The Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago opened its doors to the public Friday, and quickly reached capacity as visitors moved up and down its five floors of coffee wonderland. At 35,000 square feet, the Roastery is now the largest Starbucks in the world.

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CHICAGO – At the corner of Michigan and Erie on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, a crowd stretched down the block before sunrise Friday morning. They braved freezing temperatures, bundled up in hats, coats and mittens, to be among the first to experience the new Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago.

Andy Shelton of Chicago was the first person through the door when it opened at 9 a.m.

“When I got the invitation, I immediately took the day off,” said Shelton, a Starbucks Rewards members who, once inside, made a beeline to order a coffee and avocado toast with salmon.&nbsp; “I love the space. It’s very unique, and everyone is friendly, and this location – it is in the heart of where everyone wants to be.”

At five floors and 35,000 square feet, the Chicago Roastery is now the largest Starbucks in the world. But even with a capacity crowd of nearly 1,000 Friday morning, three customers quickly became the most recognizable in the building. Friends Alane Odom of Glen Carbon, Ill., Kristin Ward of Chicago and Rhonda Mitchell of St. Louis wore matching, two-foot-tall elf hats. This was Mitchell’s doing; she found them at Savers Thursday and thought they’d be festive to wear to the opening.

Mitchell and Odom have been friends for 20 years. The three of them have been friends for 10 years, ever since Odom reconnected with Ward, a grade school friend she’d lost track of. They found each other again through Facebook and within a month of reuniting had planned a trip to China together. They’ve been “inseparable” ever since. 

“China is where we bought our first Starbucks mug. We just thought it would be fun to have something that said Beijing,” Ward said.

“It just, like, snowballed from there, and now, between us, we probably have at least a thousand [Starbucks] mugs,” Odom said. “We’ve been known to take trips just to get mugs.”

Their motto: “Every Starbucks mug has a story.” 

Ward said their friendship is built around seeing the world, laughing and sharing memories over coffee – and collecting mugs.

“Some people think it’s silly, and that’s OK,” Ward said. “It brings us joy, and that’s what life is all about.”

Added Odem: “In the day-to-day chaos and ups and downs of life, Starbucks is our happy place.”

Here are some scenes from opening morning of the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago

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The Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago opened its doors to the public Friday. Located at the corner or North Michigan Avenue and Erie Street on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, the Roastery is five floors and 35,000 square feet, making it the largest Starbucks in the world. 

Shauna McKenzie-Lee, managing director of the Chicago Roastery, opens the doors to customers for the first time Friday morning.

Customers ride the curved escalator to the second floor of the Chicago Roastery. Encircling the 56-foot cask, where coffee beans go to rest and de-gas after the roasting process, the escalator is the first of its kind in the Midwest.

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Customers, bundled up to fight the freezing temperatures, began lining up predawn to visit the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago. By opening time, the line stretched down the block and around the corner. The Chicago Roastery joins locations in Seattle, Shanghai, Milan, New York and Tokyo.

Friends Alane Odom of Glen Carbon, Ill., Kristin Ward of Chicago and Rhonda Mitchell of St. Louis were some of the first customers into the Roastery. Odom and Ward, who collect Starbucks mugs, were walking around with large shopping bags full of Roastery merchandise. What did they buy? “What didn’t we buy!” Odom said, laughing.

Starbucks partners pose at the Chicago Roastery scoop bar in the relative calm shortly before doors open Friday. Coffee beans are roasted fresh and travel by pipe to locations around the Roastery where they are crafted into beverage or hand-scooped for customers who want to take home a bag.

Kevin Johnson, chief executive officer of Starbucks, crafted the first coffee beverage of the day for a customer after high fiving the cheering people streaming into the Chicago Roastery and visiting with the crowd waiting in line outside.

The Reserve coffee bar on the main level of the Roastery bustles with cappuccinos, lattes, cortados and a capacity crowd after doors opened Friday morning. Outside, a crowd of visitors from Chicago and out of town alike wait for a chance to explore the world’s largest Starbucks. 

Chicago Roastery partner Ethan uses a siphon to brew coffee. The theatrical technique takes about 10 minutes from start to finish and uses vacuum filtration to push extremely hot water through a bed of freshly ground coffee. 

Roz Brewer, chief operating officer and group president of Starbucks, greets customers in line waiting for the doors of the Chicago Roastery to open Friday morning. 

