Starbucks Reserve
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Starbucks Reserve is a program by the international coffeehouse chain Starbucks. The program involves operation of worldwide roasteries; currently six are in operation. Also part of the program are 28 coffee bars preparing Starbucks Reserve products, what Starbucks considers its rarest and best-quality coffees, usually single-origin coffees. Some Starbucks Reserve coffee is also sold in about 1,500 of the chain's traditional outlets.
History
The program began as Starbucks desired to compete in the high-end coffee market, competing against premium coffee retailers like Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Dillanos Coffee Roasters and Blue Bottle Coffee.[1]
Starbucks began its Starbucks Reserve program in 2010 through online sales and a small number of its retail locations, selling small-batch arabica coffees. Later, the company opened its first Reserve location, a three-story store in Latin America, solely selling
Types
Starbucks Reserve includes three different types of locations: the "Starbucks Reserve Roastery", the "Reserve Bar", and the "Reserve Store". The roasteries, usually tens of thousands of square feet (thousands of square meters), are often described as a theme park experience, including coffee bars with tastings, cocktail bars, areas to observe the roasting and brewing processes, areas to purchase food, and local artwork throughout. The facilities also roast, package, and ship coffee to stores in their regions.[3]
The company currently operates a total of six roasteries, in Seattle (opened 2014), Shanghai (2017), Milan (2018), New York City (2018), Tokyo (2019), and Chicago (2019). The company initially planned to open at least 20 roasteries, though it announced in 2019 that it would be scaling back its plans, with Chicago being the last roastery to be built at the moment.[4][5]
Reserve Bars are traditional Starbucks locations that sell some Starbucks Reserve products, supplied by a regional roastery. There are 43 locations, all of which include the regular Starbucks menu, and also have a coffee bar for a similar experience to the coffee bars in the roasteries.[3] There are currently approximately five Reserve Stores in operation, with one located in Starbucks' headquarters, Starbucks Center, in Seattle. Other stores are located in New York, Mumbai, Prague and Shanghai. These stores sell merchandise, food and drink such as Reserve Coffee, Princi food items, and locally-unique merchandise similar to that of the roasteries.[6][7][8]
Roasteries
Seattle
The first Starbucks Reserve roastery opened in December 2014 in the
Shanghai
The roastery in Shanghai, China, is located in the HKRI Taikoo Hui mixed-use development, on the luxury shopping strip Nanjing Road. It opened in December 2017 and was the largest Starbucks location in the world at that time, since surpassed by the Chicago roastery. The Shanghai roastery has 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) between two stories. It is typically fully packed with customers, with lines out the door typical in peak times.[9]
The Shanghai roastery has a roasting facility, three coffee bars, a Teavana tea bar, and an
Milan
The roastery in Milan is located in the
The interior was designed considering its location. Most Starbucks locations utilize warm materials like wood, rather than stone surfaces. For the Milan location, an exception was made with the installation of Calacatta marble counters, due to marble's commonplace use in high-end Italian coffee shops. The counters have a radiant heating system to keep them warm.[12]
The location has a main bar with seven different coffees, a self-service bean bar, a wood-fired oven bakery, a Princi foodservice area, a retail space, and an "Arriviamo" cocktail bar serving coffee-based cocktails and Italian drinks like the
New York City
The New York location is in Manhattan's neighborhood of Chelsea, it opened on December 13, 2018.[13] It occupies the first floor of 61 Ninth Avenue. The location has 23,000 square feet (2,100 m2), and includes a coffee roastery, two coffee bars, a cocktail bar, bakery, and a terrarium. The bakery, operated by Princi, has baked goods, pizzas, salads, and breads. The cocktail bar, a branded "Arriviamo Bar", has coffee- and tea-based cocktails. The interior ceiling has artistic squares and rectangles resembling the building's exterior architecture. The terrarium resembles Hacienda Alsacia, a coffee farm in Costa Rica, and the first and only farm owned by Starbucks.[14]
Tokyo
The Tokyo roastery opened in Tokyo's
Central to the space is a 56-foot-tall (17 m) copper cask, made of 121 copper plates hand-hammered in the Japanese tsuchime technique. The cask holds roasted coffee beans, allowing them to settle and gas to escape before brewing or packaging. Around the cask are 2,100 copper cherry blossoms suspended from the ceiling, an homage to the nearby Meguro River, popular for its numerous blossoming cherry trees. Extending from the cask are copper pipes that deliver coffee beans across different areas of the store. The facility has two roasters, a 260-pound (118 kg) Probat G-120 and a 35-pound (16 kg) Probat P25 roaster, able to roast up to 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg) of coffee each day. The coffee is used in the roastery and shipped to retailers throughout Japan.[15]
Chicago
The Chicago roastery, which opened November 15, 2019, is the largest Starbucks location in the world and latest roastery to be built. The building at 646 North Michigan Avenue on the Magnificent Mile has five stories at 35,000 square feet (3,300 m2); it was formerly a flagship store for Crate & Barrel.[16]
Reception
An article for Business Insider described Starbucks Reserve as more expensive than regular locations, and more like an "art studio" than a cafe, due to the art work lining the walls.[17]
References
- ^ a b Stephanie Strom (December 5, 2014). "Starbucks, Facing a Saturated Market, Looks to the High End - The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
- ^ a b Harris, Jenn (September 5, 2014). "Starbucks gets fancy with Reserve roastery, tasting room, coffees". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b Campbell-Schmitt, Adam (December 20, 2018). "Roastery, Reserve Bar, Regular Starbucks: What's the Difference?". Food&Wine.
- ^ Stern, Gary. "Starbucks' Reserve Roastery Is Spacious And Trendy, So Why Is It Slowing Down Expansion?". Forbes. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ Danziger, Pamela N. "Starbucks Makes The Right Call, Scales Back Plans For 1,000 Upscale Reserve Stores". Forbes. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ Guerrero, Rafael (April 30, 2021). "Starbucks Reserve — one of four in the world — opens in downtown Naperville; serving pizza, beer and wine". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ "Exclusive: Starbucks India gets its first Reserve Store in Mumbai". Vogue India. October 17, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
- ^ Chang, Brittany. "I went to Starbucks' newest flagship store in the Empire State Building and had one of the best coffees I've ever tasted, but I probably won't be back". Business Insider. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
- ^ a b Jacobs, Harrison (April 22, 2018). "Starbucks Reserve Roastery Shanghai is world's biggest Starbucks". Business Insider. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
- ^ a b Romeo, Claudia (April 6, 2019). "Inside Italy's only Starbucks that's the biggest in Europe". Insider. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
- ^ Food & Drink. "Largest Starbucks in the World is Opening in Chicago This November". Thrillist. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
- ^ a b c Kellogg, Craig (September 6, 2018). "Starbucks Uses Design to Entice Coffee Lovers in Milan". Architectural Digest. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
- ^ "Starbucks Opens 23,000-Square-Foot Immersive Coffee Destination in New York". Starbucks Stories & News.
- ^ Gannon, Devin (December 13, 2018). "Starbucks is opening a massive 'immersive coffee experience' with a cocktail bar in Chelsea". 6sqft. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
- ^ a b Williamson, Claire (March 9, 2019). "Starbucks' Reserve Roastery Tokyo is a 'coffee wonderland'". The Japan Times. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
- ^ Waxman, Naomi (January 6, 2020). "The Early Word on the World's Largest Starbucks". Eater Chicago. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- ^ Nazario, Marina (February 23, 2016). "Starbucks is opening hundreds of premium stores where the cheapest coffee is $4 — we visited one to see what it's like". Business Insider. Retrieved June 13, 2020.