New Starbucks Gold Card

The hot Starbucks topic of the moment is the new Starbucks loyalty/Gold Card program, and so here I am joining in the conversation.  Previously, I’ve already posted about this at Starbucks Gossip, but here’s another round of conversation on the new Gold Card.  And I’d love to hear from others what you-all think about it? In short, the new program rewards customers with beverages after earning a certain base level of stars, and then free beverages every 15 stars. One star is earned with one transaction. This means that a customer purchasing a tall Latte, an oatmeal, and a Naked orange juice will be best served by splitting this into three transactions, thus earning 3 stars.  If that same customer buys the Latte, oatmeal, and juice on one receipt only, he or she has only earned one star.

My take on the new program is that is structured as a beverage rewards program that will benefit the casual to fairly frequent espresso beverage customer who often purchases a latte with a small item. This is a large group of customers: They get a latte and a pastry, and now if they split it into two transactions, they’ve got two stars.  Consequently, many folks will love this new program.

This new program is NOT  a great benefit for the highly frequent customer who purchases a wide variety of items. Personally, I purchase an absurd amount of whole bean coffee each month.  This is because there are two avid coffee drinkers in my home, as well as I use whole bean coffee as “prizes” often when I run twitter contests looking for comments on this blog.  Many of the beans I purchase do NOT come in one-pound sizes, and can only be purchased in one-half size flavor lock bags, thus are not eligible for any standard current registered card reward. For example, if you go back and look at my blog on the Clover coffee experience, you’ll see that Guatemala Antigua Medina, and Aged Sumatra are only available in one half-pound sizes. This means that the customer who spends $12.00 on a half pound of Aged Sumatra is still earning just “one star” exactly the same as the person who is buying one cookie. (Yes, Aged Sumatra retails at $12.00 for a half pound at Starbucks).  Another example of a bean that cannot be purchased in a whole pound size is Pike Place Special Reserve – which makes a great twitter contest reward since it is a coffee unique to Seattle.

I confess that now and then I buy other things at Starbucks too. I bought both Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band remastered Beatles CDs at Starbucks. I buy a new tumbler now and then. Again, I lose the ten percent discount and I’m still earning just one single star.  Furthermore, I’m not totally sure I want to be rewarded with the same reward over and over again: a million beverages. I could soon be swimming in a sea of free beverages.

Having said all that, I still think that lots of people will love this new program, but it’s just not designed for customers like me. Sigh.

What do you readers think?

[And for further conversation on this, mystarbucksidea.com has had a number of threads on the topic, such as this one here.]

(Red) Starbucks Coffee Stamp

It is estimated that 4,100 men, women, and children, die every day in sub-Sahara Africa from HIV/AIDS.

On Wednesday, October 29, 2008, during Leadership Conference in New Orleans, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced the forging of new and exciting Starbucks relationship: Starbucks and (Red) working together to fight HIV in Africa and across the world.

A year has gone by since that date, and so it is time for the year in review: A look back.

Holiday signature Starbucks drinks, beginning November 27, 2008 through January 2, 2009 were the birthplace of the first of many Starbucks and (Red) partnerships. For each purchase of the signature seasonal holiday drinks (Espresso Truffle, Gingersnap Latte, and Peppermint Mocha Twist), Starbucks donated five cents to the Global Fund to invest in AIDS programs in Africa.  The mystarbucksidea.com blogs also announced this promotion, and of course on December 1, 2008, (the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day) the promotional offer was extended to ALL beverages, not just the signature beverages. Last but not least, a Starbucks video promoted the holiday (Red) drink campaign:

Starbucks (Red) 2008 holiday drink promotion on You Tube

Next in the list of Starbucks-(Red) partnership innovations came the (Red) Starbucks card.  A registered Starbucks card, with all the benefits of a registered card, and the added largess of a donation of a nickel each time it is used from January 3, 2009 through December 31, 2009.  That mystarbucksidea.com blog post came from Brad Stevens, former vice president of customer relations management, and no longer a part of the Starbucks family. Whatever new adventure you’re having Brad, I wish you the best.