Starbucks partners empty freshly roasted beans into a cart for transport at the Chicago Roastery. Small-batch lots of Starbucks Reserve coffees from around the world are roasted daily in the Probat L-25 roaster, which the roasting team has affectionately nicknamed “Charlotte.”

Eryn Sable, assistant general manager of the Seattle Roastery, passes out coffee to visitors waiting in line to get into the Chicago Roastery Friday morning.

Starbucks Chicago Roastery opens to capacity crowds - Starbucks Stories

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Starbucks Stories

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Starbucks Chicago Roastery opens to capacity crowds

At the corner of Michigan and Erie on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, a crowd stretched down the block before sunrise Friday morning.

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Crate &amp; Barrel founder Gordon Segal tells the story in his own words of meeting a young Howard Schultz, their longtime friendship and why he’s thrilled his family’s iconic building on Chicago’s “Magnificent Mile” is now home to the largest Starbucks in the world.

By Gordon Segal, as told to Jennifer Warnick

The story starts many years ago. In the early ’80s, Howard Schultz was a young sales rep for a Swedish housewares company called Hammarplast and he made a sales call to Crate &amp; Barrel in Chicago. He walked in to meet our merchandising team, and I think I walked into the room and said hello to him. We knew each other from that point.

About 26 years ago, I was on my way to Japan with my daughter and went through Seattle to look at some real estate that Howard recommended for Crate &amp; Barrel. Howard had invited us to dinner at his house and he was urging me to consider going into University Village. We got to know each other even a little bit better on that trip.

This is the part of the story where the greatest irony comes in. When we were building the Michigan Avenue building for Crate &amp; Barrel around 1988, I was approached by two real estate brokers who came to tell me there was a new coffee concept out of Seattle looking to expand in Chicago. They wanted to know if we would lease them 2,000 square feet on the first floor of our new Crate &amp; Barrel store for a café. And I said, “Well that's great, but no, I can't lease them 2,000 square feet because the whole first floor is only 6,000 square feet.” It wasn't until years later that I was reminded by someone about this early visit from Starbucks.

I remember that opening. The store was gorgeous, and business was nonstop from then on, it was terrific. That store made Crate &amp; Barrel’s national reputation more than probably any other thing we had ever done. Even though we had been in business for many years, that store put us on a different level. Little did I realize then it’s almost what Starbucks is doing with the Roasteries. Today there are thousands of very good smaller Starbucks but only a few majestic Roasteries around the world that are going to educate people about coffee. 

Anyway, all these years passed. I retired from Crate &amp; Barrel [in 2008], and Howard was running Starbucks. In the spring of 2016, Crate &amp; Barrel told me they were not going to renew their lease in the Michigan Avenue building. They have a very successful store in Lincoln Park, and it’s only three miles away. That summer, Howard and his wife, Sheri, were being honored for their charitable work at the Aspen Institute. My wife, Carole, and I went to that event with our two oldest grandchildren. During the event, Carol said, "You should go up afterwards and introduce your grandsons to Howard. You've known him for a long time, I'm sure they'd like to meet him." I said, "Good idea, Carole.” Then, just as I was about to get up, she whispered to me, "And by the way, tell him the Michigan Avenue building is going to be available." I hadn’t even thought about it, but my wife had. 

So we waited until most of the crowd dissipated and I introduced my two grandsons to Howard and then I said, “By the way, I know you're doing these bigger Roasteries now. Crate &amp; Barrel is leaving the Michigan Avenue building in Chicago, would you be interested in looking at it?” And his eyes lit up.

My wife and I had long said to ourselves that if we could not have Crate &amp; Barrel there, we wanted something that would be very exciting and experiential that would show off the building. We were thinking of all sorts of different potential tenants, for all different kinds of uses. We made diagrams of how different stores could work in the building. Then we started talking to Starbucks, which in my mind was one of the more exciting things we could do with the building. 

So, Howard came out with his team and we toured the building. It was still a Crate &amp; Barrel at the time. We went through the whole building, and I know he was wondering if the team could make it work. We had made up a big photograph of the Crate &amp; Barrel building, but with Starbucks Reserve Roastery name on it. We went across Michigan Avenue kitty-corner from the building. We unrolled it, and Howard looked at it, and looked at me, looked at the photograph again, and then looked out at the building. Then he said, “Okay, let's talk.” They decided to go forward and there was a very long-term negotiation because a lot of issues had to be settled out. We came to the conclusion that this was such a right decision for us and the city, that we would forego rent for the almost two years it took to construct the Roastery. We felt this partnership could be so wonderful and unique, and that is what we wanted for the space — and for the city. 

