Starting on Tuesday January 9, 2018, at Starbucks you’ll find a new option for your espresso beverages. It’s Blonde Roast espresso. This is a lighter roast profile espresso.
About one year ago, Starbucks launched the same Blonde Roast Espresso in Canada. I wrote about it here. At that time, Starbucks coffee guru Anthony Carroll described it like this: “With our signature Starbucks Espresso, the caramelly roast comes through in the beverage while Blonde Espresso is a sweeter, gentler flavor.”
With Blonde Espresso Roast, the coffee beans are literally a lot lighter than traditional core Starbucks Espresso:
You can really see the different between the Blonde Espresso Roast (in the small part of the espresso hopper) compared to the dark espresso roast.
You can use Blonde Espresso Roast any way you’d use core espresso: Have it as a solo shot of espresso, enjoy it in an Americano, enjoy it in a Latte or any espresso beverage, or have it poured over a coffee Frappuccino or any other way you like your shot of espresso.
It is a gentler, approachable flavor. My Americano does look decidedly lighter than what you’d normally expect from this drink:
Notice that the custom cup code is “B” for Blonde espresso.
You’ll find signs for it all over your store:
Because it’s a lighter espresso, it might be something that people are drawn to in the summer. Blonde roast coffees are often great iced and can be jazzed up as a “Coffee Shandy” too.
I recommend trying Blonde Espresso an iced Americano or in a vanilla latte. I prefer it as an iced Americano.
I think it’s great that Starbucks is giving espresso fans another option for their drink! Just ask for Blonde Roast at the register. Starbucks traditional core espresso has been around since 1975. Dave Olsen used coffee beans roasted by Starbucks to create a perfect espresso blend, and shortly after that he came to Starbucks as the top coffee person. Starbucks forever used his formulation and blend for traditional core espresso. You can learn more about the stories behind the coffee here.
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I’m not a fan of any of the Blonde coffees so I doubt I’ll be trying this one, but it’s good to expand options for others. On a related note, I stopped in to the Naperville Reserve bar today for a Juniper latte (very Seattle-esque weather here today) and they had changed their reserve espresso to something new. It was lighter, but wen’t great with the Juniper.
I tried this new espresso as an espresso macchiato the other day (a drink i order often) and I’m not a fan. It tasted to me like a much weaker flavor and i didn’t notice whatever the sweetness is the tasting notes mention, but i did notice the brighter citrus like notes which i also am not a fan of.
I’m thinking it’s probably best in those milky sugary drinks that people who don’t actually like coffee order
old news – we’ve had it over a year already. it’s pretty good, especially as an americano or a blonde almond vanilla latte (featured at launch). starbucks just relaunched it which is confusing to everyone but i guess either they did it poorly the first time or they didn’t have it in all regions. anyway, if you don’t like lighter coffees there’s a good chance you won’t like it but i would recommend trying it anyway as you never know!
In an Americano, the difference is amazing. The difference is less pronounced when enveloped by milk. I love my new Americano!