Starbucks is giving their oatmeal a major overhaul! I have already tried the new oatmeal, and I am definitely excited to write about it: I genuinely like oatmeal. Starbucks first introduced the Perfect Oatmeal into their food lineup September 3, 2008. The oatmeal introduced in 2008 (and up until this change starting January 3rd) was made from rolled oats, and customers could have toppings which included brown sugar, dried fruit mix, and a nut medley (mostly almonds).
Starting January 3rd, the new Perfect Oatmeal will be a blend of rolled oats and steel-cut oats. So here’s what the oatmeal itself will look like:
What’s new is that customers can now choose from two different toppings, each with a different combinations of good foods.
Hearty Blueberry:
The new topping combination is the “Hearty Blueberry,” and comes with a package of blueberries, a fruit and nut medley (dried figs, cranberries, pepitas, and almonds), and a package of agave syrup. “Hearty Blueberry” toppings are a little more expensive than what’s currently offered. I don’t recall exactly, but if a customer chooses the “Hearty Blueberry” combination of toppings, he or she will pay about a $1.00 more than what was paid before when buying the older version of the oatmeal.
During my tasting event, I learned that the new “Hearty Blueberry” option is fairly low calorie. Agave syrup is a lower calorie option than the traditional brown sugar option. The new oatmeal with the “Hearty Blueberry” toppings is about 280 calories.
I loved the new oats. I thought the blueberries were amazing. I am tickled pink to learn that they can be purchased separately for about $1.25. I would love to experiment with throwing them in a vanilla bean Frappuccino in the summer. Or, they might be wonderful in a smoothie too.
I realize that agave syrup is all the rage, and there are many customer requests for it on sites like MyStarbucksIdea.com. Having said that, it did nothing for me. It wasn’t nearly as sweet as using traditional brown sugar. I am behind the times. Give me my brown sugar, and I’m happy.
I realize that I mentioned this before, but I think it is awesome that one can buy the blueberries separately! I snacked on them during my tasting and I like the idea of being able to buy what essentially is a snack pack of blueberries:
Classic Oatmeal:
The other oatmeal option is the “Classic Oatmeal,” which comes with brown sugar, a nut medley, and a packet of mixed dried fruit. The “Classic Oatmeal” is what customers are used to ordering now, and there is little change from its previous version. The nut medley is new in the sense that it didn’t have pepitas in it before, so this won’t be exactly like the previous oatmeal toppings but it is indeed very close.
Here’s the new oatmeal with the “Classic” toppings mixed in:
Melody’s take on the new oatmeal:
I love it. You can see the difference in the oat themselves. The introduction of steel-cut oats is wonderful. And I love the blueberries, and the many options that opens up! I like the new nut medley as well. I’m not a huge fan of agave syrup.
The new oatmeal launches tomorrow in Starbucks stores. About 4,500 Starbucks stores in the U.S. are getting the “Hearty Blueberry” toppings. There will be some U.S. stores that will only get the “Classic” toppings, as those stores are in the more remote markets. And my understanding is that Canada is not getting the new “Hearty Blueberry” topping at all.
So what do you think? I am excited to hear your reviews of the new oatmeal!
If you don’t recall what the old version of the oatmeal looked like, here’s a photo of it:
FTC required disclosure:
Since I did not pay for my two bowls of oatmeal, I think I have to make a required FTC disclosure. Essentially, I went to the Starbucks headquarters and two nice PR staff members escorted me to a room that was set up with two bowls of oatmeal. We drank Veranda Blend coffee with a pump of Vanilla syrup, and I ate oatmeal (two bowls of it!) and made small talk as the two nice PR people watched me eat. All of this was courtesy of Starbucks. I decided not to write about the Veranda Blend coffee since that blend doesn’t do much for me. One of the two PR people had a wonderful Stella and Dot scarf, and if she’d brought in a Stella and Dot catalog, I might have been ordering jewelry/accessories as I ate. 😉 Don’t you think this is a great looking scarf?