When you see it, it is really remarkable. I thought our store was great when it opened in 1990 and it was beautiful and highly successful. That store helped put Crate &amp; Barrel on the map. 

But this new Roastery is really beyond my expectations. It is very beautiful, with very light colors — very Scandinavian in feeling. It is beautifully textured and has unique artwork on the stairways and on a large vertical brass panel. We put in a circular escalator, to provide a spectacular ride up to the second floor. And as you go up to the third and fourth floor, it becomes more and more exciting. I’m so very pleased with the way it turned out. It is beautiful. &nbsp;

So that's the story of the building, and how I knew Howard from the early days. 

I'm only sorry I didn't invest in Starbucks when they went public.

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How a chance meeting paved the way for the Chicago Roastery - Starbucks Stories

How a chance meeting paved the way for the Chicago Roastery

Almost 30 years ago, Crate & Barrel founder Gordon Segal met a young salesman named Howard Schultz. The rest is history.

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Designer Jill Enomoto talks about the most unique and must-see design elements of the new Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago. At five stories and 35,000 square feet, it’s the largest Starbucks in the world.

On a recent cab ride from the airport into downtown Chicago, the driver gestured toward the gleaming, five-story building at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Erie Street.

“This was the original Crate &amp; Barrel flagship store,” he told his passenger, Jill Enomoto. “And soon it’s going to be the biggest Starbucks in the world.”

In the back seat, Enomoto – the Starbucks vice president leading the design of the new Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago – grinned. 

“Really?” she said to the driver. “Tell me more about it.”

She absolutely loves moments like that. And while cab drivers and people in general are transfixed by the Chicago Roastery being the world’s largest Starbucks, there’s so much more to talk about than size. 

“We’re bringing Starbucks Reserve coffee, roasting and serving the freshest coffee, and doing it all in one place for people to be able to experience,” she said. “I think that is a beautiful story, and we've given our partners and roasters the space to tell that story.”

The design of the Roastery, which opens to the public Friday, tells the story as well. 

Enomoto, who has been a Starbucks partner since 2008, has worked on a wide range of design projects and initiatives for the company. In 2014, <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2018/liz-muller-designer-of-the-starbucks-milan-roastery/">Liz Muller, the company’s longtime chief design officer</a>, tapped Enomoto to help create the first <a href="https://www.starbucksreserve.com/en-us/locations/seattle">Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle</a>. Then came Roasteries in Shanghai, Milan and Tokyo. Enomoto and team worked on the New York and Chicago Roastery projects as well.

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“Howard [Schultz] had a vision of creating an experience where we would bring our love and passion for coffee to life. Liz Muller translated that into the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle, which would transform the world of experiential retail. Working side-by-side with Liz on these projects has been incredibly inspiring, and I think they have been very influential on the brand in a very important way. I feel very thankful and fortunate and honored being part of the effort.” 

Two words could perhaps encapsulate the Chicago Roastery design: look up. The most vertical of the roasteries, Chicago was designed to draw the eye, and incoming visitors up, up, up. Starting on the sidewalk outside, Enomoto takes us into and up through the new Chicago Roastery, sharing some of her favorite design features along the way.

Looking up at the building from the sidewalk outside, even from across the street on Michigan Avenue, there are little glimpses “enticing people to come in and experience what we’ve going on inside” – the light, the streaks of green, the multi-story, bronze-colored coffee cask, the hustle and bustle of Starbucks partners and customers moving through multiple levels of coffee wonderland. The building was constructed as a Crate &amp; Barrel in 1990 by Gordon Segal, who with his wife, Carole, founded the company in 1962. 

“For folks who grew up in Chicago, this building is really quite iconic,” Enomoto said. “I mean, Gordon built this building with beautiful windows and fenestration and light. The skylight he designed to bring light to the different floors, the escalators to bring customers up a multilevel flagship store – it was all pretty groundbreaking. What a fantastic opportunity for Starbucks to come into this very iconic building and put a Roastery in here.”

