Food

Chocolate covered mango morsels by @tchochocolate and other Starbucks test snacks.

by Melody on December 24, 2011

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Starbucks has a very small test running of a few sweet snacks.  I found them at the same Starbucks store where I found the test automated coffee brewer.   In fact, in the photo from that previous blog article, you can kind of see the test snacks sitting on the counter, adjacent to the pastry case.  The three test snacks were Mango Morsels Drenched in Dark Chocolate made by TCHO Chocolates; Caramelized Graham Crackers made by Kika’s Treats; and lastly, Sea Salt Caramels by Liddabit Sweets.

Would any of those three items appeal to you?

I think Starbucks can do no wrong by partnering with TCHO Chocolates.  They are truly a premier and gourmet chocolatier, and they produce delicious sweets.  Starbucks has offered chocolates made by TCHO in the past, as seen in the photo for this previous blog post about Verona coffee.  Of the three snacks here, the TCHO Chocolates were the clear winner.  The mango morsels taste wonderful, and the dark chocolate was just the right amount of sweetness.  This was sooo good!  Please beloved Starbucks, throw your arms open wide to TCHO Chocolates.

The caramelized graham crackers weren’t terrible, but they had an odd texture to them.  I expect graham crackers to have a crisp ‘snap’ to them, and these were a bit too soft, and they weren’t quite sweet enough for me either.  I didn’t like the sea salt by Liddabit Sweets.  I’m not sure what Starbucks was thinking.  They were gooey to eat.  They weren’t even very salty.  I browsed the Liddabit Sweets webpage and saw a number of delicious looking treats, but I don’t think this item is their finest.  Of course, taste is highly subjective.

I definitely feel like each and every time that I write about a ‘test’ item, I need to remind my readers that Starbucks tests a gazillion things, and most never launch nation-wide in stores.  To browse more articles about test items, click here.  Starbucks has tested everything from the Honey Vanilla Vivanno, to Refreshers, to the Apple Crumble Frappuccino, to digital menu-boards.

Would you buy or want any of these three items?

(I apologize for the pace of articles lately at this blog.  Somehow I’ve just had a lot to write about.)

 

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New food – Bistro Boxes – arriving at Starbucks on July 12, 2011

by Melody on July 11, 2011

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Starbucks is launching almost entirely all-new food offerings as of July 12, 2011.  The new lunch-type options are called “Bistro Boxes” and come in a variety of choices.  The United States versions of the new food boxes include a small piece of dark chocolate branded as “Starbucks Dark Chocolate.”  I have heard that the Canadian versions of these Bistro Boxes skips the dark chocolate but is otherwise the same food box.

Here’s a list of the new Bistro Boxes:

  • Protein Bistro Box
  • Cheese & Fruit Bistro Box
  • Chipotle Chicken Wraps Bistro Box
  • Sesame Noodle Bistro Box
  • Chicken Hummus Bistro Box
  • Chicken Lettuce Wraps Bistro Box
  • Tuna Salad Bistro Box
  • Salumi & Cheese Bistro Box

The salumi meat box, so I have heard, is actually the same salumi offering that has long been available at the Olive Way Starbucks as part of their “elevated” Starbucks experience platform.  I’ve had the meat platter many times, and it’s delicious.  One of the meats on the Olive Way Salumi plate is very peppery, almost a bit too much for me, but I still like it.  I am really excited to try the new food on Tuesday the 12th!  They certainly look good.  Feel free to weigh in if you’ve tried these, or any conversation related to Starbucks food!

 

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Which of the new Starbucks petite treats do you like best? (Free petite treats 3-10 to 3-12 with some conditions).

by Melody on March 9, 2011

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Starbucks has launched the “petite treats” which are eight small-sized desserts, each one under 200 calories.  These new food treats launched on March 8, 2011, and coming soon there is a chance to get a free petite treat with the purchase of any handcrafted beverage.  From March 10, 2011 through March 12, 2011, come into any Starbucks between two and five p.m., and you can get a free “petite treat” with the purchase of any handcrafted beverage.  My experience from past promotions is that “handcrafted” beverage is usually interpreted to mean a wide variety of things including tea-lemonades, Frappuccinos, Vivannos, lattes, and just about anything at all that you can imagine.  I don’t know how broadly “handcrafted beverage” is being defined for this current promotion.