And a good time was had by all.
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@Dottie – I ordered the oatmeal today, and still liked it. I did the fruit & nut medly, blueberries, and brown sugar. But I think it really does have to steep a full five minutes.
Are you in a “remote” market. Since right now only about 4,500 Starbucks are getting the blueberry topping options, that’s a lot of stores that won’t have it.
@DaveZ – Must say, I love your candor! I haven’t had much of a problem with the $1 cup, but mostly I drink hot beverages … well, at least this time of year. But I haven’t been using the $1 cup much because I’ve been carrying around the January free coffee tumbler.
I still need to try the blueberries in a Vanilla Bean Frappuccino. That will likely be good!
This is a rough rollout by starbucks standards, normally with new products partners get to have a store meeting to taste and discuss – with oatmeal, vanilla spice, and vanilla blonde, we were given a packet to read. If your not an ambitious partner, you won’t be informed enough to answer questions and many of the basics were not provided. All oatmeal will be getting new packaging that informs customers of the 5 minute steep time, stickers should be adhered to the old packaging until then.
The reusable cup has been very popular at my store, many of our regulars either bring their own tumblr or have the January Tumbler, but for those who haven’t yet, there seems to be a lot of interest. Being dishwasher safe and basically paying for itself within a few days of normal use – it’s a great deal. I got a question today about its materiality (plastics and hot liquids don’t frequently go well together) and their was no information for me to share from the learning packet. From my understanding the plastic used in the cup is safe and does not leach into hot liquids (for 30+ uses at least). All portions used to make drinks are measured standards, so you won’t get more ice/milk/coffee using a different cup unless you specify. Partners are not allowed to handle lids (not even to wash them), but the reusable cups/lids are dishwasher safe.
@Keith, you’re totally right – this is one of the roughest rollouts I’ve done.It totally didn’t help that we were soooo busy all through Christmas, and as soon as it was over, flu ripped through my district, and our SMs and other partners have been basically just scrambling to cover each other 🙁 Typically, Winter 1 rollouts haven’t been so full of new information (at least, not in the years I’ve been here, so I will also totally admit that I assumed it would be easier than it was to get my partners knowledgeable. Means we’re doing a bit of catch up now unfortunately.
I allow my partners to touch customer lids if a) the customer requests it and b)they wash their hands afterwards. I have a couple of customers for whom we always sanitize their lids (ie put them in a grande cup and run hot water over them), and honestly, they usually put the lid in the grande cup themselves, so we barely ever have to touch them, and it totally makes their day to have a clean lid 🙂
A note on pricing. Oatmeal $2.75. Hearty Oatmeal with Blueberries, $3.45. Just the blueberries $1.25.
@purple1: Thanks for noticing my comments and responding! I’m finding, in many stores, the ratio of experienced/inexperienced and brand new partners is way too high. I realize that generally many partners are doing their best, but, like any field, that’s certainly not true for everyone. When you combine all those norms with all the new partners, it often really leads to a ….mess. As was mentioned earlier by some partners, this was an especially difficult rollout…which I can understand. But, I do expect to go into a place like Sbux and at the very least have the partners be able to SEE what I SEE, in the store, or on a card, and follow those directives. I’m long past hoping for talking about COFFEE anymore. (or even seeing a lot of it on the shelves!) I realize some places do this, or are able to, more than others….but any way you look at it there’s all this focus on the “cup” (and the ‘lid’), the oatmeal, the sugar, the blueberries (or lack of), the steel cut (or not), and ALL the BLONDE stuff. and of course that vanilla spice syrup 🙁 It would seem like the month of January, typically the heart of winter here in much of the U.S., seems more like a “red” month, especially pre-Valentines. So, for it to be the month of this big “blonde” emphasis just doesn’t fit, to me.
done with my rant, typos and weirdly formated sentences 😉
anyone have any idea if the Blonde Vanilla is eligible for refills since it has syrup in the brewed coffee?