March 24, 2009, Starbucks announced that with each sale of the new Bono CD in their stores, they would donate $1.oo to the Global Fund. The March 24, 2009 (Red) update from Starbucks also gave customers a chance to catch up on what progress had been made in getting AIDS/ antiviral medicine to Africa:

“To date Starbucks customers have generated contributions equal to more than 3.7MM daily doses of antiretroviral medicine through the purchase of select (Starbucks)^RED products like the (Starbucks)^RED Holiday Exclusives and (Starbucks)^RED Card.  This equates to providing lifesaving antiretroviral therapy to more than 10,000 people with HIV in Africa for one year.”

By summer 2009, Starbucks added even more ways to donate to (Red).  The partnership soon was extended to a line of (Red) promotional items that when purchased, Starbucks donated a $1.00 to the Global Fund.  The promotional products were a tumbler, a CD, and (Red) coffee, a blend of east African whole beans, simply called (Red).

September 2009, Starbucks announced an e-bay auction with proceeds being donated to (Red).  In the end, this ebay auction generated about an additional Starbucks donation of about $7,000 for (Red).

The year is not over! You can still make a difference with your (Red) card and of course you can visit the (Red) website and donate there or find out other corporate partnerships contributing to the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS. As of October 23, 2009, Starbucks has funded 6.0MM daily doses of medicine through (Red)! Excellent work Starbucks!!!

Hopefully the partnership with (Red) will be a lasting one!

Be sure to follow (Red) on twitter too: (Red) twitter profile.

[[Edit on 11-7-2009]]

As of November 3, 2009, (Red) extended its partnership with Starbucks to the UK too.  You can read about it here: http://blog.joinred.com/2009/11/starbucks-red-now-available-in-uk.html

[[Edit on 12-7-2009]]

Announced November 23, 2009, on the Starbucks website, the (Red) card contribution continues another year:

“If you love the original (STARBUCKS) RED Card and can’t bear to part with it, we have good news for you. We’re extending the contribution period on the original card through December 31, 2010.”

Southlake, TX TownSquare Starbucks

As luck would have it, one day I woke up and found myself in Texas! (LOL). I wanted to share with you (all of you readers) my visit to a Starbucks in Southlake, Texas. This store is located in the “Towne Square” area of Southlake, and has something very unique and special – the “customizable” Frappuccino! And just to clear up any confusion, yes, it really is that bright and sunny in Texas in October. I definitely felt blinded by sunshine.

The “Custom Blended Frappuccino” is a Starbucks Frappuccino where the barista can customize it to the customer’s liking. Just to try something unique, I ordered a Soy Espresso Frappuccino:

Soy Espresso Frappuccino

With the customizable Frappuccino, a customer could order a decaf Frappuccino, or adjust the amount of sweetness, or have great milk customization too: 2%, whole milk (default), nonfat, and soy.

This limited test Frappuccino has been in testing phase for a long time; I would guess a full year. I first heard of it from mystarbucksidea.com because customers would post online that they did or did not like the Frappuccino. Their idea often would be something like “bring this everywhere” (or the opposite).  Given the posts I’ve seen at various Starbucks related websites, I believe this Frappuccino started as a very limited and small test in Florida, and then moved to testing phase in Dallas, Texas area.

Though this picture makes it difficult to read the menu boards, one can see that in Southlake Texas, their Starbucks as a unique Frappuccino menu board:

Southlake, TX menu boards

I arrived at this Starbucks at about one in the afternoon, and in addition to ordering the Frappuccino, I got food and asked for Anniversary Blend coffee.  I saw an urn marked “Anniversary Blend” and so I thought that must be what was on the brew for the bold pick.  A barista, who I later learned is “Jeca” told me that after noon, the store only brews “Pike”. Props to Jeca for not calling it “Pike’s”. That is a pet peeve of mine. There is no “s”.  I explained that I wanted something bold.

