Arriving in Reserve – Clover stores on January 21, 2014, the Sun Dried Ethiopia Yirgacheffe will be loved. This is a great coffee. It’s the kind of coffee that reminds me why I really love coffee. You smell the beans and you’re hit with a cherry bomb aroma. Made by any means, it will be wonderful. It’s bold, and full in mouth-feel, and delivers an amazing Bing cherry and berries flavor, derived from the magic of its growing region, and the magic of sun-dried (or “natural processed”) coffee.
I arrived for a special sneak peek tasting at the newest University Village Starbucks location:
Chris Gimbl, a partner in the coffee department at the Starbucks corporate headquarters, lead tonight’s event. Starbucks bought 40,000 pounds of green coffee beans from several hundred small coffee farmers all in Southern Ethiopia. A natural processed coffee is laid out in the sunshine to dry – often on raised drying beds. This process of drying beans in the sunshine is a delicate process because the coffee cherries can easily experience fermentation, ruining the lot. The outside cherry of the coffee constricts like a raisin, and when it is dried, it is removed from the actual bean. Chris brought a photo of what the drying beds look like – so what you’re seeing here is my photo of his photo. Hope the quality is still reasonable:
This coffee will be distributed to the roughly 675 Reserve – Clover Starbucks locations located in the US and Canada.
This article here is just a quick sneak peek of what’s to come. Make sure you try this one. Tonight’s coffee was made by a French press and, as always, poured into little sample cups:
Anyone who knows me knows that I can’t resist a good tasting/smelling coffee moment:
The coffee beans are darkly roasted, and interestingly, they’re kind of small in size:
And a beautiful cup of this coffee looks like this:
I hope you try this coffee! That’s about all I can say. I know that I am genuinely head over heels for this Reserve. The best ever.
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Sounds like a wonderful event thanks for sharing. You know it sort of amazes me on some level that SB does not take this on the road. I know perhaps it is not cost effective, etc. but it would be nice if Chris traveled to different stores and did this event. I know perhaps local partners can do the same thing, but it just does not happen.
What is a Reserve-Clover Store? Also, how come Starbucks never has any interesting decaf coffees? The good ones are always full test.
@IzzyJ – A “Reserve” Starbucks offers unique coffees that are not sent everywhere. Coffee essentially is a farm product, and just like there might not be enough of one varietal of apples to go to 5,000 grocery stores, it can go to a smaller subset of stores. Because all the Reserve coffees are exquisite, rare offerings, it’s rarely worth it to make them decaf. The price tag on a Reserve bag of coffee (so for one-half pound of coffee) is usually between $13 and $25. There have been Starbucks Reserves that sold for closer to the $50 for a half-pound of coffee. It’s limited supply, and there’s only a smaller subset of decaf drinkers. That’s my guess as to why. Sorry.
We are in New Orleans and got to taste the Clover prepared coffee for the first time. You did not exaggerate this amazing taste.
I’m so excited for this one. Thanks for sharing your experience with the tasting event. I’ve given up on anything like that happening here. We have a couple of large Clover/Reserve stores where a special tasting event could take place so I think having it “go on the road” like purple1 suggested would be fun.
Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, Happy Whatever @denise r!!! It’s back! 🙂
@BeckyE and Purple1 – I’ll definitely give you, Starbucks in Seattle seems to have a lot more coffee events than elsewhere. The headquarters coffee department people have real jobs, so I think the catch would be finding someone (or making the time) to send someone on the road – it’s not a bad idea, in and of itself. Heck, I would love to tag along to blog about it! 🙂 I think it would interesting to even see a short SSC coffee master HQ tour – Send a person to a few high profile stores: Streets of Woodfield, REI Denver Clover store, New Orleans, Atlanta, Harvard Yard, NYC stores – Herald Square, there’s even a Clover Starbucks in Fullerton, California that would be perfect. Could be fun.
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
first: @CD: Thank You!!!!!!!!
2ndly: I didn’t even read a word in the thread (sorry Melody, but you got the point across!) It’s back!!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this coffee like no other! 1st tasted one nite in the NW Hwy Mt Prospect store, made in a press, late ’96 or ’97. Fell immediately in love and never tasted any better since. Beautifully bold and smoothe as glass at the same time.
I already emailed a couple dms, seeing if who has this (now…..sooner than the 21st) I know I can’t wait. It’s sitting there in some stores just waiting for me to get my hands on it…… oh this is good!
Thanks for the info Melody!
@Melody (and@ Purple1) : I agree, as I have for yrs, just see no reason not to have more coffee tastings/cuppings in more parts of the country! Intelligentsia does it all the time….cuppings, even. There used to be ( seems like long ago) more tastings , at least, around here. I did manage to get a cupping & tasting in my local store a few yrs ago, contacting the dm & anyone I could think of. But, they’re rare around here these days. Just does not seem so difficult , at least a tasting. One factor, especially recently, would be the shortage of baristas… too few on at a time.
Anyway , yes Streets of Woodfield would be one great place, they’re always busy & always well staffed;)
(my bday is 1/17,,,,,would be a crime for me to wait til 1/21 for my beloved Yirgacheffe!).
