As of yesterday, Starbucks is promoting their bold brews. I want to enjoy every minute of it: All 80,640 minutes of the bold brewed promotion. It is 8 weeks of showcasing the bold coffee line-up with a chance to get a free pound of coffee at the end, so long as you complied with the rules! The clock is already ticking and there is no intermission and no Tivo option here either.
It has been too long since we’ve seen bold brewed coffee take the front stage at Starbucks. Since April 2008, Starbucks has promoted and showcased their everyday brew, Pike Place Roast. Yes, Pike Place Roast has its fans, but Starbucks was built on dark, rich, coffee.
Here is the deal:
– Go to a Starbucks.
– Order a tall or larger “bold coffee of the week.”
– Enjoy your boldly roasted coffee.
– Be sure to smell it.
– You can even slurp a little. I don’t recommend spilling it on your suit though.
– Notice the heavy weight of the coffee in your mouth and deep caramelized notes. Now that is bold.
– Ask your barista, ‘hey can I have one of those tri-fold coffee tour sheets that look like a Reader’s Digest version of a coffee passport. And oh by the way, I need a sticker too.’
– Repeat the above steps 8 times.
– At the end of the 8 weeks, return to Starbucks with all 8 stickers on your sticker-collecting sheet, and turn it in for a free pound of coffee!
There are a few variations on the above theme: At any time, you may make ONE substitution of Pike Place Roast instead of the “bold pick of the week” coffee. If you really want to just buy a pound of the coffee of the week rather than a tall beverage, you may do that instead and receive a sticker.
I was thinking that the most enthusiastic bold coffee drinkers could stick their face right into the circular cut-out window signage that says, “something bold is brewing” and have a really funny picture taken of them. ‘This is the face of a hard-core bold coffee drinker,’ would read the caption. It would be reminiscent of the previous (Red) pictures. So in the image above that goes with this blog post, just mentally imagine yourself or some bold coffee drinker that you know smiling big, nose pressed against the glass, with a happy face right under “something bold is brewing.” Preferably, this person you know should have a bold personality too, though that is not a requirement here.
Here is the line up of bold brewed coffee over the next 8 weeks, errr, I mean 80,640 minutes! (Somewhere, some 24-hour Starbucks really is having 80,640 minutes of this promotion).
March 9 – 14 – Yukon Blend
March 15 – 21 – Italian Roast
March 22 – 28 – East African Blend (the coffee blend formerly known as (Red))
March 29 – April 4 – Komodo Dragon
April 5 – 11 – Caffè Verona
April 12 – 18 – Cafè Estima
April 19 – 25 – Gold Coast Blend
April 26 – May 3 – Sumatra
How is everyone’s coffee sticker collecting and bold coffee adventure going? We’re only on day two but has anyone else already gotten their Yukon sticker?
Also, I definitely challenge people to take fun pics of smiling faces in the classic Starbucks cup circular cut out and email to me (if you have any such interest). If I get more than handful of them, I’ll be glad to feature the fun pics as a blog post! My email address is Sbux206@StarbucksMelody.com
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Hey — this is news I can use! Good news for those of us who love Starbucks’ bold blends — and really don’t care for PPR. Finally.
Wouldn’t have heard about this without your blog. Starbucks needs to give you a gold star.
What’s fun is I got one at the Starbucks close to my apartment. Even though I’m a barista, I’m totally gonna participate as a customer, too. (But I won’t try & get the free pound of coffee since I get a free pound every week anyway!)
Have you seen the facebook app for bold coffee? It said I would like Cafe Estima because I’m a “caring” person. Interesting! Although I’ve had (Red) as a drip before, I’m anxious to highlight this coffee for customer!
I’m really excited about this. Starbucks is starting fresh with the coffee experience for both customer and partner to journey through together.
It will give customers the opportunity to be exposed to the different unique blends and broaden their “coffee horizon” to flavor profiles they weren’t aware of before.
While I am looking forward to trying out the various blends it’s true that I’m partial to Caffe Verona. That and a sleeve of frozen Thin Mints from the Girl Scout’s are like kryptonite.
80.640 Minutes of Bold is just 971,257.53 minutes shy of the 1,051,897.53 minutes we’ve endured of Pike Place Roast.
Thanks again Mel for a great post..