Jeca immediately offered to brew something, if I had the time to wait. I said sure, and after some discussion, we settled on Cafe Estima, because another barista found an open bag of it. “Brew on demand” appears to be alive and well in Southlake, Texas. Another round of props!

I got my food, plopped down in leather wall chair, and waited. This store has recently been remodeled and has an abundance of leather furniture, beautiful dark wood cabinetry, and has both a Mastrena espresso machine and a warming oven.

I had only a short visit to this Starbucks, but definitely enjoyed it! A barista brought my coffee out to my table.  So I enjoyed my food, drank my coffee, and later made small talk with the barista working the bar. Here’s another interior pic of this store:

Inside Southlake, TX Starbucks (TownSquare Store)

This store was clean and friendly, and I poked my head into the ladies’ room which was also clean and stocked.

Upshot: I would definitely recommend this store to a friend!

As to the unique customizable Frappuccino: It was definitely good and there is no doubt I would order them on a hot summer day in Seattle. I only have to wonder whether it is ever a good idea to change something as iconic as the Frappuccino. Millions of Starbucks customers know the Frappuccino for what it is now, and a change to any new Frappuccino would likely create a great stir. With millions of people each week walking through a Starbucks, a new Frappuccino will cause an uproar, both good and bad. Maybe this is why it’s been in testing phase for such a very long time. Personally, I liked it, but I’m not a hardcore Frappuccino drinker, and the Frappuccino for me is always an occasional treat and nothing more.  It did have a lot of coffee flavor, and tasted great on a warm October day. Two thumbs up on the new Frappuccino.

(PS: If you want to read about another test beverage, click here for the review of the Honey Vanilla Vivanno which I really really really want Starbucks to launch nationally. Please please please Starbucks!)

Soy Frappuccinno- Raise Your Glass

Coffee Education Booklet

This is Episode #2 of the Clover Coffee Experience.   Click here for Episode #1.

On August 26, 2008, Starbucks greatly expanded the number of stores with Clover Coffee brewers and changed a number of marketing materials, as well as price structure.

Menu changes:

* Menus went from brown to green and white.

* Menus no longer had any printed dates on them indicating generally when the coffee was offered.

* Menus dropped the marketing words “Pressed” and replaced it with “Clover” and “Small Batch Coffee”.

Price changes:

* Prices went drastically up.  Previously, a tall was a flat price of $2.05 regardless of whether the customer purchased a Sumatra or 100% Kona. Most coffees went up in prices, and prices varied by type of coffee. During this time frame, the most expensive coffees went up to about $3.45 per 12 ounce cup.

* And then prices went down very slightly … In February 2009 when “pairings” were introduced to the stores, Starbucks dropped the price of a Clover cup of Kenya and Sumatra, and so those two coffees were offered at $1.95 for a 12 ounce cup. Previously I did a blog entry that was a very detailed look at how Sumatra is sourced.  I highly recommend reading it! Sumatra is uniquely sourced in many ways! Click here for the prior blog post on Sumatra and Aged Sumatra coffee magic!

Other materials:

* When the green and white coffee menu boards were introduced, Starbucks also sent baristas a variety of accompanying little tiny cards and materials that educated both barista and customer about the coffee and its sourcing. Baristas also received little cards about 3 x 5 size bound together by a ring with detailed coffee education for each small batch coffee.

* However by about mid-way through 2009, when the menu boards became a plain white and gray, Starbucks seemed to stop sending the additional coffee educational material, seemingly abandoning the idea that baristas should learn about the coffee.