Denise – Your comments about the blonde set up are interesting! it’s funny because I was thinking of doing possibly a whole article focusing in on everything in the blonde launch. While I don’t get into blonde as a coffee, I genuinely appreciate the need for it, for that group of customers who want it. (And admittedly, Indivisible Blend was very nice iced from the Clover.) But the new blonde emphasis is really beautifully done!
And back to doing a blog post on the new launch: Everything is so pretty! I like the sugar and cream containers, and I adore the tiny 8 ounce stainless steel tumbler, And the signage is gorgeous. Love the very romantic looking font to the blonde signage. I love the look of this new set up. Love it. I still might do a whole blog post on it.
And one lesson I am learning from the blog – and while it might not be true for you or for me — what people SAY they want doesn’t really always match what they really DO want or what they’ll do with their wallets. I am often disappointed that the most least commented, and least engaged articles on this blog are the coffee articles:
http://www.starbucksmelody.com/category/coffee-tastings/
^ Real coffee conversation isn’t inspiring a lot of talk. People really do love to talk about food and about flavored syrups. I mean you yourself talk about indulging in a Cinnamon Dulce Latte at Starbucks. For so many people, their Starbucks experience really is only a syrup and sauce experience. Why not give people options? Vanilla Spice latte? Might not be for everyone but it opens up options. Today I stood behind a partner in a line who swore by iced coffee + vanilla spice. That is something I want to try now.
And yes, I feel the pain of partners coming and going. One store that I used to love as an afternoon stop seems to have had a complete change of crew for the afternoon, and while they’re very nice people, they seem really uninterested in having a conversation about Starbucks. They seem to lack passion. I recognize that some partners are so very capable. And some partners are very passionate. But just because you’re capable doesn’t mean you’re passionate (and vice versa). I can only hope that passion will grow with time. As to your experience with the little cards with 5 red diamonds, I am sorry that happened. Human nature to want to argue, even when it doesn’t make sense to do so, or when you have contrary information right in front of you. I don’t know why people like to stand their ground and be argumentative – even when it makes no sense to do so from a retail customer service perspective. I see that as a personality trait everywhere, not a Starbucks things.
Denise R it is true that the the discussion of coffee at a SB has been removed from the main stage so to speak and perhaps that has to do with what others have said before that SB has expanded beyond the coffee. I notice there are too many things going on to respond to that prevents one from going back to the basics. Today, I had the new oatmeal again and it was not as good as the first time and they did not have any blueberries. There was a new partner at my local store and I welcomed her and hoped she would have that passion that Melody speaks of. I agree with your thoughts Melody. I wish in the training of partners they can see what passion means and how it can be passed along to the customer. Sometimes, I think I have more passion than the partner.
There is no real training at Starbucks anymore. A few days reading a book, thrown behind the counter with no backup, watching people with less than 1-year of experience, not even able to make an urn of coffee…, I could go on and on. With the minimum wage being what it is, Starbucks needs to concentrate more on training and retention to make their employees competent, happy, and cost effective for the company.
Aaah Melody, all this talk of blueberries. See, I live but a few miles from the “blueberry capital of the world”. Come summertime we have so many blueberries around here you can’t throw a stone without hitting something made with or made of blueberries. To borrow a line or two from a movie…. “Anyway, like I was sayin’, blueberry is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey’s uh, blueberry-kabobs, blueberry creole, blueberry gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple blueberries, lemon blueberries, coconut blueberries, pepper blueberries , blueberry soup, blueberry stew, blueberry salad, blueberry and potatoes, blueberry burger, blueberry sandwich. That- that’s about it.”