Good Coffee Day to You!
I love that we are doing this, i’m so excited for our customers because we will have a selection that will vary. We will also introduce new coffees to some of them like the (red).
In Canada (or at least my market) we brew Pike Place Roast and our Bold pick of the day all day all the time. Decaf is until noon and after noon we offer the new pour over method or we will still honour an Americano for the price of a drip or we will absolutely brew a quarter batch if you prefer that method as well.
Having OYB on all this week has made my life because it’s a coffee that evokes strong emotions for me. It was one of my first and was my LC’s fave too 😉
This coffee has left us and changed a bit but it new ORGANIC incarnation the sentiment i get when drinking a cup of Yukon is still the same. It had dominated the top 3 spots of my favourite coffees since my time with Starbucks and that’s 8 years…wow
Thanks Melody for all you do to chronicle our companies evolution. Without your enthusiasm many people might not know some of the important historical fact about our great company. We should indeed have a historian working at the SSC.
Forward thinking is propelled by your past actions. It’s sad to think that some things have been lost forever.
Luc
That is so awesome…I love their new ads presenting the bold-line. http://www.youtube.com/starbucks
In Germany, we do not often have such great promotions…
I cannot drink those coffee in my country. ;-(
I participate in the adventure by visiting this blog. 🙂
Thank you Melody!
I LOVE BOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL
Yesterday I got my Yukon, I had to explain the program on Monday and Tuesday to both the AM and PM shifts (sadness) then I blogged it here: http://amazonvcoffee.blogspot.com/2010/03/msi-coffee-tasting-club-week-1-organic.html as well as on MSI (to get the extra pound of coffee!)
I adore this promotion and really wish they had continual featured coffees and tasting groups online (for all blends) throughout the year.
I too am thrilled about this program. But then I think, we’ve really come full circle haven’t we? We’re kind of back to the beginning….well, the more recent yrs “beginning”. (pre PPR) I never agreed with all those ‘this is like the Real Coke’ scam before (about the Gold card and/or PPR and lack of the b.o.d. policy being enforced) but now, here we are….all excited about ‘experiencing BOLD’ and believe me, I am one of those people. Just thinking, it’s ironic, isn’t it?
Re: my store experience with this journey program: 2 totally different experiences at 2 stores (neither my regular store) The first one was that the baristas knew all about it and also offered up the booklet. The 2nd was: even tho a big display about the ‘8 wks of BOLD’, or something like that, the baristas didn’t know anything, really. They first thought I get the coffee for free….. I told them a ‘tall minimum’ and then they didn’t know about the booklets, altho they had them…wondered what they were for and then …no stamps. They were able to locate their manager who DID know the program and went in back and came out with the stamps.
Regardless, of course, I still love this is happening and will be happy for the # of coffee at the end. Mostly I’m glad someone came to their senses and we’re BACK TO BOLD, at least for the next……however many minutes 🙂
I’m enjoying this too. It’s nice to see some blends being brewed that haven’t been in ages, such as Yukon or Italian.
I’m pumped about this. yesterday I convinced more than one customer to get a dark roast with the misto (since I was on bar), explaining the flavor and how much I loved it. Their faces just lit up, it was so cool!
On the blogs at mystarbucksidea.com, I’m amazed that many customers have said that their baristas didn’t know about the promotion, or didn’t know what the stickers are for! Are people here experiencing that too?
We didnt hear about the promotion until I was skimming through the promo book WEDNESDAY NIGHT! This was not communicated at all and customers didnt even mention it to us until then. FYI for customers the part it tells us about it is a single paragraph in a 60 page promotional booklet hidden in the middle. It also mentioned nothing about the Pike Place once or buying a pound counts.
Ive been frantically trying to get them out like crazy. Although I will actually hand them out into next week until we are out of them and take the customers word for it that they had a coffee the first week.
I was so excited about this! I got my passport from Cecile in the mail on Monday, so I was there on Tuesday morning to collect my first sticker. My SBux was fully aware of the promo and had the passports and stickers ready to go.
It’s funny, becasue the first thing I noticed when I walked in was that HUGE coffee cup on the door. I couldn’t figure out what it would be good for, but now I know…love your idea about sticking your face in the space and taking a picture.