A few images, for the fun of it:

Clover Coffee Menu Sept 2008

October 2008 Clover menu

Late 2008 / December 2008 Clover Coffee Menu

Early 2009 / Jan 2009 Clover Coffee Menu

Feb - March 2009 Clover Coffee Menu

Clover Menu June-July 2009

Clover Coffee Menu September 2009

In addition to the above menus, Starbucks went through a phase (coinciding with the phase of green and white menus) where stores received tiny little coffee information cards that could be distributed to customers. It was better than collecting baseball cards! Here are a few examples:

Burundi Kayanza Coffee Card

Costa Rica Agrivid Coffee Card

Coffee Card back side - coffee tasting info

Sulawesi Kalosi Coffee Card

Ethiopia Sun-Dried Sidamo Coffee Card

Bali Batur Highlands Coffee Card

Kenya Gichathan-Ini Coffee Card

Unfortunately, there is one very tragic part of this story, by July 2009, when the menus changed style from green/white menus to a plainer black and white menu, Starbucks pretty much gave up on the coffee education piece of the Clover Coffee experience. The little tiny coffee information cards stopped coming. Previously, the barista would receive a very detailed card (about 3 x 5 in size) with lots of good information about the sourcing of the coffee. From what I can see, all the extra coffee education materials came to an abrupt halt in the summer of 2009. Here are some of the additional coffee education pieces that I’m referring to:

Coffee Card Booklet-4

CoffeeCardBooklet-3

El Salvador Pacamara

Coffee Tasting Note Card

Zambia Kasama

Coffee Education Booklet

Clover Coffee Education Booklet 2

So, during the Clover coffee episode of green and white menus, Starbucks heavily supplemented the coffee education with a variety of additional materials to help baristas understand the unique and special small-batch sourced coffees. Unfortunately, I have not seen any of the supplemental coffee education materials in the stores in months. I also wish they would go back to dating the menus because right now it’s very confusing for me to try to remember which menus I do or do not have.  I also hope that this blog post will persuade a few people to join the V2V action thread on the Clover Coffee Experience.

I still have great hope for the Clover because it brings such incredible value to a store. The barista needs about 90 seconds to two-minutes at the Clover to make a Clover beverage, and so it gives the customer a chance to connect and talk and slow down the frantic pace of the day. If a Clover store has baristas who understand how special their limited coffee offerings are, and how to get customers enthusiastic about this unique machine, I think its success will be certain! Of  course, Starbucks needs to expand the coffee education that goes with this. The online information about the Clover coffees needs to be a little more accessible too; it can be difficult to figure out detailed information online about these rare coffees!

Where is the Clover Coffee Experience going? I do not know. I am nearly sure that at one point during a quarterly investor’s call, Starbucks announced that in 2010, 250 additional Clovers would be added to Starbucks stores.  This same number of estimated Clovers has been mentioned in the news too. Their placement though must be judicious. My own commentary on this is that the Clover will lose its charm and exquisiteness if Starbucks over expands it and too hastily throws it in their stores. Also, it is clear the market must be able to support the Clover, meaning that any store that gets a Clover has to have customers willing to pay $2.00 to $3.50 for a cup of black coffee! The Clover won’t succeed just anywhere. A recent news article stated that Starbucks is removing the Clover brewer from seven Boston-area Starbucks.

Also, if anyone has any further information about coffee education pieces going to the stores (the little tiny mini cards for customers have definitely been discontinued, and I’m nearly sure the bigger 3 x 5 cards with coffee education information are gone too) I would love to hear about it.

Thank you to Larry Aldrich of Seattle Custom Framing who did a tremendous amount of work for me taking all these million little pictures.

Basket of Starbucks Pike Place Special Reserve

In Seattle, whether the skies are a cold grey or bright blue, there is a street called Pike Place, running north-south through a small market area.  It is not called Pike’s Place.  It is not called Pike’s Peak. (“Pikes Peak” can be found in Colorado, NOT Seattle, Washington).  And just like baristas do not serve Gold’s Coast, it is NOT Pike’s. On this old brick road called Pike Place lies a very small store with no seating, sandwiched between two east-west streets called Virginia Street and Stewart Street. At this address, 1912 Pike Place our story begins …

And of course this really is the “Three Coffee Conundrum” episode of Starbucks: Howard, how could you do anything more confusing than giving THREE whole bean Starbucks coffees nearly identical names!