My daughters review of the oatmeal today was: Very Soupy w/ Bitter tasting Blueberries. I saw her oatmeal, and Very Soupy is an understatement. I don’t think it was made soupy deliberately, but I’m sensing more of a nonchalant attitude from many baristas again lately. Regarding the new menu items, it seems they know alot about the Vanilla Spice Latte, but little about anything else. My store has been a nonstop revolving door of management personnel. The newest asst. manager, who just arrived recently, walked for good. My understanding was that this person came to work and said we’re parting way’s. Don’t ask me anything and please lose all my contact info. Once again….. I find myself agreeing with Denise and DadCooks. Somethings wrong when partners are telling me I should come work at the store, since I seem to know more about whats going on with the menu and products.
OT – Tully’s and Patrick Dempsey????
@Chgo – Anything off topic is fine. I don’t care what we talk about. I am really not sure what I will be writing about next. I have a few articles that are about half done. I really did want to write about the new lineup of products in the launch – I just didn’t get around to it today. Doing other things. I did, however, install the WPTouch app to my blog today, and so I hope that’s an improvement for smart phone readers of the site.
I actually think it is really cool that Patrick Dempsey bought Tully’s. I wonder what he’ll do with it. I recall that a few years ago, when the chain first started having huge financial problems, that I read in the news that they sold off their roasting operations to Green Mountain. I just did some Google searches, and that was 2008. That means all Patrick Dempsey got was a chain of stores without any directly connected roasting operations behind it. And that is why there are so many Tully’s KCups everywhere – Green Mountain was the winner in that deal it seems. Seems like whatever biz deal there was to pay Tully’s back for the use of their brand name and expertise for the KCups was too small (i.e. residual income to Tullys based upon licensing). In any case, I am making wild guesses here.
But I am happy that Tully’s will stay a Seattle business. I saw that the Columbia Tower location of Tully’s closed, as well as the one on the corner of 4th and Unoin. It truly made me a little sad. While obviously I’m not a Tully’s brand advocate, I easily appreciate that someone had poured their heart into that business, and that there were definitely real people losing their jobs as the stores closed. The Tully’s at Pike and Broadway also closed, and I hear that Starbucks may take that space.
As to the oatmeal, it really has to steep for a full 5 minutes. Mine has been fine after a long steeping.
There were aspects of this rollout that could have been smoother. I have heard that from several partners. I have a blog post half way written on ‘Starbucks is on the right track’ and I do think they’re on the right track with the segmentation of stores (Clover, Evenings, regular stores) but one area that needs more attention is time for training. And on top of that, even in downtown Seattle, I meet too many partners who have absolutely no passion for the brand. I won’t name names! It doesn’t mean they’re not very very nice people. You can be a wonderful person and lack a passion for Starbucks. That goes without saying. And it does make me wonder, how does Starbucks inspire their store partners? I see many truly inspired partners in downtown too – maybe I should just go around and ask them, “What keeps you inspired?”
Sorry for the long reply.
@Melody – I said earlier in the thread that my experience with the new oatmeal was just the opposite. it was stiff after 5 min. and I had to keep adding water to get it right. Today the partner filled it with water within 1/4″ from the top. It sat for almost 30 min. before she ate it. It was just thrown together. I think there are training issues, but you can’t force somebody to care or have the passion for the job. These are all college kids. They are great kids, but it’s just a paycheck for most of them so why should they care more than they need too? (if you know what I mean?)
One sore spot for me, is this push for these Blonde Roasts. Maybe the partners don’t know what they are talking about, but is it my understanding that the next Reserve will be a Blonde Roast? Do you know if this is true?
The next reserve is listed on StarbucksStore.com as Maui Mokka –
http://www.starbucksstore.com/starbucks-reserve-maui-mokka/011026914,default,pd.html?cgid=starbucks-reserve-coffee
It doesn’t say anything about being a blonde roast. A lot of the Reserves have been much lighter roast than the typical Starbucks roast, so it doesn’t surprise me at all that there might be a blonde Reserve coming up. And that strikes me as very familiar. I think I must’ve had a Twitter conversation about this at some point.
http://www.starbucksstore.com/starbucks-reserve-guatemala-finca-medina/011024590,default,pd.html?start=2&cgid=starbucks-reserve-coffee
^Chgo – That’s also a new Reserve. Starbucks did a Guatemala Finca Medina years ago under the old “small batch” coffee program, before the Reserve program. But it doesn’t indicate its roast profile. It could be fairly light.