BTW so sad, they don’t have a chalkboard art drawing up for the dark cherry mocha…instead they stuck cups on the chalkboard that look like mochas. I’m not sure how they did it, and it still looks cute! But, I was looking forward to a new drawing!
I received a booklet in the mail too – though now I feel guilty, ‘cuz the store I went to had plenty! (Thanks, again, Cecile!). The barista was enthusiastic about it – they had the booklets & stickers right up front on the counter.
Bold in the afternoon is a good thing.
🙂
I LOVE this promotion and the thinking behind it. I love the focus on bold brewed coffee, almost like an atonement for two years of PPR and the brew-on-demand fiasco. (It also sets the stage for pour-over brewing!) I love knowing what the bold pick will be; I look forward to trying coffees I’ve never tasted before (Yukon, Red) and seeking out old favorites (Komodo, Gold Coast, etc). And, honestly, I think the coffee passport is neat, too. My local Starbucks was all ready to go with the passports and stickers—kudos!
P.S. I think they should have chosen French Roast instead of Estima, but now I’m just nitpicking. =)
(@LatteRose and @Brendan206 – LatteRose you got a booklet in the mail? I didn’t! I guess whoever was sending out coffee passports read this blog post first and said, ‘oh well she’s got one’
@Brendan206 – I’m not the biggest fan of Estima (though I’d drink it over Pike Place Roast). I thought that this could have been a chance to show off that Espresso Roast really does make a great drip coffee – It is a little known fact. Back in the era of the old brew on demand, for those baristas resistant to opening up flavorlock bags (though I do NOT see them as sacred) I would think offering up a batch of Espresso Roast might make some sense. But yes, French Roast would have been a great choice too instead of Estima.
@Melody – I requested one through MyStarbucksIdea site a little over a week ago!
Ditto @LatteRose @Melody I emailed b/c of a post on MSI and requested one when the program was announced. Glad I did since my stores had no idea what their stuff was for and I had to explain it.
Thanks to your blog, I did try the Yukon at my local “Starbucks in Target” outlet. It was lovely. I hope Starbucks appreciates your work!
I finally got my booklet today. I have ordered a tall bold every day this week (ordered three yesterday), but today was the first day I was offered a booklet.
At the Starbucks in the airport, the Bold signs and were displayed as were the Yukon signs and banners, but only Pike Place was brewing.
Booklet? What booklet- I’ve not been offered one. I tried the Yukon at a regular Starbucks near my house. Unlike the one inside a Target yesterday, they had this bold drip all ready to go. I do prefer that. I like to get in and get out. Next time, I’ll ask for it. Still, Starbucks got $6 from me this week they wouldn’t have gotten without your blog! ; )
In true Starbucks fashion, little to no information about this promotion is making its way to the baristas. I would not be at all surprised if the reason CD walked into one that wasn’t brewing the bold, and Pam hasn’t been offered a booklet, is because the baristas are completely clueless about the whole thing. “Wait, we’re brewing bold all day now? What’s up with that?” “Coffee passport? What coffee passport? What are you talking about?”
I brewed up Yukon all day, but Lord knows if I was actually supposed to. I don’t think anyone else knows, either; my coworker who usually knows just about everything asked me if we were supposed to brew it up all day. I just figured that it’d be pretty lame to do this “8 Weeks of Bold” thing with big banners advertising Yukon…and then not have any ready when people walk through the door.
@Melody
I actually refer to Estima as Charlie Sheen Blend because he says he never wants to be your first or your last. I believe it has to be the most neutral, mediocre coffee of all time.
Also bold isnt supposed to be ready at an instant at all stores in the afternoon. The whole point is if you ask specifically and are willing to wait that we will make you a pour over. Though it actually takes more labor and takes almost as long.
Well, that could be the difference. I visited the Target Starbucks in the early evening, and the regular Starbucks in the morning.
well that and Target Starbucks no matter how much people try to convince you are not real Starbucks nor do they have to offer the same things. Hiring an employee from a licensed store is two times more difficult to train than a regular hire because they have so many bad habits.