The multi-story coffee cask

One of the centerpieces of each Starbucks Roastery is a unique cask, the large vessel where coffee beans go to rest and de-gas following the roasting process. The Chicago roastery features a uniquely vertical space, and the design team needed to envision a cask that would literally rise to the occasion. In the center of the building’s glass “barrel” rotunda is the answer: a 56-foot steel and aluminum cask with a bronze finish, the company’s tallest. Perforations in the sculptural receptacle allow visitors to watch roasted beans moving through tubes.

“With the amount of glass and the visibility we get from the corner of Michigan and Erie looking up into the building, the cask sitting in the rotunda really becomes a beacon,” Enomoto said.

Encircling the cask is the first curved escalator in the Midwest, designed to take visitors a 360-degree tour with coffee roasting, brewing and scooping on one side and a view out the curved-glass windows to Chicago’s Magnificent Mile on the other.&nbsp; 

“Yes, I think some people will come just to ride the curved escalator,” Enomoto said, laughing. “It’s such a different thing. You kind of feel like a kid again. It's been fun watching people's faces on their way up.” 

All of the six Roasteries have their own custom artistry, and Chicago features three hand-painted murals from local artists.

Every Roastery has a unique Starbucks siren; Chicago’s, located between the third and fourth floors, was painted by local Chicago artist David Anthony Geary. “She’s floating there, weightless in the space, holding a coffee branch. In the daytime, she’s bathed by light from the skylight and she slowly transforms throughout the day,” Enomoto said. 

A progressive mural by artist Eulojio Ortega, nicknamed “The Chicago Muralist,” pays tribute to the farmers and coffee-growing regions of the world. The mural begins in a staircase between the first and second floors and spans all five stories, following the journey of coffee from tree to cherry to harvest.

“We envisioned this five-story experience that would pull people from the ground floor all the way up and tell this really beautiful story about the growing of coffee,” Enomoto said. “Before you know it, you walked five floors and you’ve gotten this really amazing journey, ever upwards.”

On the fourth floor, artist Molly Z painted a mural as a visual love letter to the city of Chicago and its people, architecture, music, art, neighborhoods, lake, river – even its weather. 

A literal love letter from Starbucks to Chicago sits adjacent to Molly Z’s mural. It talks about Chicago as the first city outside the Pacific Northwest that Starbucks brought its coffee to in 1987, and why it has become home to the new Starbucks Reserve Roastery.

“The reception we've had here in this city has been truly, truly fantastic,” Enomoto said. “The momentum is building and it feels good and it's really exciting and I can't wait for the doors to open.”

All of the Roasteries have iconic ceilings designed to support both the overall design as well as seamlessly incorporate functions such as acoustics, HVAC, Wi-Fi, lighting and more. 

The ceiling in Chicago, with rings of outward spiraling shades of green, was designed to symbolize rays of sun touching rolling hills of green coffee trees.&nbsp; The shades of green were inspired by the agricultural nature of growing coffee.&nbsp; Illuminated ‘sunbeams’ radiate outward throughout the floors.

“With the cask in the center and the way the ceiling radiates from there, it creates an almost optical illusion that the ceiling seems tilt upward as you go up each floor towards the cask,” Enomoto said. “And from the outside, you see this really great pop of color on each floor.”

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Photos by Connor Surdi and Matt Glac

New Starbucks Reserve Roastery: A love letter to Chicago - Starbucks Stories

New Starbucks Reserve Roastery: A love letter to Chicago

Designer Jill Enomoto talks about the most unique and must-see design elements of the new Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago.

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New Starbucks Reserve Roastery: ‘A love letter to Chicago’

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The Starbucks Reserve® Roastery Chicago is sure to exceed expectations in many ways — including the delicious, eye-catching and Instagram-worthy beverages crafted and served throughout the building’s five floors. From the Arriviamo™ Cocktail Bar to the Experiential Coffee Bar, the Chicago Roastery has a unique line up of new and exciting beverages to sip, enjoy — and snap!&nbsp;

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The Union Stock is a thoroughly original cocktail with flavors of deep spice and smoke. Starbucks Reserve® Barrel-Aged Cold Brew is mixed with Cappelletti, Rabarbaro Sfumato, Luxardo Amaro Abano, Rhine Hall Grappa and lemon peel to make every sip as delicious as the last.

