It’s time to talk about something old and new, all at once. Recipes and a passion for coffee. Those two things go hand in hand. The ‘new and innovative’ in the pairing of recipes and coffee, is Via. On the Starbucks website you can even find a web page dedicated to recipes using Via in them. But going back 15 years in time, Starbucks put out an amazing book called, “A Passion For the Coffee”. It has a 1994 publication date and the book walks the reader through a little bit about coffee history, Starbucks sourcing and roasting, and even has a page with the 1994 whole bean coffee menu. Personally, I’m incredibly sentimental about whole bean menus, because I think that as a coffee house it is imperative that the whole bean offerings be obvious and central to the theme of the store. And the whole bean 1994 menu (pictured below) takes me back in time: I remember Yirgacheffe being a regular coffee offering, and this was the era of coffee scooped out of bins (pre-flavorlock bags), and stores densely rich in the smell of coffee. For those customers who are craving a cup of Starbucks Yirgacheffe coffee, look for it as a periodic offering through the Starbucks Clover stores.
Since the book dates from 1994, it also is reflective of the Starbucks of that era. Notice that on the page describing sizes and the offerings of espresso beverages, there is no “Venti” size. The book is from the era when the menu was “short”, “tall”, and “grande” and pre-dates the Frappuccino.
So the theme of this post is coffee and recipes, old and new. Please feel free to comment. I’ve uploaded a handful of pages from the 1994 book which was the inspiration for this blog post. Many thank yous to Larry Aldrich of Seattle Custom Framing for taking the pics.
[[Edit 11-30: After reading this blog entry, if you’re in the mood to look at more recipes, I’d refer you to a favorite blog called “Savory Sweet Life“. A number of the recipe entries in that blog look Starbucks inspired!]]
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Awesome and YUM!! The muffins would be fun to make with kids. 😀
WoWZers Melody! Where have I been? Why have I not ever seen this book before? Whole bean is my my passion. I’m looking on Amazon right after I post this to find a copy! Thanks so much– GREAT blog post 🙂 GREAT inspiration!
Sounds really ace! – I like it! 🙂
Perfect timing!
Now have something to read whilst drinking my mid afternoon coffee.
Bless ya
I thought I had just about every book on coffee, or at least had read them all. This is the first time that I’ve heard of this one.
In the UK we’re lucky enough to have Organic Yirgacheffe available as whole bean all the time. I think this book needs an update, maybe a second edition. Would be great for Christmas 2010.
@DavidJamesonUK- That’s a great idea for Starbucks to put out a new edition of this! It would show their renewed commitment to coffee, but wouldn’t it be a tragedy if the new edition failed to include a whole bean menu?? I can see that happening with Starbucks these days. What makes this book a gem is that it is so thorough talking about roasting, sourcing, … a true coffee emphasis!
Can’t believe i just found your site! What a haven for coffee and starbucks lovers! Keep up the great work, and also keep the interesting tweets coming!
Stephen
Just ordered it on Amazon $2.76 🙂
When Via first came out I thought the convenience of Starbucks instant coffee would be a hit. But to be able to leverage it in recipes, for example, makes it that much better.
The book looks like a winner!
I have a great interest in Starbucks Merchandise and this book just floored me. I have never seen it before. I would love to get my hands on a copy. Thanks for taking the time to write this piece. Btw… I think it would be a great idea for Starbucks to either put this in print again or bring out a new book along the same theme.
wow, i had never heard of that book, and here i thought by now amazon.com suggested anything Starbucks to me! i’ll need to add it to my bookmooch wishlist, yum
I think the perfect idea would be recipes that pair nicely with the whole bean: lemon cheesecake with Sidamo, walnut and dark chocolate flapjack with House Blend, mushroom biryani with Sumatra. Basically play out the whole bean menu through recipes. Why aren’t we working in R&D??!