COFFEE #1:

**** PIKE PLACE BLEND:[2003 to about 2008] [[BOLD]]

This coffee is NOT produced anymore and NOT for sale.  This coffee was sold exclusively at the first Starbucks at 1912 Pike Place, and somewhere in the early 2000s it was introduced into the whole bean line up, at the market.  I have almost no information on this coffee! THIS IS NOT THE SAME COFFEE AS PIKE PLACE ROAST!!!!!! I found a random photo online of the brown simple packaging of Pike Place Blend, from that long-past era of when it was sold at 1912 Pike Place and image from a seemingly now defunct Starbucks page:

Pike Place Blend history image

The image that I’ve loaded called “Pike Place Blend history” came from this web address:

http://www.starbucks.com/retail/anniversarypopup.asp – Notice that the accompanying marketing language states that Pike Place Blend was introduced at the market in 2003. Definitely, during that era of Starbucks, this coffee was sold ONLY at the original Pike Place Store.

Here are a few more random Pike Place Blend images from my google searches on this coffee:

Pike Place Blend Coffee Stamp

Pike Place Blend on the shelves at 1912 Pike Place

Pike Place Blend - Brown packaging over the flavorlock bags

COFFEE #2:

****PIKE PLACE SPECIAL RESERVE:[April 2008 to present] [[BOLD]]

Pike Place Special Reserve is NOT the same coffee as PIKE PLACE ROAST!!! Pike Place Special Reserve IS currently for sale at two stores only:  1912 Pike Place and the Heritage Starbucks at First and Pike.

I know a lot more about Pike Place Special Reserve than its predecessor Pike Place Blend.  In 2006, I began working in downtown Seattle, and in about 2007 I began to frequent the store at 1912 Pike Place because I realized at that time that it was one of the very few Starbucks that still had a manual espresso machine.  At some point in late 2008, I became aware of a coffee called Pike Place Special Reserve. Let me make this totally clear: This coffee existed well before the opening of the Heritage Starbucks at First and Pike and it absolutely definitely pre-dates Pike Place Roast!

I have asked a number of Starbucks partners and baristas at the original store this question:  “Is Pike Place Special Roast the exact same coffee as Pike Place Blend, but just renamed??” and I have gotten a variety of mixed answers, but the majority of partners will say, “Yes – It’s the same coffee but it has a new name“.  From the conversations I’ve had with various coffee masters, I think this may very well be the exact same coffee as the predecessor Pike Place Blend, just with a fancy new name.

The coffee tasting information for Pike Place Special Reserve is as follows:

Description:  A blend of  Starbucks’ finest single-origin Latin American coffees that speak to the perfection of the Starbucks Roast and the rich coffees that are a part of both the Starbucks past and future.  Pike Place Special Reserve is balanced, well-rounded with a smooth complexity and a touch of roast intensity.

Similar coffees: House Blend, Guatemala Antigua, Columbia Nariño Supremo.

Complimentary flavors: Nuts, cinnamon, brown sugar, and chocolate.

It is absolutely worth noticing that if a customer is buying this coffee at the first store at 1912 Pike Place, it comes with an extra layer of packaging on it – There is a brown paper bag with a very large Pike Place Special Reserve sticker, and the white and brown flavorlock bag is inside the brown paper out coverings. If a customer is buying this coffee at the Heritage Starbucks at First and Pike, there is no outer brown packaging and it is often found in woven baskets throughout the store.  It is the exact same coffee either way!

Heritage Starbucks at First and Pike opened brand new to the public on Friday, March 13, 2009. I was there the morning it opened and remember it well.  Right from the outset, that store got the privilege of selling this coffee which previously had been exclusive to 1912 Pike Place, and to this day, as I write this, continues to sell this rare coffee.  The larger upper-left image of Pike Place Special Reserve was taken inside the Heritage Starbucks.

Why was this coffee re-named from Pike Place Blend to Pike Place Special Reserve? The lore and legend of it that I hear from long-term Starbucks coffee masters is that Starbucks wanted to make sure that this coffee had a distinctive name from Pike Place Roast, and that it is ’specially reserved’ to the Pike Place Market area of Seattle. I can honestly say, I think this was a confusing strategy for Starbucks to take, but that’s just me.