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Looking to add some drama to your Cold Brew coffee? Cold Brew, simple syrup and aromatic bitters, applewood smoked à la minute and garnished with an orange peel and Luxardo cherry is a show-stopping beverage. 

Starbucks shandy-like take on the classic Boilermaker with a sidecar of Rhine Hall Beirschnaps. Made with Starbucks Cold Brew, Koval Four Grain Whiskey, Malört, Combier Pamplemousse, honey syrup, Fever Tree Club Soda, Bittermens Hopped Grapefruit Bitters, pink grapefruit juice, lemon juice, grapefruit wheel and salt tincture. This elevates the classic Chicago drink in a way you would never expect! Because you’re not a true Chicagoan until you’ve tasted Malört.

Inspired by icy paletas, this taste of Chicago summer is good all year round. This cocktail, exclusively available at the Chicago Roastery, is made with Teavana® Zen Clouds Oolong, El Tesoro Añejo Tequila, mango yogurt syrup, lime juice, lime zest and sea salt tincture, all of which surround a mango popsicle dropped in the cocktail. Take a sip and be transported to the warm weather, no matter what season it is.

The Pour Over Bijou is an ode to Chicago architecture — particularly the Louis Sullivan jewel-box style — and was inspired by the craft of the coffee pour over brewing method. Bright, herbaceous, and earthy, the definitive Chicago pour over cocktail is made with Starbucks Reserve Coffee combined with Nikka Coffey Gin, Carpano Bianco Vermouth, green chartreuse and liqueur Strega.

The science and theater — not to mention flavor — of the siphon brewer is an eye-catching experience. Witness one of coffee’s most dynamic moments in this dazzling sensory experience.

Two shots of espresso are poured over our nitrogen-infused fior di latte (sweet cream) gelato, creating the best expression of a velvety treat with beautiful layers of gelato and espresso swirling together.

A refreshing take on a favorite cold coffee drink takes form in the Minted Cold Brew. The smooth coffee is shaken with mint syrup and garnished with fresh mint to leave you feeling hydrated and refreshed.

Freshly pulled espresso is artfully layered with sumptuous, thick-drinking chocolate and vanilla-bean crema, for a lush, dreamy beverage so decadent, you must use a spoon to revel in every rich drop.

The most Instagrammable beverages at the Chicago Roastery - Starbucks Stories

The most Instagrammable beverages at the Chicago Roastery

These spectacular drinks are sure to excite your palate — and your news feed!

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Starbucks® Reserve Roastery Chicago is the company’s largest retail experience, featuring a unique menu of Starbucks Reserve specialty coffee, boutique Milanese Princi™ bakery, and Arriviamo™ Bar featuring coffee cocktails

Tributes to Chicago abound, including locally inspired craft cocktails, barrel aged coffee and collaborations with local artists, vendors

Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago is the company’s sixth Reserve Roastery, joining locations in Seattle, Shanghai, Milan, New York and Tokyo

Chicago – Starbucks Coffee Company (NASDAQ: SBUX) today unveiled Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago, which opens its doors to the public on Friday, November 15. Located on North Michigan Avenue and Erie Street on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, the opening of Chicago Reserve Roastery marks Starbucks sixth global Roastery and third location in the U.S. Starbucks largest-ever immersive coffee experience – across five floors and 35,000 square feet of retail space – celebrates the company’s heritage and is a tribute to the roasting and the craft of coffee. Visitors will be able to see, hear and learn about coffee’s extraordinary journey through intentional and unparalleled design, while enjoying a menu featuring unique beverages exclusive to this location. The Chicago Roastery joins locations in Seattle, Shanghai, Milan, New York and Tokyo.

“Over the past five years, we have created the ultimate immersive experience around all-things-coffee in spectacular Starbucks Reserve Roasteries in flagship cities around the world. This week we are delighted to open our doors on the sixth global Roastery in an iconic building located on Chicago’s renowned Magnificent Mile”, said Kevin Johnson, Starbucks ceo. “These Roasteries amplify the Starbucks brand, serve as innovation hubs, and create experiences for millions of customers around the world.” &nbsp;

Starbucks has a rich history with the Windy City, dating back to 1987 when the company opened its first store outside of the Pacific Northwest and had a total of 11 retail stores and served as the foundation for the company’s national growth strategy. Nearly 32 years later, there are 796 company-operated stores in the region where Starbucks employs more than 18,100 partners (employees). The Roastery employs nearly 200 people, including roasters, baristas, commessas, bakers, and mixologists.