Thanks for the links Melody. I thought I looked online the other day to see what was going to be available with the Reserves. Either I missed it, or it just became available online. Since I like Guatemala Antigua, I’m going to be looking forward to the Finca Medina. Is it possible they are going to introduce a new Blonde Roast that isn’t a Reserve? Maybe that is where the confusion is coming from between me and the store.
The new Oatmeal is cheaper here and comes with the maple brown sugar included, but you pay 50 cents for any of the other toppings (nuts, fruit or a new nut, seed and fruit medly). I haven’t tried it as I’ve never really liked Oatmeal. But my baristas know more about the Oatmeal than I do, and we have stickers to put on the lids to the Oatmeal that mentions the new steeping time.
The $1 reuseable cups are a huge hit. We sold all of ours on launch day and won’t get more till Thursday. I think they grossly under-estimated the demand when they sent initial shipments out.
DadCooks – the training our baristas should be getting is far more involved than reading a couple of books. If that’s what happening, it’s a real shame as it is not what is expected.
PS – Mel, I like the mobile version of the site as I most often read on my phone…it’s a lot quicker!
I personally like agave, but I don’t like to add a lot of sugar to what I eat. I usually add honey to my oatmeal at Starbucks.
I’ve always loved the oatmeal at Starbucks.
@Michelle – part of the reason that all training is coming just from books is that there are no longer any designated trainers in the stores (or at least ones who truly have years of experience). The last true designated trainer (she had 5-years of experience) left the 3 stores I frequent almost 2 years ago. She was great and deserved to be advanced within the stores in this area, but the hiring push was to go outside Starbucks. She and many others finally had enough of basically being demoted to working for someone whose experience was pushing burgers and fries.
Regarding blueberries and any other fresh fruit: these items are extremely variable in quality and very susceptible to damage. Face the facts folks, Starbucks is not a green grocer or a health food store. Starbucks has always been and will always be fast food, so let them stop kidding themselves, and you, and stick with the dried fruits. (What makes me an expert, among my many “careers” I have worked for Jewel Companies and Super-Valu from baggy boy to produce manager to store manager).
@DadCooks – My blueberries here in downtown Seattle have been just fine. Yes, I recognize that my Starbucks world looks like its own bubble at times.
I alluded to this before in a previous long comment, and I think the blueberry discussion comes in handy: Segmentation of stores. For example, only 4,500 stores get fresh blueberries. I think that over time we’re seeing Starbucks move to a model where they really don’t treat every store the same. It wouldn’t surprise me to see some local food options pop up at stores. And this might the right track: A small number of stores get something just for them. And that’s fine. It might be the best way to ensure quality. At least, from a customer perspective, I feel like I am seeing this segmentation slowly (very slowly) happening right before my eyes.
Previously, every launch was really a national push. Remember the launch of the smoothies? Remote markets got frozen bananas and still do today. If the smoothie had been launched in 2012, I wonder if it would be an option only for 4,500 stores?
one thing that is a down side to the segmentation of stores that Melody speaks of (and surely makes logical and likely business sense) is angry/confused customers who get emails/coupons about a new item from corporate and see it splashed on the SB website front page and only to find it not available in their store (or people who travel a lot and visit various Starbucks and find inconsistencies). If I’m not mistaken there’s about 10,000 Starbucks Stores in the U.S., so that means a majority of stores aren’t getting the blueberries (and similar items with a semi-national launch), so there’s a good chunk of customers without access. Not sure there’s a solution to that, but it’s something worth noting.
@Ben – that is a good point. As a Canadian store, I often get customers who have been on the US website, and tell me about a deal that I’m supposedly running. They don’t love hearing that it is a US-only promotion, and really, is your average customer going to pay attention to whether they log on to .ca or .com? And what is their general feeling towards the brand when their hopes are dashed? My guess is that most won’t be all that understanding, and segmentation will increase that. BUT, I don’t think it’s a reason to stop it – just something to be aware of and try to mitigate in advance.