I did see all the very nice Valentine gift cards! The pastries, however, are failing….
end of my rant!
All I have to say about this is DENISE…….
That is the first thing that came to mind when I saw Ethiopia Yirgacheffe!
Melody, You sure have my interest peeked about this reserve. I may have to give it a try.
Looks like a 100 mile trip to Seattle is in order!!
Can someone help me get as much info as possible on this reserve? Im wanting to do a comparitive tasting between this and the core Ethiopia for my SM and a few fellow partners (Im just about ready to do my certification exam for coffee master, eeek!). Ive never had this reserve, but after Melody and Denises comments, I cant wait 🙂
Starbucks does not need to send people on the road for these tastings. There are Coffee Masters or aspiring Coffee Masters at every store who would be glad to do tastings. The trouble spot seems to be how to organize, schedule, and tell people about them. East Olive Way has a Facebook page and a regular tasting schedule. That makes it easy for them. The simplest national form would be sending a tasting outline and flyers to every reserve store with their new Reserve coffee. “We will be having a tasting of the new Reserve Ethiopia on _____________.” Reserve stores already have printed material sent out, and they all have community bulletin boards too. Corporate just needs to take that next step. The more complicated version is helping all of the advanced Reserve stores get Facebook pages to share their tastings on. Local management struggles with procedures on that. Until a coherent Facebook Standard for Starbucks comes out that step will have to wait. But sending tasting announcement flyers with every Reserve coffee is a good start.
Courtney:
Yirgacheffe being a region in Sidamo, you can use some information from last year’s Reserve to prepare:
http://www.starbucks.com/coffee/reserve/sun-dried-ethiopia-sidamo
And the wiki page for the regions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_production_in_Ethiopia
Other than that the best source will be the bag and the square cards that come with the shipment. Good luck!
@Kurt, you get an electronic M.U.G. Award for your green apron behaviors helping @Courtney! As for tastings, I think the reality is both corporate and regional have different priorities these days. While they won’t say “no” to a tasting, their priorities are toward active sampling of items they want to promote and sell, like Verismo machines and VIA.
As Melody mentioned in an earlier post, you will be given time and instructions on VIA latte sampling and comparisons (take the VIA challenge…) to do in store, with support from corporate and regional to make it happen. That shows you what their priority is as it is where they are putting their attention, effort and resources.
Thankfully, people like you go above and beyond and do tastings and other things to make their local experience better. So thanks for what you do, so aptly demonstrated by the assistance you provided Courtney.
@Melody/Denise – I have never had Ethiopia Yirgacheffe before. Last year Starbucks put out the Sun Dried Ethiopian Harrar, and It was one of my favorite Reserves. Quite honestly, all the Sun Dried Reserves were my favorite in the past year. So I did a little research into their differences. What I learned is that the Harrar is dry processed, while Yirgacheffe is a wet processed coffee. What I don’t know about the Yirgacheffe is, was/is it always a Sun Dried coffee?
I personally can’t wait to try it for the first time on a Clover!!
@Chgo: If this coffee fails to impress you as superb, I will be really surprised!
@Kurt – I know that lots and lots of stores have coffee masters (and those working on coffee master certification) who can do coffee seminars. But I gave Purple1’s idea of a SSC coffee master doing more events a thumbs up for a couple of reasons. First off, I will say that every time I’ve been to a coffee tasting led by Starbucks partners at the headquarters, it’s obvious to me that the store partners (and customers too) thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to connect and taste coffee with those at the headquarters. It’s a beneficial moment of connecting over coffee. 🙂 The other great part of it is that it is one way to have coffee seminars without using any of the store’s labor for it.
Just ordered some of this lovely Reserve from StarbucksStore. Can’t wait to get it!!
Ooohhh, an e-MUG award! I like it. Thank you!
@melody – the travel expense would be a monster, but maybe the Regional offices have staff who can lead seminars? (As someone pointed out that corporate and regional may have different priorities.) Maybe the District or Regional Managers can get Coffee Master status and lead seminars in their key Reserve stores. The meet and greet opportunities would be great!
And since it is now on the website, here is the text for Courtney:
Producer: The village of Aricha in the district of Yirgacheffe
Elevation: 1,950 – 2,150 meters (6,400 – 7,100 feet )
Coffee Variety: Typica
Processing Method: Natural [my add: Dry, Sun-dried]
Sun-dried coffees from Ethiopia are renowned the world over for their lush, intense flavors. And this one from the district of Yirgacheffe captivated us with its fruity taste in a cup.
The story of these beans begins over 6,000 feet above sea level where the perfect melding of sun, air and soil contributes to enticing flavors. Once harvested, they’re carefully dried on raised beds, absorbing the sweet juiciness of the ripe fruit surrounding them to deliver a wild burst of berry with every sip.
I saw this coffee on StarbucksStore.com a few days ago but it was showing as backordered. Then, poof, it was gone. I love, love, love Ethiopian coffees and recently I have started to develop a preference for naturals so I am very excited to try this coffee.
