limited coffees, each hand‐picked for their distinctive flavors and unusual locales around the world. Because of this, they are only available exclusively at Starbucks Reserve Stores.

A few days ago, I was very fortunate to have been invited to the very first Starbucks Reserve Store in Tomas Morato and sample these rare coffees namely: Starbucks Reserve™ Sun‐Dried Ethiopia Yirgacheffe™, Starbucks Reserve™ Finca Nuevo Mexico™, Starbucks Reserve™ Sumatra Blue Batak and Starbucks Reserve™ Zambia Peaberry Terranova Estate.

Just like the exclusive coffees they serve, the baristas and management team that comprises the Starbucks Reserve Stores were also handpicked. All of these partners are certified Coffee Masters and some are even Coffee Ambassadors. They enthusiastically did the coffee tasting while expounding on each coffee’s origin and characteristics.

Starbucks Reserve Featured Coffees

STARBUCKS RESERVE™ SUN‐DRIED ETHIOPIA YIRGACHEFFE

STARBUCKS RESERVE™ SUN‐DRIED ETHIOPIA YIRGACHEFFE is the first coffee that I was able to try. The story of these beans begins over 6,000 feet above sea level where the perfect melding of sun, air and soil contributes to its enticing flavors. Once harvested, they’re carefully dried on raised beds, absorbing the sweet juiciness of the ripe fruit surrounding them to deliver a wild burst of berry with every sip.

It was prepared the old-fashioned way : Pour Over or Hand Drip. We were able to smell how flavorful the coffee was even before it hits the paper cup.

Sun‐dried coffees from Ethiopia are renowned all over the world for their lush, intense flavors. You won’t believe how fruity coffee can taste until you’ve tried Sun‐dried Ethiopia Yirgacheffe

STARBUCKS RESERVE™ SUMATRA BLUE BATAK

On the southern shores of Lake Toba, in Sumatra’s prized coffee growing region, Batak tribe members grow big, bold coffee that’s smooth and earthy with deep, syrupy body and sweet herbal notes.

I’m not very fond of Sumatra because of its eathiness and full body. With Sumatra Blue Batak, I didn’t even notice how heavy it is on the tongue because it’s very smooth that it slides down your throat just like how satin glides on smoothly on our skin.

STARBUCKS RESERVE™ ZAMBIA PEABERRY TERRANOVA ESTATE

The rich soil of the Terranova Estate that is the home of Starbucks Reserve® Zambia Peaberry lies near 4,000 feet above sea level. This medium‐bodied coffee with notes of apple and vanilla consists of smaller, handpicked peaberry beans, which we roast to provide a medium body and acidity that pairs well with citrus, apples, and chocolate.

This is very good when prepared as Iced Coffee as well. I imagine sipping this on a hot day…

STARBUCKS RESERVE™ FINCA NUEVO MEXICO™

High in Mexico’s Sierra Madre de Chiapas mountain range sits the El Triunfo Biosphere and Finca Nuevo Mexico family‐owned farm. While much of the lush area is a refuge for rare wildlife, the remaining area produces a bright, complex, uniquely flavored coffee bean.

The result is a candied citrus and brown sugar sweetness combined to create a toasty, aromatic cup of extraordinary coffee that is Finca Nuevo Mexico™

Starbucks Reserve Exclusive Food Items

Aside from the coffee, there are pastries that can only be found in Starbucks Reserve Stores…

This Carrot Muffin is loaded with carrots, walnuts and crushed pineapples. Itis ultra moist and topped with a generous amount of  cream cheese.

This Double Chocolate Muffin is very sinful because it is filled filled with creamy chocolate truffle and topped with chocolate chunks. I think is best paired with a cup of Sumatra Blue Batak.

Meanwhile, the  Granola Cheese Muffin  combines healthy and delicious. It is  packed with the goodness of sweet, crunchy granola and cream cheese filling. Granola muffins are wonderful for breakfast or snack paired with any of the Starbucks Reserve Coffee.

Scones is one of my favorite kinds of pastries. Starbucks Reserve has three of them. I love the Blueberry Scone because it is light, buttery and loaded with blueberries.

The Apple Cinnamon Scone is moist and buttery as well and is bursting with sweet cinnamon apples.

The Black Pepper and Cheese Scone is something new to me because it’s the first savory scone that I’ve tried. It’s very moist and flavored with cheese and freshly cracked pepper for a touch of spice.

The Starbucks Reserve™ coffees and these food offerings will be available exclusively at the following Starbucks Reserve™
stores that are now brewing in the Philippines:

• Starbucks Reserve™ Tomas Morato
• Starbucks Reserve™ 8 Forbes Town

You may also enjoy the Starbucks Reserve™ coffee experience in the following stores that will open
soon:

•  Starbucks Reserve™ Keyland Centre
• Starbucks Reserve™ Central Square
• Starbucks Reserve™ Signa

I do hope you give these Starbucks Reserve Coffees a try because what they have right now are the last batch and these won’t be manufactured anymore. I don’t have a favorite among all four because I love the uniqueness of each one.