core/image

Making coffee at home with a coffee press is a delicious way to enjoy its full flavor, and its four-minute brewing time is just enough to catch up with someone special.

core/paragraph

This Mother’s Day, while many of us are apart, families are finding creative ways to be together. Raelene Goodson, a designer on the Starbucks Stories team and former barista at the first Starbucks Reserve™ Roastery in Seattle, showed her mom, Liz Goodson, in California, how to make an expert coffee press at home via Zoom during this installment of Starbucks at Home.

“This is what we usually drink when you're here visiting me, it’s a really easy way to brew coffee and a good go-to,” Raelene said to her mom. “I love that we’re doing this, even though you’re not in Seattle, we’re still having a Mother’s Day.”

core/more

Raelene and Liz are both brewing <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/menu/product/2123124/whole-bean?parent=%2Fat-home-coffee%2Fwhole-bean%2Fmedium-roast">Siren’s Blend™,</a> Starbucks newest core coffee that <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/women-in-coffee-sirens-blend/">honors the women who contribute to coffee’s journey</a>. And in keeping with their family tradition, they are adding a dollop of whipped cream on top.

“Siren’s Blend is a medium roast coffee and it’s so versatile,” Raelene said. “I drink as hot coffee at home, I’ve done it as cold brew. What’s nice about the whipped cream is that it'll add that little bit of sweetness to it but you can still taste the coffee.”

Lifting her mug to meet her daughter’s on screen, Liz reflected, “This is a unique year. And this is an excellent way to be enjoying coffee for Mother’s Day.”

core/heading

Here’s what you’ll need: coffee press, ground coffee, near-boiling water, and a timer.

Use coarse-ground coffee that resembles sea salt, and measure 2 tablespoons coffee per 6 ounces of water. (Here we’re using a 34-ounce, or 8-cup coffee press.)

core/gallery

Fill the coffee press with hot water that’s just been boiled (200° F). Make sure to saturate all the grounds.

4. Place plunger and brew

Put the lid back on the press without pushing the plunger down and let the coffee brew for four minutes.

Gently push down the plunger until it reaches the bottom of the press and pour coffee into your favorite mugs. Top with whipped cream for a special treat.

core-embed/youtube

core/separator

Raelene's Homemade Whipped Cream Recipe

starbucks-blocks/recipe

starbucks-blocks/story-grid

Starbucks at Home: Mother's Day Coffee Date - Starbucks Stories

Stories to inspire and nurture the human spirit

Starbucks Stories

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/01/Photo_TBD-320x411_1-1.jpg

Starbucks Corporation

Starbucks at Home: Mother&#8217;s Day Coffee Date

Learn how to make the perfect cup of brewed coffee at home using a coffee press.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/05/SBX20200508-Blog-SAH-Press-Feature.jpg

Starbucks at Home: Mother’s Day Coffee Date

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/starbucks-at-home-mothers-day-coffee-date/

twitter:card

twitter:description

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/05/SBX20200508-Blog-SAH-Press-Feature-1024x498.jpg

twitter:image

twitter:title

You’ve probably seen this cold and creamy concoction in your social feed – a frothy whipped coffee that looks as sweet as candy. Perhaps that’s why it’s often called “dalgona,” after the golden South Korean sponge toffee.

Dalgona coffee is remarkably easy to make with<a href="https://athome.starbucks.com/product/iced-coffee/?format=via-instant"> Starbucks VIA® Instant Iced Coffee</a>, a cup of milk or dairy alternative, and some ice. Andrew Vagner, designer (and former barista) on the Starbucks Stories team, will show you how to make the latest coffee trend at home.

