Darran J.
Yelp
My first experience with a Starbucks Reserve Roastery. What an amazing experience, I highly recommend going to one if you ever have the opportunity. It's worth going out of the way for the experience of it.
I'm the first to admit that I am not the biggest Starbucks fan overall. To me, most of the coffee is over roasted in the bean stage, thus imparting more of a bitter taste to the end product. I am much more of a fan of the small batch roasting that occurs in smaller places where hand roasters have better control over the end product. I have been to coffee plantations in Hawaii and Costa Rica and cut my teeth on Kean coffee when they hand roasted every day in their local store many, many years ago. That said, Starbucks is everywhere and although not a coffee fan of theirs, they do make some good drinks that have other flavors, and their refresher teas are outstanding.
The Reserve is a super high-end version of this. I believe that this particular one is 23,000 square feet and very richly appointed. 3 levels, 2 bars with alcohol and a huge bakery/food section. It was super crowded, and it felt almost like an indoor state fair with all the people and things to look at. There is a GIANT roasting machine for the beans. This location roasts beans for every single location on the East Coast and I believe South America as well. The one in Chicago roasts for all of middle America and the main headquarters in Seattle roasts beans for everything on the West Coast and a few other countries. Just absolutely amazing in the breadth and scope. There is a conveyor tube that takes the beans to and from the roasting machine. It is clear, so you can see it in action transporting them back and forth. Please see my pictures.
Our main reason for going here is the fact that they had the bars, and it was a bucket-list item to check off. There were several in our group, and everyone enjoyed their drinks. 2 of our people had non-alcoholic drinks and liked them very much as well. One had the orange spice espresso martini, another had the regular espresso martini, both said it was the best they had ever tasted. However, I think that the drink I had was "The Golden Ticket" out of everything that was ordered and tried.
As it was explained by our super kind and friendly server, there is a Knob Creek bourbon that is made specifically for Starbucks. I believe that it is labeled as a #9 on the bottle. This version, once distilled, aged and decanted, gets the bourbon barrels reused by Starbucks as they fill them with their cold brew mixture and let it age for a while, absorbing that wonderful flavor into the cold brew. So, when you order it, instead of getting a bourbon with a water back, you get a bourbon with a bourbon infused cold brew back. I could literally drink this combination every night of my life and be happy about it. Too good, amazing, apply your own label here... Please see pics.
Why 4-stars instead of 5 you ask? 2 things only, the price and the crowd. Everything here was super expensive (I know, bucket list) but I couldn't afford it every day. And it was really crowded for the whole 2 hours we were there. Some of the people in our group who live there said it is like that all day, every day, from open to close. Even the bathrooms had huge lines (but managed well by the attendant) every time we went. If I lived nearby, I would go on occasion or to bring visitors for the experience, but I would not go here every day. But I do encourage you to go have the experience if you can. Well worth the time and the money to be a part of it in your travels.