“The design of the Chicago Roastery was inspired by the iconic Chicago landmark, and the city itself,” said Jill Enomoto, vice president of Roastery Design &amp; Concept for Starbucks. “We embraced the building’s natural light, married it with shades of classic Starbucks greens and intentionally wove in design features to encourage customer exploration and highlight the love and respect we have for coffee.”

The Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago is a working coffee roastery where Starbucks Roasters will be small-batch roasting Starbucks rarest single-origin coffees and blends called Starbucks Reserve. The coffee roasted in Chicago will be served exclusively to visitors of the location, available in handcrafted beverages as well as freshly scooped whole bean coffee. 

Unique Food and Beverage Experiences

There are three main coffee bars at the Roastery, which in total offer seven brewing methods, including espresso, pour over, coffee press, siphon, Chemex®, Clover® and cold brewing.

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The Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago is the only Starbucks location in the U.S. to offer on-demand liquid nitrogen gelato. Designed to pair with Starbucks Reserve® coffee, nitrogen gelato is mixed by hand, with every scoop made right on the spot and offers another way for customers to enjoy specialty Starbucks Reserve coffees. Nitrogen gelato previously debuted at the Milan Roastery when it opened in September 2018.

Arriviamo™ Cocktail Bar

The Chicago Roastery will feature a dedicated Arriviamo™ Bar, like the Starbucks Reserve Roastery locations in New York and Milan. Inspired by the Italian tradition of aperitivo, the Arriviamo Bar will be a destination for customers looking for a carefully crafted cocktail. Located on the fourth floor, the Arriviamo™ bar features an assortment of traditional and unique cocktails, all concepted by local mixologists Julia Momose, Annie Beebe-Tron and Rachel Miller. In addition to a menu of classic cocktails and a selection of local Chicago beer and wine, exclusive specialty cocktails featuring Starbucks Reserve coffee and tea that nod to the culture and traditions of Chicago include:

In addition to coffee beverages, Roastery visitors can enjoy food at Princi™, the renowned artisanal boutique bakery and cafe founded by Italian baker Rocco Princi. As the exclusive food purveyor at Starbucks Reserve locations, Princi offers on-site baking of fresh breads, cornetti and focaccia, pizza and salads, plus cakes and tarts. A full menu of items will be available on the second floor Princi bakery, while select items will also be available throughout the Roastery for customers looking to pair their coffee with a savory or sweet bite. 

Exclusive to the Chicago Roastery will be a bakery conveyor that has been designed by Starbucks to transport fresh baked goods from the Princi bakery on the second floor, to the Starbucks Reserve Coffee Bar on the main level.

In a nod to the city’s vibrant history, artwork from local Chicago artists that tell stories and encourage customers to explore can be found throughout the building’s five floors. Customers can also purchase limited-edition merchandise from Chicago-based visual artist Mac Blackout to take home with them. 

Creating a Positive Impact

To further show support for the city of Chicago, Starbucks recently announced an investment of $10 million into four established Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) to drive economic opportunity in the city. The investment, dispersed among Accion Chicago, Chicago Community Loan Fund, Local Initiative Support Corporation and IFF, is expected to generate more than 500 loans toward supporting Chicago’s small businesses, community development projects, and the economic vitality of the city’s underserved neighborhoods.

The Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago opens on November 15 at 9 a.m. For more information, visit&nbsp;<a href="https://www.starbucksreserve.com/en-us">www.StarbucksReserve.com </a>or follow us on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/starbucksreserve/">https://www.instagram.com/starbucksreserve/</a>

Starbucks Unveils Epic 35,000-Square-Foot Reserve Roastery in Chicago - Starbucks Stories

Starbucks Unveils Epic 35,000-Square-Foot Reserve Roastery in Chicago

Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago is the company’s sixth Reserve Roastery, joining locations in Seattle, Shanghai, Milan, New York and Tokyo.

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See some of the highlights of the largest Starbucks yet, a five-story celebration of coffee, craft and Chicago.

Seattle. Shanghai. Milan. New York. Tokyo. And now, Chicago.