“It’s a really fun, easy coffee drink,” Vagner said. “Typically, I do cold brew or a hot coffee on the Chemex at home, but this one's just a little bit more indulgent and also easy to make.”

starbucks-blocks/pull-quote-image

Dalgona Whipped Coffee Recipe

Dalgona coffee: Here's how to whip up the latest coffee trend at home - Starbucks Stories

Dalgona coffee: Here&#8217;s how to whip up the latest coffee trend at home

You’ve probably seen this cold and creamy concoction in your social feed – a frothy whipped coffee that looks as sweet as candy.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/04/SBX20200430-Blog-SAH-Dalgona-Feature.jpg

Dalgona coffee: Here's how to whip up the latest coffee trend at home

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/dalgona-coffee-how-to-whip-up-the-latest-coffee-trend-at-home/

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/04/SBX20200430-Blog-SAH-Dalgona-Feature-1024x498.jpg

Dalgona coffee: Here’s how to whip up the latest coffee trend at home

Starbucks partners have served more than 1 million cups of free coffee to first responders and front-line health care workers during the COVID-19 outbreak, the company announced today. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Since March 25, Starbucks has been giving out free tall brewed (hot or iced) coffees to first responders and front-line healthcare workers and will continue to do so through the end of May. &nbsp;

For many of those working long hours caring for those who are sick or in need, a cup of coffee can represent a bright spot in their day and give them a much-needed boost, some say.

Behind each cup of coffee served are Starbucks partners across the United States and Canada committed to helping show their support and admiration to those on the front lines, whether that means delivering coffee to those who need it, writing notes of encouragement to accompany each order and more.&nbsp; Here are some of their stories:

Special delivery to Washington D.C. police stations

For the last 18 months, Adam Modzel has been trying to strengthen the relationship between Starbucks and local police departments: about 100 “Coffee with a Cop” events, helping secure a grant to the Washington D.C. Police Foundation, big outreach efforts on Law Enforcement Appreciation Day.

When the pandemic hit, Adam, Starbucks regional director in Washington D.C., had to shut down 98 out of 100 stores he supervises.

Regardless, he made a commitment to keep that work going. Starbucks district managers, store managers and store partners have volunteered to brew and deliver coffee to every single D.C. Police station every afternoon for roll call. Fifty cups of coffee for each of the 11 stations. Every single day for the last four weeks.

“I’m always inspired by our partners, but this is next level,” Adam says. “They’re choosing every day to show up to serve their customers and their communities. We’ve had hundreds of partners do that. It shows how extraordinary our people are.”

Coffee with a side of snacks and encouraging notes

Last month, as the COVID-19 pandemic was closing in, Nicole Weston felt frustrated. The Starbucks store she manages in Greenville, N.C., is in a medical district, and business revolves around shift changes at the hospital. With reduced hours and moving to drive-thru only, her team wasn’t able to serve many of their regular customers – medical personnel who work late afternoons and evenings.

That’s when she overheard a conversation at the drive-thru window. A woman who works in the COVID-19 response unit at nearby Vidant Medical Center had just finished a shift, and was talking about how tired she was, and how she’d never washed her hands so many times in her life.&nbsp;

“I asked her, ‘How can I get coffee to you guys? What department has the most need?’,” Nicole recalls. The woman offered to come back a few days later to pick up coffee and supplies for her team. “Once we found out that she could pick it up and get it in the hospital, it was just like, ‘Ok, we’re in. Let’s do this.’ ”

Her team has continued to prepare and donate coffee, water, snacks and handwritten notes of thanks and encouragement.

“A couple weeks ago, I felt powerless. Today I feel empowered,” Nicole says. “People are looking for a sense of normalcy right now. Some people have been in isolation for days. Some people, their job situation has changed, or they’ve been laid off. We’re just trying to provide a little bit of that normalcy back, to let people know that we’re there for them. It’s very important at this time.”

A small act of kindness for long-term care facilities

Long-term care facilities are particularly vulnerable at this time, but the nurses who work there can feel overlooked. To ensure they felt taken care of, Starbucks store manager Maria Gaw, of Airdrie, Alberta, organized a delivery of coffee travelers to two local long-term homes.