Pike Place Special Reserve - large stamp for the brown bags

Pike Place Special Reserve Coffee Stamp

Basket of Pike Place Special Reserve at the First & Pike Starbucks

Pike Place Special Reserve

COFFEE #3:

****PIKE PLACE ROAST:[April 8, 2008 to present] [[MEDIUM]]

Pike Place Roast is the “everyday brew” for ALL Starbucks and was launched on April 8, 2008, with much fanfare, at Seattle’s Pike Place market.  It was the new blend of Starbucks coffee that Starbucks promised would re-invent and revitalize coffee at Starbucks.  I remember that day well too. I had heard that there would be festivities at the market for the new brew starting early evening, so after work, I hustled down to the market so that I wouldn’t miss a thing! There was a stage set up on Pike Place nearly in front of the old 1912 Pike Place Store, and a ban played, followed by speakers from various corporate levels of Starbucks.  Lots of coffee samples were being given out – cups of brewed Pike Place Roast, and small whole bean samples of Pike Place Roast.  Starbucks launched a comprehensive website for this coffee as well – http://www.starbucks.com/flash/pikeplaceroast/index.html – As I write this, that appears to be still a functioning website.

Towards the end of the event, the mayor of the City of Seattle, Greg Nickels, spoke and presented Howard Schultz with a certificate forever declaring April 8, 2008 as “Pike Place Roast Day” in Seattle. I had with me an old very poor quality cell phone and I snapped a few pictures of the happenings, though sadly most were blurry or not close enough. This one here shows mayor Nickels in a blue suit and reddish tie, standing next to Howard Schultz:

Mayor Nickels & Howard Schultz, Apr., 8, 2008

Pike Place Roast Coffee Stamp

Via Ready Brew earrings

When I first heard Starbucks was launching instant coffee, I was skeptical and suspicious. After trying it, hot and cold, I came around. I don’t know how it happened, but I became a Via believer.  Those mornings where I didn’t have enough time for a morning Starbucks run became Via mornings, and I was glad to have my emergency sticks of Via in my office.  My first blog entry on Via was a store review of the North Bend Drive-Through Starbucks Via Challenge.

This morning, I saw some fabulous Via enthusiasm at a downtown Seattle Starbucks: Via earrings! I love it! I thought I’d share the Via earrings picture. I promised the barista it would be just her ear all over the internet and not her face, and all I had with me was my cell phone so the quality of the pics isn’t that great.  I asked about the earrings and learned that the partners got together and made a whole bunch of them so that every barista would have Via earrings to wear!  That’s so cool! (Though I assume the guys in the store aren’t wearing them.)

Enjoy!

(Decaf Via arrives in stores November 17, 2009)

Via Ready Brew earrings

[[Update December 2009 - I wrote a second "Roy Street Coffee" blog entry here which posted the day before it opened. I went to a media preview event the Tuesday night before it opened, and covered a little more about Roy Street Coffee in that November blog entry.  In December, I wrote a blog post discussing the details of the differences between the "street level" stores and a Starbucks-branded store. Look for that blog post here.]]

The rumor for a while has been that the next “undercover” Starbucks will be located at 700 Broadway East, in Seattle, Washington, and is called “Roy Street Coffee“.  For those wondering what I am talking about, the first of the “undercover” Starbucks was called “15th Avenue Coffee and Tea” and previously I posted my review of the store here.  Howard Schultz, in an interview with Business Week explains why these new concept stores are not called a “Starbucks” with a large part of the explanation simply being that the stores will service beer and wine.  Also, you can follow Roy Street Coffee on twitter already! Please follow them here!  And click here to follow 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea on twitter! And of course, I hope you’ll follow me on twitter too!

So meet the neighborhood! I realize most people reading this blog are not located here in the City of Seattle, and so I decided to grab my point-and-shoot cheap camera and offer a visual tour of the neighborhood of Roy Street Coffee.  Technically, I believe this neighborhood is the “Harvard/Belmont” neighborhood, but it is much easier and more clear to say “Capital Hill”.