Each Starbucks Reserve™ Roastery celebrates coffee and craft, and offers an immersive experience inspired by some of the world’s most iconic cities. They are both a workshop and stage, a three-dimensional window into the journey of coffee. The Chicago Roastery is the company’s sixth roastery, and at 35,000 square feet, is its biggest showcase yet. It is a five-story tribute to the city’s art, architecture and culture – and the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/starbucks-in-chicago-roastery-opening-brings-journey-full-circle/">indelible mark the city has made on Starbucks</a>.

1. Coffee roasted in Chicago, for Chicago

Step inside the front doors on Michigan Ave. and you’re immediately surrounded by the sights, sounds and smells of coffee. Here, burlap bags of green (unroasted) Starbucks Reserve beans are roasted and then piped to coffee bars located on each level where they are crafted into beverages. The Chicago Roastery will roast small batch lots of Starbucks Reserve coffees from around the world. Unique to this Roastery, all coffee roasted in Chicago will only be served (and scooped) at this location. Customers can pick up a bag of hand-scooped Starbucks Reserve coffee at the Scooping Bar located on the first floor.

Standing as the centerpiece of the roastery is a 56-foot steel cask (the company’s tallest), a sculptural blend of form and function, where coffee beans go to rest and de-gas after being roasted. The bronze-colored cask has a perforated shell that reveals roasted beans moving through tubes in all directions, and then accumulating throughout the day like grains of sand in an hourglass.

3. A radiant view towards the sky

The light, the circulation, the artwork and the experience all draw the visitors’ eyes upwards. From the foot of the cask, look up to the domed ceiling high above as each ascending floor spirals and unfolds like a seashell. The design of the ceiling celebrates coffee as an agricultural product, inspired by misty green hills of coffee trees with rays of sun that radiate outward. 

4. Midwest’s first curved escalator

Encircling the cask is a curved escalator – the Midwest’s first – taking visitors from the first to the second floor and on a 360-degree tour of the roasting, brewing, and scooping below. Look out through the curved glass windows for a view of the Magnificent Mile beyond. &nbsp;

5. Italian bakery transported

Please don’t call it a dumbwaiter – this high-tech custom conveyer was specifically designed to transport freshly-baked focaccia, cornetti and breads in style from the second floor Princi bakery. 

Sweet cream transforms into silky-smooth gelato at the third floor Experiential Coffee Bar through an infusion of liquid nitrogen, generating clouds of puffy, white vapor with each hand-crafted batch. Created to pair perfectly with Starbucks Reserve coffees.

7. Merchandise made for Michigan Ave.

Commemorate your visit with exclusive Roastery-inspired gifts. Merchandise highlights include a Michigan Avenue collection of drinkware inspired by the city’s architecture, a Chicago Starbucks Reserve local collection that pays tribute to the namesake city, and a collection of items with vibrant graphics designed by Chicago-based visual artist <a href="http://www.macblackout.com/bio">Mac Blackout</a>.

The Roastery features dramatic murals from local artists, including a progressive piece by Chicago artist Eulojio Ortega that unfolds in a staircase spanning all five floors. His work offers a revealing glimpse into the world of coffee, paying tribute to the dedicated farmers and the coffee-growing regions that make it all possible.

9. Old-world craft of barrel-aging

It’s only fitting that the building that housed the flagship location of Crate &amp; Barrel for nearly two decades would have a space for actual barrels. The Roastery’s fourth floor features a coffee bar dedicated to the centuries-old craft of barrel-aging with a Starbucks menu of spirit-free coffee beverages like Whiskey Barrel Aged Cold Brew and Mulled Spiced Coffee. Sip a Smoked Cold-Fashioned – smoked to order with an aroma evoking the flavors infused into the coffee from the barrel. 

10. Cocktails designed by local mixologists

The Arriviamo™ Bar on the fourth floor (arriviamo means “we have arrived” in Italian) offers inspired (and photogenic) coffee and tea cocktail creations. Enjoy locally inspired cocktails like the Pour-Over Bijou and the Roastery Boilermaker from a menu designed in collaboration with Chicago-based mixologists Julia Momose, Annie Beebe-Tron and Rachel Miller.

Photos by Connor Surdi and Matt Glac

Top 10 things to know about Starbucks Chicago Roastery - Starbucks Stories

Top 10 things to know about Starbucks Chicago Roastery

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