Maria’s partner, Kayla Noordhof, is training to be a health care aide and helped her contact the facilities to ensure they would accept the token of appreciation. One of the nurses she got in touch with broke down crying when she called.&nbsp;

“It’s moments like this that make me proud to be a partner,” Maria says. “The nurse was so appreciative of the kind gesture. She was grateful that we remembered that they were working just as hard (if not harder) as our hospital nurses.”&nbsp;

Since then, Maria and her Starbucks team have continued donating coffee at least once a week “just to keep our nurses happy and show that we care.”

On call for first responders

Ambulances and other first-responder vehicles often don’t fit through standard drive-thru lanes, and even if they do, they don’t want to be stuck in line in case an emergency arises.

That’s why Thomas Winklebeck, Starbucks store manager in Skokie, Ill., has handed out his personal cell phone number to the Skokie Fire Department. They call him direct, so he can walk out to the parking lot or the front of the store and deliver drinks to first responders.

“When this all started, I still had that ‘won’t-happen-to-me’ mentality,” Thomas says. “Now that it has hit home, I ask myself, how do we not reach out?”

-- by Michael Ko and Isabelle Khoo

For other stories about partners supporting front-line workers, read on:

Starbucks gives 1 million cups of free coffee to front-line responders in U.S. and Canada - Starbucks Stories

Starbucks gives 1 million cups of free coffee to front-line responders in U.S. and Canada

From delivering coffee to every police station in Washington D.C. to an Illinois store manager giving his cell number to ambulance drivers to call when they need a boost.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/04/SBX20200423-Blog-1MillionCups-Feature-1.jpg

Starbucks gives 1 million cups of free coffee to first-responders in U.S. and Canada

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/starbucks-gives-1million-cups-of-free-coffee-to-first-responders-in-us-and-canada/

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/04/SBX20200423-Blog-1MillionCups-Feature-1-1024x498.jpg

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, take a virtual field trip to Costa Rica to meet some of the agronomists and farmers working to address the effects of climate change, disease and diminishing natural resources on coffee farming. They want to ensure your coffee cup – all of our cups – stays full well into the future.

Most coffee drinkers will tell you that coffee, especially in uncertain times, is more than a beverage.

A cup of coffee can represent comfort, stability, a respite – a taste of normality, especially in a world that currently feels anything but. It represents much the same to the people who grow coffee.

“I have coffee for breakfast, at noon, at 2 p.m., and at night I have another cup. It’s like one of my daily meals,” said Ana Mendez, laughing. She and her husband farm coffee on several small plots in Costa Rica.

She said she often thinks of the people around the world drinking the coffee they grow.

“I would want to tell them behind every cup of coffee there is sacrifice, there is work, there is hope, and there is love,” Mendez said. “There is so much love.”

Yet coffee is at a bit of a crossroads. There are more coffee drinkers in the world than ever before, but each year, climate change, disease and diminishing natural resources can make the business of coffee farming more and more difficult. In 2013, Starbucks purchased a coffee farm in Costa Rica called Hacienda Alsacia to better understand these challenges, and to look for solutions. Since then, the farm has become a global hub of research and discovery – discoveries the team there hopes will help coffee farmers all over the planet and the ongoing challenges they face.

In celebration of an unusual Earth Day this year, but one on which the world is uncommonly united in purpose, join us on a virtual field trip to Costa Rica, where you can meet some of the agronomists and farmers working hard to make sure your coffee cup – all of our cups – stays full well into the future.

core/embed

“The most complicated problems we have now are (coffee leaf) rust and climate change. It’s affected us a lot,” said Raul Blanco, a 22-year-old farmer in Costa Rica who sells coffee to Starbucks.

A seventh-generation coffee farmer, Blanco said he was born into coffee, and remains dedicated to the future of the crop and his family’s land. He also loves imagining his family’s coffee making its way into the cups of coffee drinkers all over the world.