Mmmmm, I got this book as a gift many years ago. I remember the Chocolate Fudge with Mocha Glaze – yum! And the Financiers – goes well with a bold.
I don’t think I even knew what Starbucks was until 2000 or so. I can’t quite remember. So it’s cool to find out about Starbucks history (if you will).
I don’t think I knew what Starbucks was til about 2000 or so. It’s nice to learn about things in Starbucks history.
I totally agree that all coffee houses should have a whole bean menu. How can you be truly focused on selling top quality coffee without one? But then mind you, Starbucks hasn’t been about coffee ever since the introduction of PPR. I miss the old Starbucks. 🙁
Great !!! writing Melody. This is one of my favorite so far. I have always contended: if only Starbucks would go back to where they were around the mid-90’s….. I’d be so much happier. (or earlier) will get the book, hopefully.
Wow Melody – I have this book packed away somewhere and was just thinking the other day that I should find it and send it to you. But of course you already have it!
BTW, mine still has the coupons that came with it. I *rarely* use recovery coupons, free drink coupons, etc. Just one of the reasons I am not a fan of the new reward star system.
I still have some of the old green “free drink” certificates they gave out when you purchased a mug in the 1990s and I might even still have some of the old pre-Starbucks Card $3 gift certificates. Ahhh, Starbucks in the ’90s…
This is making me hungry!
And it’s so cool to see an old whole bean menu! Wonder what’ll it will look like in the next 15 years.
This looks like an awesome book! I love seeing behind the scenes stuff from my fav. companies and recipes from starbucks=awesome!!!!! Thanks for having this sweet blog…will definitely be adding it to my googlereader!
The blueberry coffee cake looks delicious! I’ll have to see if they still have this book on Amazon. This may be off topic, but do you have a starbucks magazine there? Something like this? http://starbuckscoffeejapan.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2010-06-04
@Kaori – Thanks for the comment. I think this book is still available on Amazon. I’ve actually thought that if I were going to have ads on this site, it might be just a single Amazon affiliate ad but I can’t bring myself to adding ads. Starbucks doesn’t produce any kind of hard copy magazine, to answer your question. They experimented with “Joe Magazine” in the late 1990s, but it sold poorly and was quickly given the axe.
Thank you Melody! I found the book on Amazon! As for ads, I for one think that your posts are advertisement enough 😀
Thanks for reminding us about this blog post via your comment on Starbucks Gossip. I decided to order the book from one of the Amazon.com Marketplace Sellers.
This past week I had some very informative discussions with one of the Baristas at my favorite Starbucks, he made me some great “old school” espresso drinks–fun and tasty for both of us and enlightening for the “new age baristas”. 😉
@DadCooks – You remind me of something important. I’ve been talking to Kelly (wildsagemarketing.com) about putting an Amazon widget on this blog. This blog is expensive in many ways. I don’t ever plan on cluttering it with ads, but I thought one Amazon widget would work. Many people will be ordering “Onward” or other Starbucks books anyways, and if you ordered through my widget, you could support the blog. We just haven’t had time. Kelly has a restaurant business she’s involved in too, and there just hasn’t been much time. In fact, Jim & I are heading for lunch there right now. 😉
@Melody – I know you’re not trying to monetize this blog, however Amazon does have an “affiliate” program and they will give you a cut of sales – you can link to specific books and you can also just have an affiliate link and you’ll get a cut of what the person who uses the link purchases.
I’d be more than happy and willing to use that link when I shop at Amazon in order to help you offset the costs of running your blog.
@CD – Yes yes that is exactly what I was trying to say. I’m expecting that I will have an amazon “affiliate” widget on this blog before too long. I really think the timing is _now_ because of Howard’s book Onward. You said exactly what I was trying to say – Use the Amazon “affiliate” program to offset the costs of the blog.
@Melody — I too support your decision to go for an Amazon “widget”.
I just bought this book and remembered seeing your blog post about it. I had to buy it after your find words about it. 🙂