@DadCooks – the training has undergone some changes in the past 2 years. When I was trained, it literally was reading from books. Luckily that’s my learning style, so I was a total pro…you know, after a couple of months.. 🙂
But the current training program is a mix of online videos/tests, practical training, practice, and reading. Over 3/4 of it is overseen by a barista trainer, and while they might be hunched right over the new partner’s shoulder at every second, they are almost always floating near by, paying attention/coaching/helping. All stores have to have at least one (and since SMs are, all stores do :)). My district standard is to have 2 (in addition to the SM), both for ease of training, and also because that way, if we lose one, we’ll still have one to rely on without putting undue pressure on me to do training in addition to my other responsibilities.
The framework and tools for great training are there (and I am a teacher, so I do have some idea what good teaching looks like :)), but not all stores make it a priority to execute it properly (and truth be told, it can be super hard to sometimes, even with the best of intentions!). Sounds like yours aren’t 🙁 It also sounds like they may have been doing something slightly unusual in having one trainer training partners across multiple stores, so it’s not surprising to me that they haven’t continued this, as it would take a certain type of partner who would be capable of this. I hope they get it sorted out soon, because a great training foundation = great partner, with the opposite also being true.
tried the hearty blueberry oatmeal over the weekend– I agree that it was soupy, even after letting it stand for a good 10 minutes. The blueberries themselves had good flavor, but they were gritty. I think I’ll stick to the dried fruit and nuts, and ask for less hot water to be added in the future! Still very glad they didn’t do away with that option entirely.
@Rebecca – I worded my comment regarding the trainer incorrectly. There was not one trainer that covers several stores. The trainer I referred to was the last real trainer at any of the stores.
I am aware of how training is supposed to be done, and am familiar with the video part. The problem is that none of the stores have enough people to even provide minimal shift coverage and hours are being so tightly controlled by the DM that the extra hours for the extra person to shadow the trainee are just not there.
Unfortunately I am afraid the situation here has become more the rule than the exception. There are 9 Starbucks and 3 Licensed stores in my area, so we are not some remote area.
I tried the Starbucks Blueberry Oatmeal for the first time today and I was really very impressed. The blueberries were fresh, flavorful and crisp and the agave nectar is a great alternative to straight brown sugar for sweetness. I had never tried their dried fruit and nut mix with the classic oatmeal (only 70 calories as opposed to 100 with adding the nut only mix) though it was fantastic. It’s definitely on my list for breakfast on the go.
@DadCooks – You know to we Seattleites, you are remote! 😉 j/k
@Heather – Love to hear it. I had an oatmeal yesterday at the 4th and Union downtown Starbucks, and I loved it. But again, I was able to let it sit for the full 5 minutes. That is definitely essential.
@Melody – as in another universe 😉
@DadCooks – ahh, I see. Well, there *are* some controlling DMs out there. There are also some bad SMs who blame DMs or ‘corporate’ for poor scheduling/staffing decisions on their part. I’m not privy to the specifics, I’d hate to pass judgment, but I know that I have a DM who is quite great – gives us as much notice as possible about things, allows flexibility with our labour as long as we’re taking advantage of that flexibility to train great partners, drive sales, and serve customers better, and yet I still hear from partners in other stores in my district about how ‘they weren’t told about something until too late’ or ‘DM said we couldn’t’ when I know for a fact, because I was on the conference call, that their SMs *did* know and are using him as a scapegoat because they can. Sorry – it sometimes drives me nuts when people don’t own their own problems *sigh*
Also, personally, I don’t believe you have to have been with the company a long time to be an excellent trainer – I myself have only been here 4 years – but I’m passionate about knowledge and learning. A truly great trainer does not have to know everything about the company’s history, but has to know how to inspire a learner to be passionate about coffee/the company they work for, and teach them how/where to find the answers. This creates an entire team that is hungry to learn, and will eagerly go find an answer when a customer isn’t satisfied, rather than an apathetic “I wasn’t told that.” or something similar.