Enjoy!

Roy Street Coffee where main road Broadway turns into 10th

Broadway meets Roy Street Signs

Looking North up 700 Broadway East - Classical old Cap Hill neighborhood Street

Another view of the building to be the site of Roy Street Coffee

Front of 700 Broadway East - Location for Roy Street Coffee

A SW view looking across from Roy Street Coffee

Lynnwood Square front window with old logo

Ask yourself, what do the Starbucks at Lynnwood Square, (#350) Crossroads Mall (#340) in Bellevue, and the Columbia Center (#101) all have in common?

If you answered that these three store all have signage or visuals somewhere using the Starbucks logo from 1987 to 1992, then you guessed correctly.  By way of a refresher course, the Starbucks logo has been through a number of changes over the years, and very good history of it can be found on this website here.  The 1987 to 1992 version of the logo was green, with a belly button, and two full siren tails. These three stores, as far as I know, are the only stores around with any vestiges of this particular 1987 to 1992 era Siren logo.

The Crossroads Mall store has an exterior wall and patio area with two very large murals, and a very large exterior sign with the old logo.

The Lynnwood Square store has two beautiful interior lighted signs with the old logo, one of which hangs by the bar, and the other in the front window. The quality of the store’s signs is fantastic. Unlike the other two which look worn from years and years of use, the Lynnwood store sign appears in very good condition.

The Columbia Center also holds the distinction of being the first Howard Schultz Starbucks, thus it was the first Il Giornale store, opened in the 1986 to 1987 time frame.  Today, the Columbia Center is a vibrant lively store open Monday through Friday, 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., catering to building tenants, and those that walk over from Seattle’s Administration Building, King County Courthouse, Seattle Municipal Court, and City Hall. This store is also a Clover Starbucks.  The Columbia Center is Seattle’s tallest building.

If you’re reading this, and you know of a store that uses the OLD green logo, before she suffered an amputation at the waistline, please contact me. I’d be very interested in seeing photos of more stores that still modernly have this seventeen year-old version of the Starbucks logo in use.

Lynnwood Square, (#350):

Lynnwood Square front window with old logo

Lynnwood Square Front Entrance

Lynnwood Square exterior view

Inside Lynnwood Square - older pic from April 2008

Crossroads Mall (#340) in Bellevue, WA:

Patio area of Crossroads Mall Starbucks

Patio of Crossroads Mall Starbucks closer view

Crossroads Mall Starbucks

Columbia Center Starbucks, downtown Seattle, WA, (#101):

Front doors to the Columbia Center - 4th Avenue entrance - Jan 2008

4th Avenue entrance doors to Columbia Center Starbucks

5th & Cherry Street view of the Columbia Center building

Clover Coffee Brewer image

It is time for a blog entry on the delightful world of the Clover Coffee brewer.  The Clover Coffee Brewer has been around as a part of Starbucks for at least two years, and so there is a lot to write about. Thus, I am breaking this up into two blog entries.  August 26, 2008 represent a significant Clover day, because it was a day of wide-spread expansion of the Clover to new stores as well as a change in the marketing materials and a change in the pricing for the Clover. Episode #1 covers the Clover from the very start to August 25, 2008.

The very earliest Clover coffee menus had the following words on the back side of them:

“If beans could speak, they’d reveal the secret of their fuller flavor in this outstandingly smooth cup.  They’d tempt with the nuances of a fine wine, and whisper comparisons to their favorite chocolates and spices.  But the beans only speak through the palate.  So best to taste a pressed coffee yourself.  And have your own silent conversation with the beans.” How true these words are to me.

Just a little background on the Clover coffee brewer: It is a single-cup coffee brewing system invented in Seattle, and then later purchased by Starbucks Coffee Company in 2008.  I do not know exactly when the Clover was purchased by Starbucks, but the purchase was announced at the 2008 Annual Meeting of Shareholders on March 18, 2008.