“I've never in my life thought about giving up coffee farming,” Blanco said. “Instead, I've always tried to look for ways to subsist as a coffee farmer, to improve it, day by day, to making (the farm) more profitable, more economical, and always taking care of the environment. Every coffee bean, every bushel of coffee, every truck full you take out every day is for someone somewhere in the world to enjoy it – for someone who is having a cup of coffee to delight in it.”

Starbucks purchases three percent of the world’s coffee, which is grown by more than 400,000 farmers much like Blanco. Here are six things Starbucks and coffee farmers around the world are doing to help ensure the future of coffee is sustainable and strong:

core/list

There’s a sign in the Hacienda Alsacia visitors’ center that reads, “Our mission is to ensure the future of coffee for everyone.” This means Hacienda Alsacia sharing its agronomy research, sustainable farming practices and disease-resistant coffee trees with farmers all over the world so their farms can be more productive and sustainable, which means they can grow even more sustainable, high-quality coffee for Starbucks to buy (and for people to drink), which means coffee farmers have more money to support their families and communities.

“A future without coffee would be almost like a future without rain – on an economic level, for Costa Rica, for families, and also on a personal level for coffee drinkers,” Mendez said. “I feel optimistic about coffee. We always plant more trees because we have to teach to the children, and we must protect nature and the environment.”

This Earth Day, meet some of the people working to make coffee sustainable - Starbucks Stories

This Earth Day, meet some of the people working to make coffee sustainable

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, take a virtual field trip to Costa Rica to meet some of the agronomists and farmers working to address the effects of climate change.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/04/SBX20200422-EarthDay-Feature.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/this-earth-day-meet-some-of-the-people-working-to-make-coffee-sustainable/

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/04/SBX20200422-EarthDay-Feature-1024x498.jpg

‘Tis the season for chestnuts, eggnog, peppermint – and potato chips?

The holidays have their own unique flavor, and Starbucks beverages take their inspiration from the season’s colorful tapestry of cuisines and traditions. Here is a roundup of Starbucks holiday beverages around the world, available at participating stores while supplies last.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/12/Holiday-Beverages-Snowman-Mocha.jpg

core/file

Hong Kong: The Snowman Dark Mocha conjures a wintry scene with rich dark mocha finished with snowflakes toppings and a candy snowman. Available hot, iced or as a Frappuccino blended beverage.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/12/Santa-Boots-Chocolate-Frappuccino-Starbucks-Japan.jpg

Japan: For children in Japan, holiday stockings are known as “Santa boots,” filled with tasty treats like cookies, candy and packages of potato chips. The new <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/asia/stories/2019/starbucks-japan-makes-the-nice-list-with-new-santa-boots-chocolate-frappuccino/">Santa Boots Chocolate Frappuccino</a>® blended beverage evokes the magic moment of opening up a stocking on Christmas morning with a rich base of chocolatey sauce and chocolate chips, topped with crispy salted potato chips and finished with an edible cookie straw.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/12/Holiday-Beverages-Holiday-French-Vanilla-Latte.jpg

Asia: The <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/asia/stories/2019/holiday-joy-arrives-in-starbucks-stores-across-asia/">Holiday French Vanilla Latte</a> takes rich, smooth and creamy steamed milk and French Vanilla flavor and makes it fun with whipped cream in an icy hue and blue and white sprinkles for a festive, snow-like finish. Available hot, iced or as a Frappuccino blended beverage.&nbsp;&nbsp;

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/12/Holiday-Beverages-Wishing-Star-Dark-Mocha.jpg

Asia: A dream come true for chocolate lovers – the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/asia/stories/2019/holiday-joy-arrives-in-starbucks-stores-across-asia/">Wishing Star Dark Mocha</a> offers a chocolatey experience that’s topped with a swirl of green tea whipped cream and wishing star-shaped crisps. Available hot, iced or as a Frappuccino blended beverage.&nbsp;

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/12/Nutty-Whitechocolate-Frappuccino-and-Nutty-White-Mocha.jpg