Haha – I have the greatest desire to go teach something to someone now, so I must go 🙂
@Rebecca – the DM usually comes in early in the morning, when I and several other regulars are in. She plops herself down in the lobby and proceeds to discuss things with SM that should not be heard by the public. I’ll leave it at that.
I agree that you do not have to be an ol’ timer to be a great teacher. Some people have a natural talent. To brag a bit my Daughter is one of those natural talent folks. What Starbucks is losing with the high percentage turnover is what I refer to as a culture base and a business memory. This leads to making mistakes that have been made before.
Latest news on the new oatmeal from here is the remote area of Southeastern Washington. The classic oatmeal has been eliminated, boxed up, and sent back never to return. BIG mistake, IMHO. Oatmeal sales are a fraction of what they used to be (my observation and Barista comments). Most of the morning oatmeal regulars are no longer getting oatmeal.
Dad cooks I tried to get the classic oatmeal too and it is gone here. The new oatmeal is ok and at first I thought I would like it but not so.
My store isn’t getting the blueberries 🙁
@AmazonV – welcome to the far edge of the earth at the end of the mule train line 😉
Oatmeal soup. Not even warm. Never again.
weighing in on the oatmeal:
i loved the original oatmeal. it was ready quickly, and the toppings were perfect, either one at a time, or all at once.
i tried the new oatmeal. let it steep at least 5 minutes, and it was soupy and BLAND, and one of the agave packets had been crushed so it leaked. the blueberries ranged from freshly ripe to super sour (not necessarily starbucks fault, i know). there’s seeds in the fruit packet now (which i knew), so i won’t eat them.
i think that having brown sugar would have made this a much happier experience, but until something changes, no more starbucks oatmeal for this girl.
@DadCooks It’s sad being far far away from big cities and fun new food!
Oh well, more money saved which is good because i suck at saving money!
Thank you Melody. I decided to try the new oatmeal again this am rather than giving it up totally. It is ok but I did find it had to sit a bit longer than they recommend for it to not be soupy. It is nice to have now and then. But, again they need to think about the cost.
@Purple1 – You are welcome. As to the oatmeal, I think you are right that the steep time should be longer than 5 minutes. I usually grab mine on my way into work. By the time I leave a Starbucks, get in the bus tunnels for the ride from Westlake to Pioneer Square Station, and then to my desk, longer than 5 minutes has gone by. I think mine always steeps 7 to 10 minutes.
I had the new oatmeal today and got the last packet of brown sugar. Don’t like the new toppings – at all. The blueberries are delicious. I wish they would bring back the old oatmeal and offer blueberries.
I so want to like this new oatmeal especially since I enjoy steel cut oats, but again today the oatmeal was soupy. – even after letting it sit for longer than they suggest. Question also- re the bonus stars – Why do you only get a bonus star by getting the oatmeal and the latte drinks? Healthy? Not really!
Im not at home and having trouble typing. Bonus stars are for skinny drinks, oatmeal and refreshers – see the correction I wrote in the what’s new in January thread. It seems like since the oatmeal has such a long steep time, the water has to be really hot. Just like at home, sometimes you have to run your water a second for it to be a little hotter, I’ve had better oatmeal experiences where the barista ran their water a second before making the oatmeal.
I wonder if anyone has tried the blueberries in a smoothie? I have one almost every day- strawberry banana smoothie with blueberries. However, I’ve come across one store in my area that says ‘they can’t put blueberries in their blenders’. Said it would be like me buying a biscotti, and asking that it be blended into my Frappuccino. I totally disagree. Anyone else have this issue?
@GaStarbucksGirl – I would like to know the answer to that too. I sent an email to a DM several days ago (no response yet).