There are eight petite treats, as I previously mentioned.  Some of you might remember, the launch of these new cute little desserts has its roots in a test that was recently conducted in Arizona, called the “mini treat test.”  The test in Arizona involved more than eight little treats, but today (March 8, 2011) there were eight treats that launched.  The eight treats are as follows:

  1. Red Velvet Whoopie Pie
  2. Lemon Square
  3. Rocky Road Cake Pop
  4. Birthday Cake Pop
  5. Salted Caramel Square
  6. Tiramisu Cake Pop
  7. Carrot Cake Mini Cupcake
  8. Chocolate Cupcake with Peanut Butter Frosting

I wanted to write a review of each of these little treats so I bought one of each today and attempted to eat all of them.  This is not a good idea.  Eating all eight at once is not advisable!   It might be delightful to have one or two at a time but eight at once will put you into a sugar coma.  I went to the Starbucks at 7th and Pike in downtown Seattle, and attempted to eat all eight while chatting with the store manager, Adam.  It was interesting talking to him, and it reminded me how totally subjective this is.  Taste is subjective.

I said to Adam, “I really like the lemon square – I like lemon.”

He replied, “Really? I don’t like lemon at all as a flavor.  I really liked the birthday cake pop!”

I looked at him dumbfounded and said, “Really? Oh my gosh that was the one I liked the least.  How about the salted caramel square?  That was good.”

And then Adam said, “I don’t like caramel.”

When I was done talking to Adam I realized we had exact opposite views of which treats we liked the best.  Just goes to show you, there is something for everyone!  By the way, the carrot cake cupcake was delicious and the frosting on it was delectable!  That might be my all-time favorite of all of them.

I mentioned a promotion for a free mini with the purchase of any handcrafted beverage.  There is more information here on that:

Join Us For Tribute Days – From the Starbucks blogs

Please weigh in and tell me if you like these little treats!

(I feel like I have a million things to write about right now because I still need to do an entire post on Tribute Blend.  I guess I’ll get to that eventually.)

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Strawberry popcorn at Starbucks? The holiday treats in Japan 2010

by Melody on January 9, 2011

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Although a little late in the season for this, it’s time to talk about seasonal snack food in Starbucks in Japan.  Not too long ago I wrote about the seasonal snack offerings here in the US for holiday 2010 and raved about the wonderful chocolate covered macadamia nuts.  Shortly after writing that blog post, I heard from one of this blog’s regular commenters, Kaori, that Japan also got some really interesting treats for the 2010 holiday season.  The entire concept of “strawberry popcorn” had me intrigued!  Lo and behold, I received a gift box in the mail with three treat foods from the 2010 Starbucks holiday food lineup in Japan.  Though most blog readers here will never try these items or see them at their local stores, it was so interesting I had to share it here.  And besides, there are a number of people reading this site who come from Japan!

The three Japan treats were Strawberry Popcorn, Nutty White Cookies, and Cranberry Ball Cookies.  I want to point out that the U.S. Starbucks do regularly sell popcorn at this time, and it is available in two flavors: (1) Butter and (2) Salt and Pepper.  If you want to go back and read my previous blog article on the popcorn available in United States stores, click here.

And now on to the review of the three Japanese treats:

Strawberry Popcorn – This was surprisingly good.  The strawberry flavor is pretty mild, and it’s really not all that sweet.  It doesn’t taste very real though.  Somehow the strawberry tastes exceedingly artificial.  It is essentially mildly sweet popcorn with a strawberry essence to it.  I would buy this if it were offered here, though not on a regular basis.  I still like the classic butter popcorn available in the United States Starbucks better.  However, I like the strawberry popcorn better than the salt and pepper flavored popcorn.  I always like to include the warning that one should brush and floss after eating popcorn!  Popcorn easily gets stuck in periodontal pockets and can be the start of an abcess.

Nutty White Cookies – The nutty white cookies are absolutely delicious.  They’re essentially a shortbread cookie.  Crunchy, not overly sweet, and lightly buttery and nutty.  I wish we had had these here this past Christmas.  These are the perfect little cookies to serve to a guest with a cup of coffee, or to have handy to dunk into your cup.  Perfection.  As most coffee masters know, nutty flavors easily complement coffee.  These might be fabulous with Organic Shade Grown Mexico or with Guatemala Antigua.  These cookies taste like something that you might find in your grandmother’s kitchen made as a holiday treat for home, or for a cookie exchange.  They taste natural and don’t have indiscernible unnatural sugar flavors.