@Courtney B: The best way I have found to get more/deeper info on our coffees is to email coffeeeducation@starbucks.com. It goes directly to the Coffee Engagement Team in Seattle and they will respond quickly. If you let them know exactly what it is you are wanting to do they will provide you with the best info there is. In fact, for those times when I did send them an email none other than Major Cohen himself got back to me. Good luck and please let us know how your tasting goes!
Yay!! I’m soooo excited it’s back…but I’m soooo sad I still don’t have a Reserve or Clover store here!! Hopefully they may offer a ltd quantity online and I can get it before @Denise buys them all 🙂
@Hayley – it is available to order online now.
@Kurt – I don’t think the travel expense would be a monster. If you think about the scale of Starbucks – the billions they spend, and the amount they invest in sending people on origin trips, and sending people from the headquarters all over the country to visit stores, and what have you, the raw cost probably would be far less than that millions and millions spend by some departments. (Actually, this about the travel expense they spent on the group of store partners and DMs who were selected to go spend nearly 2 months in India to help train new partners there on beverages. I know a store manager that got to spend teaching partners in India all things Starbucks). I think one barrier is just sort of a practical/ logistical one. You wouldn’t hire someone just to be a touring coffee master, and so it would mean someone taking away time from their existing job requirements – who does the extra work while the traveling coffee master tours the US. It could be done, but that’s an issue. I don’t know. I can’t say that I have a good grasp on this, and I’m just thinking out loud for sure.
@Denise – I will take your word for it! 🙂
@Melody – I forgot to mention…. Thanks for discussing this. I am definitely looking forward to finally trying it. I asked earlier, but maybe it was overlooked. Is Ethiopia Yirgacheffe always labelled as a “Sun Dried” coffee?
@Chgo – Sorry to have missed your question. It’s definitely true that not all Yirgacheffe is “sun dried.” Washed-process Ethiopia Yirgacheffe will still have berry notes to some degree, but are often not quite as bold and flavorful. I wrote this old blog post going back four years ago – there are some things about it that have become dated over time (just to start, 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea is now totally a Starbucks) – but in this ancient blog post, you see a photo of a washed-process Ethiopia Yirgacheffe coffee – it’s something that Starbucks has consistently offered for their European stores: http://www.starbucksmelody.com/2010/01/30/cupping-starbucks-mexico-coffee-and-organic-yirgacheffe-at-15th-avenue-coffee-and-tea/
@Kurt, Dave, and Melody: Thank you for your help! I’m going to email the coffee education team this weekend (been a busy week for me at my store), so I’m looking to their response. I’ve taken notes in my journal on all the helpful info you’ve all provided 🙂 I’ll absolutely let you know how the tasting goes. I’m looking forward to tasting this Ethiopian gem 🙂
Thanks Melody….
I’m going to Monterey the weekend before this launches (a great spot because every Starbucks in the city of Monterey, plus the one in the next town over Carmel Valley, all have Clovers!), so I hope they have a bag open for partner sampling, and I can talk someone into letting me try a cup!!
I finally tried it today…. Talk about being very jammy. This is one coffee where the flavor lingers on your palate long after the finish.
@Chgo: that’s it? good or bad? (to you?) how was it made? press, Clover? I understand I will be getting my hands on some today! looking forward to that!
@Chgo: that’s it? good or bad? (to you?) how was it made? press, Clover? I understand I will be getting my hands on some today! yay!!!!
2nd writing…I hate it when I forget to press “submit”.
@Denise – Oops! I’m sorry…. I liked it very much. It is very similar to all the other sun dried Reserves in the previous year, but this honestly has a lot more flavor going on outside of just a coffee taste. Would it make sense to say it has the flavor of a fruity tea, but it’s coffee? It’s unique from everything else I have ever tasted. That’s for sure. I think my daughter is going to love it if she tries it.
I picked up the small card at the front of the store and read about it, then I ordered a grande size with the carrot cake muffin with pecans.
The barista suggested me to try it as a cold drink while he’s enjoying one behind the counter. I said next time. It was pretty mild and smelled really good. I would say it’s definitely better when pairing with something sweet.
I just came across your blog while researching Sun Dried Ethiopia Yirgacheffe.
I’m getting my Coffee Master Certification on Thursday with another partner at my store at the District Meeting. I picked up a bag of this Reserve while on a trip to Savannah a few months ago. * I knew I didn’t want to open it for a special reason… now I’m glad I didn’t. We’re also tasting Kona.
Except without opening this bag and tasting it, I’m having a hard time coming up with a food pairing for it. After some reading, I’m thinking something with lemon. I would rather make something myself than use the same old lemon loaf.
I plan to taste it tomorrow to get a better idea.
Thanks for discussing this one!
@Alissa – The sun dried Yirgacheffe is one of my favorites. I think it would be good to pre-try a couple of different options to see which you like best. Lemon, cherry, and blueberry are all worth a try. I always recommend you try your pairing first. (Somewhere among the 900 articles on this site, I think I have one of coffee tasting tips).
And a big congrats to you on becoming a certified coffee master!