A few of the very early Starbucks Clover stores were at 6th and Union in downtown Seattle and the Queen Anne location.  Personally, I discovered the Clover at the 6th and Union Starbucks, and I still remember that well. January 2008 and my very first Clover cup of coffee was Casi Cielo. However, I believe that Queen Anne Starbucks had their Clover even longer than 6th and Union, possibly. Today, I had the good fortune of encountering a barista with a long Starbucks memory: He helped fill in some of the knowledge gaps I had about Clover. He remembered that his store (Queen Anne) received their Clover brewer “a few weeks before Christmas 2007.”  We talked about the urban tall-tale of the “Black and Tan” at Starbucks which now exists only the memories of those early Clover explorers and colonists.  Putting together what I know, with what I learned from him, here is the story of the “Black and Tan“:

The Black and Tan was sold late 2007 through early 2008 as a featured drink at any Clover Starbucks (at that time there were literally only a handful of Clover stores – perhaps less than 5 stores).  It was double-strength Italian Roast coffee, with about an inch, or inch and a half, of cappuccino foam, topped with sugar in the raw and freshly ground nutmeg.  In my memory, the Black and Tan was made by the barista making double strength Italian Roast through the Clover (because the Clover has tremendous customization ability, this would not be a difficult thing for a barista) then the barista running to the bar and steaming some milk, followed by the barista topping it with sugar in the raw. The best part of this came at the very end when the barista would HAND GRIND the nutmeg with a real nutmeg grinder and fresh WHOLE nutmeg. The very few original stores with the Clover also received nutmeg grinders! As the barista ground the nutmeg, the aroma of the very freshly ground nutmeg was distinctly noticeable.  As is clear, this was a horribly labor intensive beverage, and I bet baristas were secretly rejoicing when it tanked. And somewhere, there are a handful of Starbucks stores with classic manual nutmeg grinders, now collecting dust.

As per the Queen Anne barista who assisted my research for this story, he stated that in the very early days of the Black and Tan they had a special brewer dedicated to Italian Roast coffee and a separate steam wand set up near the Clover station. (I really do not remember that at all).  Interestingly, at his store he said, “cops loved the drink!” LOL! Sounds like it was a pretty good seller in Queen Anne, at least.

In February 2008, there was still a minimal amount of promo materials for the Black and Tan. I don’t have any menu referencing it, and the ONLY thing I have that even mentions this odd creature of a drink is this very poor quality blurry photograph. Click here for the pic. (I am really sorry that I have no good promo images at all of the Black and Tan.  I attempted to get assistance from a couple of people within the SSC for old promo literature with the Black and Tan but I only hit roadblocks.).

I recall being told by a barista at 6th & Union that the Black and Tan beverage was created by Howard Schultz himself, but a caveat here, I don’t know if that is really true or not!

I tried the Black and Tan and I remember it was a nice change of pace but it was nothing that made me jump for joy. It was basically a strong brew, foam, and sugar, and an interesting drink to watch being made.

And now on to the fun early Clover menus:

February 2008 Clover Coffee Menu

The earliest menus were printed on a very heavy card stock with embossed text! Later versions came on thinner paper. Notice that it didn’t take long before Starbucks dropped the backside language that said “If beans could speak …” and soon made both sides simply the coffee menu.

In addition, take note of the pricing for the Clover coffees:  A Clover brewer cup of coffee was charged by size regardless of whether you were getting 100% Kona, Sumatra, or whatever your coffee of choice was. A Tall was $2.50 and a Grande was $3.05. After August 26, 2008, pricing was by kind of coffee, not necessarily size.

I hope you enjoy having the old menus to look at!

Many thank yous to my friend Larry Aldrich of Seattle Custom Framing who took the Clover menu photos for me.  The copyright holder for the picture used at the very beginning of this blog entry (the one with the beans being spooned next to a Clover machine) is Starbucks Coffee Company. (Hopefully they don’t mind that I used it).