I have found that most stores around here don’t mind at all – they say it’s no different than adding a banana. One store told me “no” – If the product is sold inside a Starbucks, my understanding is that it’s fair game for all kinds of thing. I know one barista who used to make me the greatest smoothies using the fruit cup in the RTD case. He had his own perfect recipe – sadly he’s no longer a partner! I think many Starbucks around here would put a biscotti in the blender, though I’ve never asked, and can’t say for certain.
Melody, even if you do get an email back from the DM, I don’t know that you will necessarily get the right answer – there is some ambiguity about this, so I don’t know if there really is a right answer. It might come down to what a partner is comfortable risking when it comes to the safety of their customers. My partners know that they are allowed to blend anything that is used to create beverages in Starbucks, but I am not comfortable with them blending in anything that is not. There’s a big difference to me in not guaranteeing to be a nut free environment, and deliberately allowing partners to add in a biscotti which contains nuts into a blender that would otherwise never touch them. I’m willing to say no to one customer on that, than having to say no to many more customers with nut allergies.
I do discourage them from blending limes or berries also, because their little powder bits get stuck to the blades and are extremely hard to clean off in a good amount of time 🙂 but I won’t say no – I have other pitchers to use!
It has been awhile since I’ve done any beverage resource manual research though 🙂 I will do so, and see if that adds any clarity!
@Rebecca – As to the biscotti and nut allergy, I don’t know – hadn’t thought a lot about that. I don’t think Starbucks can ever guarantee a nut-free environment, and the blenders are supposed to be sanitized often? But I can see both sides of the argument.
@Melody, I was specifically talking about blended beverages – I love italian sodas, and often get mine with some lemonade and a lime wheel thrown in 🙂 Or with apple juice. Or strawberry. And honey/splenda/raw sugar etc – I’ve added all to beverages, and coach my partners to offer to add it in at the bar if a customer wants it in a latte so that it can mix better. In all these cases, these are items in a specific customer’s cup, and then absolutely, the sky’s the limit – maple brown sugar so you can have a maple sugar latte? Done 🙂
But blending is a different horse, IMO, because all the beverages are made in 1 of our 4 pitchers (6 in the summer when it’s crazy frappy times :)), and they take a decent amount of time to scrub out under the blades, which is necessary when introducing something like a biscotti or a cranberry bliss bar (yes, have had that asked!). A lot of our other beverages are made in containers that there are a lot of extras of, or that have the option of being made in a single-use container, or something that is quickly and easily washed and sanitized.
You’re right that Starbucks has never (and I’m guessing will never) guarantee a nut-free environment, but I don’t believe that relieves me of the responsibility of keeping that kind of risk to a minimum.
Like I said, I haven’t officially looked at the Bev Manual, so I shall do that when I’m in store next 🙂
Oatmeal had been my breakfast; even luke warm, but this is a terrible offering. No veggie/gluten free, hot food now available; stopping at McDonald’s first for oatmeal (edible/larger serving, hot) and then Starbucks for coffee and conversation.
Yuck. Does not resemble steel cut oatmeal. Packaged toppings are nice, but the oatmeal is flabby and not hot. The blueberries seemed a little zombie-like, kind of similar to fresh fruit but not really.
We have found that the ONLY hot water tap that instantly brings the water to the proper temperature for the Steel Cut Oatmeal is at the coffee brewing station. Using this tap and allowing the oats to steep for 5 minutes has worked perfectly.
Customers, PLEASE allow the oats to steep. I can not stress this enough. You will have a slimy soupy mess if you don’t. Please allow the water and lid to do their job so you can enjoy this healthy alternative to our previously delicious oatmeal.
Still waiting for the new toppings in the STL area… hoping they are coming soon so we can weigh in with our opinions…
@SaraD – Thanks for the good tips!!
I personally haven’t had any problems with soupy oatmeal. I think this is because 1) the Starbucks partners use very hot water and 2) I really am letting it steep the full 5 to 7 minutes.
I think 5 minutes feels too long to some customers. ??