Cranberry Ball Cookies – These are the sweeter counterpart to the nutty white cookies.  They don’t particularly taste like cranberry but do taste like they have more sugar added.  I like these cookies but they are not the perfection of the nutty white cookies.   These would be a little harder to figure out which coffee exactly pairs with them too.  The artificial pink/red color is not a natural looking color either.  I think these cookies too are supposed to have some nutty flavor in them, but that is overpowered by the sugary flavor.  Oddly, these cookies have something in them that is kind of chewy and I think it is supposed to resemble a cranberry bit. This cookie gets one thumb up and one thumb down.  Might be fabulous if you’re craving something a little sweeter, but not nearly as delightful as the nutty white cookies.

As I snacked my way through this blog post, I am reminded that one thing I want Starbucks to improve upon is their efforts to make sure food pairs with coffee.  When I previously wrote about the Black and White cookie at Starbucks, I noted that the packaging says right on it that those cookies pair with Sumatra.  I am sorry I don’t have photos of the reverse of these three snack items, but in any case, it’s entirely in Japanese.  Maybe there is a core coffee mentioned, but I can’t tell.  My point only is that the overwhelming majority of new Starbucks food products seem to get launched in the stores with zero conversation about which whole bean offering will pair nicely with the coffee.  I’d like to see the care put into the packaging to include a mention of a coffee pairing suggestion, as has been done on the Black and White cookie packaging.

This is an open thread.  Talk about anything Starbucks-related.  Also if you’ve tried these snacks, please weigh in!

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Dear Santa @Starbucks please bring the Black & White cookie to all stores (Open wishlist thread)

December 15, 2010

Dear Santa Starbucks or Howard Schultz or Big Starbucks Food Executive Vice President, Once upon a time there was a lovely cookie called the Black and White cookie which was commonly found at Starbucks.  The cookie is still around, it’s just gone from common to rare.  It’s so good.  The bottom of it is sort of a [...]

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The Seasonal Snacks at Starbucks: Macadamia nuts to put you into a stupor

December 11, 2010

Every holiday season, Starbucks finds some seasonal treats to offer in the store.  This time they outdid themselves with the Squirrel Brand Macadamia Nuts. They are so good.  They are rich and yummy and you can taste the toffee buttery goodness all around the macadamia nuts.  These snacks are dusted with Starbucks Espresso Roast Coffee [...]

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Snack foods at Starbucks: The blog post I munched my way through

December 6, 2010

It is time to take a look at the many snack foods available at Starbucks.  I am not referring to the items found in the pastry case, but rather things tucked away in hidden corners, in baskets, in cans, in plastic, and other kinds of wrappers. In my humble opinion, much of looks like road [...]

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Brand new chocolates: Starbucks Via Ready Brew dark chocolate bars!

November 14, 2010

Starting November 16, 2010, Starbucks will be selling some new chocolates in their stores!  The twist is that the new chocolate bar has Via Ready Brew in it! Wow! Previously I had guessed that this chocolate bars were produced by TCHO chocolates since Starbucks does have an existing partnership with them.  I have been told [...]

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Win a coupon for a free pint of @Starbucks ice cream (@SbuxMel)

October 24, 2010
Thumbnail image for Win a coupon for a free pint of @Starbucks ice cream (@SbuxMel)

A new Starbucks ice cream is here! Starbucks has added a seasonal ice cream offering to their current line up of ice cream. It is Peppermint Mocha and it’s described as “a creamy swirl of mocha and peppermint ice creams adorned with rich dark chocolaty chunks.”  The inspiration for this ice cream comes from the [...]

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The mini test @Starbucks: A small food test of extraordinarily delicious looking treats (beginning 10/5/10)

October 7, 2010
Thumbnail image for The mini test @Starbucks: A small food test of extraordinarily delicious looking treats (beginning 10/5/10)

A few districts of stores in Arizona and also on the East coast are the site of the latest Starbucks food test: It’s called the “mini” test.  Small-sized food items at a small price.  And look at these photos! They look amazingly delicious! I really want to try those cupcakes right this very minute.  This [...]

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