Thanks, Darth. You know, I feel funny about asking for French press or brew on demand. I feel as though I am holding up the line. (Because the person on the register is the one who has to stop and do it.) So, if i walk into a Starbucks and all they have on drip is PPR, I may order a latte or just walk out.
I wonder if other people feel that way? Maybe if Starbucks had the person working on the espresso drinks also do brew on demand, I wouldn’t feel the same way. But if I order a custom drip, the register person has to stop when they are doing to set it up, and if there is a line behind me, it feels awkward.
Then again, why can’t Starbucks go back to the way it was before PPR? From what I can tell, it wasn’t broke!
Honestly Pam I dont mind much when people order a French Press as long as we arent getting too slammed (if we are that busy usually its morning and we have bold anyways). Im sure most Baristas would agree but all we ask in return is a little patience and understanding that sometimes you guys out number us and we are doing the best we can. Otherwise if you are willing to wait then I am willing to get you that french press to the best of my ability.
I feel the same way about the french press. I love making them, but I think that’s partially b/c it means a customer is getting something bold and yummy and I love how french presses taste. As for the pour over, the more you do them the less time it takes. It take me a lot less time to turn around and quickly start one than to start a full pot.And customers have been thrilled with it. I think it may be b/c they feel now that they are not second class patrons. I love treating them like they are not!
One more question: Can you do a grande french press that is half bold and half decaf?
Theoretically, Pam, yes we can. However, since most coffee that’s opened for a french press never gets used for anything else, and we’re now opening two bags and only using .06 lbs. worth from each, that’s a lot of wasted coffee. So don’t be surprised if they tell you “no.”
but why wouldn’t they just use some decaf pp to go w/ it, nothing to open or loose…what happened to legendary service either way?
I finally made some time to catch up on your blog posts! I’m glad I did 🙂 Now I’m feeling silly again seeing the pictures you mentioned Sunday of the coffee map 😀 I have my map, the first sticker and I didn’t make it into starbucks today but I will be stopping there for the bold pick of the week tomorrow morning before I start work 🙂 I was pleasantly suprised when the barista here in Bellevue asked me “Have you heard?” and then gave me the coffee map and told me all about it. And I was sorta 🙁 when you twittered that you stopped by one of the starbucks and the barista there didn’t say a peep about it. Whats up with that? THEY MUST SHARE THE GOOD! lol 😉
Any thoughts on the Italian roast yet? I will try it tomorrow, I haven’t had that as a COW in a really long time!!
CABarista…who does a french press of Pike Place? And how does cutting someone’s preferred blend of beans with decaf pike equal legendary service?
Also, Hayley, Italian Roast tastes like beef jerky. It’s easily the worst one on the “Eight Weeks of Bold” list (although, if the French Roast lovers had their way, that’d be the worst. French Roast tastes like coffee in which someone has thrown their old cigarettes. It’s horrific).
Fortunately, though, it’s one that’s kinda like Sumatra: bad in a french press, but better in the brewer. Sometimes that paper soaking up those flavors is a good thing. It cuts out the bad ones.
I believe it is prudent at this juncture to point out that the Enlightened Coffee Sage does not have opinions. The Enlightened Coffee Sage only states facts.
No way is Italian Roast not amazing. However today a fellow barista and I decided the world is in need of a German Roast.
The slogan can be “German Roast beats French Roast any day of the week, but it still isnt as good as an Americano.”
Wait wait wait! Coffee tasting can be very subjective! This is why there are so many blends! I tell you no lie that my boyfriend loves French Roast, and for years, that is the ONLY coffee we brewed at home! I really like Italian Roast. Very bold and tasty.
I definitely think the worst in the line up is Estima.
And Sumatra tastes AMAZING from the Clover, so I assume it would be fabulous as a press too, but I have had no reason to make a French press in a long time now…
PP actually tastes very nice french pressed. Don’t mistaken personal preference for the only true taste. Also, I was suggesting a secondary compromise.
ah I see you do think your taste is the standard. No. Everyone’s taste is different…so please don’t be condescending to those who disagree. I happen to really enjoy Italian roast.
Melody, it makes an incredible french roast.
*french press…time for bed!
See, that’s the thing. i used to go into Starbucks, smell the fresh-ground beans, and order a half-caf grande drip with the Bold selection. (Unless I was in the mood to splurge.) I can’t do that anymore unless I show up before noon. I am usually an afternoon customer who needs a mild jolt to get through the rest of the day!
Unfortunately, Pam, if they give you dirty looks when you come in after noon and ask for a bold or decaf, you will literally see the hate radiating from them when you ask for a half-caf french press.
But, on the plus side, the french press is (probably) tastier, and, ounce-for-ounce, is the best deal in the store.
CABarista, I know that people have different opinions when it comes to which coffees are good and which are not. Unfortunately, it seems that some of yours are wrong.
Now, you are perfectly entitled to drink your beef jerky and cigarette coffees! Starbucks sells them because there are clearly enough people out there who like them! Just be aware that they do taste bad and that, even though you do like them and it’s technically legal under the United States Constitution to do so, you’re really not allowed to like them under the laws of good taste.
I suggest starting on a regimen of African coffees in order to re-train your taste buds.
– Enlightened Coffee Sage
I am noticing more and more that I favor the African blends of coffee – which one is your favorite?
Hayley – probably Kenya, although some of that may be due to nostalgia value.
My very, very first day at Starbucks, my assistant manager gave me my orientation packet and did a coffee tasting with me. We had Colombia, paired with I think classic coffee cake, and Kenya, paired with pineapple mango empanadas that we had at the time.
I’d never really been much of a brewed coffee fan, and Colombia tasted like what I typically thought of coffee as tasting like – nutty (although, at the time, I didn’t recognize a “nutty” taste) and bitter.
Kenya, on the other hand, blew me away. I’d never had any coffee like that before. I’d never thought coffee could have a juicy, fruity kinda taste to it and still taste like coffee. It completely changed the way I thought about coffee.
However, I seem to remember liking the last tasting of Ethiopia Sidamo more than I liked the last tasting I did of Kenya. I’ll have to try the two side-by-side.
As for East African Blend, that one’s all over the map, it seems. Sometimes it tastes really good to me (the first time I had it I thought I’d found a replacement for Kenya as to a favorite coffee); other times, it’s kinda “meh.” I guess it depends on if I happen to have a taste for it at the moment.
So here’s a little Coffee Sage list on what’s good and what’s bad in coffee flavors! Now you, too, can figure out if your taste buds have betrayed you and if what you’re drinking is delicious coffee goodness or horrid swill!
Fruity, juicy – good
Chocolatey – good
Spicy – probably good
Herbal – probably good
Caramelly – probably good
Nutty – maybe good
Floral – OK
Beef jerky – bad
Cigarettes – bad
Well, maybe I should go for a French press decaf Sumatra. That is the best decaf I’ve ever had — it tastes fully leaded! For those of us who enjoy bold, of course. ; )
I just read something on Starbucks.com that I do not believe to be accurate.
http://www.starbucks.com/blog/18804/pike-place-roast-two-years-later
While discussing PPR 2 years later, the Partner writes:
Before then, Starbucks rotated coffees through our brewed lineup, sometimes switching them weekly, sometimes daily. This was great for some people, but most were telling us to offer a consistent brew that they could count on when they came into our stores. (emphasis added)
Is this revisionist history? Is this skewing the facts to tell your story the way you want to tell your story?
I think PPR was designed to 1) control costs by having a single every-day coffee that could be delivered en-masse to the ever-growing number of Starbucks locations and 2) offer a brew that could compete with the McCafes and Dunkin Donuts of the world. They way it is (and has been) spun is completely different and that is disappointing.
Well CD, I don’t think that Starbucks CAN openly say, “Well we needed a flavor profile to compete with Dunkin Donuts, and realized that it is much cheaper to offer one single every day Latin American coffee than to brew more costly beans so frequently.”
I believe that some people told Starbucks that they wanted a constant flavor profile, but I totally agree that you’re right, that is a revisionist’s history. On top of that, people don’t always know what they want, nor is it always best for the business to give the customer what they want: In this case, it’s quite likely that even those customers who love Pike Place Roast want a change of pace since it has been 2 years, and there is no way it was good for whole bean sales and brand image to offer one coffee. Of course, I know I am preaching to the choir in my reply to you!