Japan: <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/asia/stories/2019/get-toasty-with-starbucks-japans-new-holiday-beverages/">Nutty White Chocolate Frappuccino® blended beverage and Nutty White Mocha</a> add a sprinkle of holiday glitz and a warm hug of hazelnut flavor to the season. The cool and creamy Nutty White Chocolate Frappuccino features milky white chocolate and roasted hazelnuts blended with toasted walnuts and shortbread, topped with whipped cream, ribbons of white chocolate hazelnut sauce and glittery candies. The Nutty White Mocha is made with white chocolate and hazelnut sauce to complement the bold flavor Starbucks signature espresso.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/12/Merry-Strawberry-Cake-Holiday.jpg

Japan: You can have your cake and sip it too with Japan’s Merry Strawberry Cake beverages this holiday. The Merry Strawberry Cake Milk is served hot, blending tart strawberry sauce, fruit and steamed milk topped with whipped cream and strawberry pieces. The frosty Merry Strawberry Cake Frappuccino features a decadent blended sponge cake with a shortbread base, layered with strawberry sauce and whipped cream.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/12/Holiday-Toffee-Nut-Latte-2.jpg

Europe: The new Toasted Marshmallow Hot Chocolate is made with mocha sauce combined with marshmallow syrup, topped with marshmallow flavored whipped cream and finished with a caramelized sugar topping.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/12/Holiday-Beverages-Ponche-Navideno.jpg

Mexico: Ponche Navideño, or Christmas punch, is a traditional Mexican holiday beverage served at family gatherings during the holiday season. Starbucks Ponche Navideño is made with warm hibiscus tea flavored with apple, guava, cinnamon and brown sugar. Available hot or iced.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/12/Holiday-Beverages-Cranberry-Mocha-Blanco-Latte.jpg

Latin America: Espresso and steamed milk are perfectly combined along with white chocolate syrup and topped with whipped cream, swirl of cranberry sauce and crystallized sugar. Available hot, iced or as a Frappuccino blended beverage.&nbsp;&nbsp;

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/12/Holiday-Beverages-Coquito-Frappuccino.jpg

Puerto Rico: The Coquito Crème Frappuccino is a snowy white Frappuccino® made with coconut syrup, white chocolate sauce, nutmeg and cinnamon; topped with whipped cream and spices.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/12/Holiday-Toffee-Nut-Latte-1.jpg

Europe, Middle East, Latin America and Caribbean: Rich, buttery sweet <a href="https://en.starbucks.com.cy/promo/holiday/toffee-nut-latte">Toffee Nut Latte</a> is made with toffee nut syrup combined with signature espresso, steamed milk and topped with whipped cream and a delicious toffee nut flavored topping.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/12/Holiday-Vanilla-Cardamom-Latte.jpg

Europe: The <a href="https://en.starbucks.com.cy/promo/holiday/vanilla-cardamom-latte">Vanilla Cardamom Latte</a> is made with a blend of cardamom vanilla sugar, milk and Starbucks signature espresso, sprinkled with a touch of vanilla cardamom sugar.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/12/Holiday-Beverages-Peppermint-Mocha.jpg

United States, Canada, Latin America, Caribbean and Asia: This beloved Starbucks beverage has been a part of the holiday season since it made its <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/starbucks-peppermint-mocha-a-love-story/">delicious debut in 2002</a>, made with Starbucks signature espresso, steamed milk, sweet mocha sauce and peppermint-flavored syrup with a crown of whipped cream. For the finishing touch – a sprinkle of dark chocolate curls in the Americas and a topping of candy cane pieces and swirls of mocha drizzle in Europe and Asia. Available hot, iced or as a Frappuccino blended beverage.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/12/Holiday-Beverages-Eggnog-Latte.jpg

United States, Canada and Europe: Eggnog latte was the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/starbucks-peppermint-mocha-a-love-story/">original Starbucks holiday handcrafted beverage</a>, first served in 1986. More than 30 years later and still a classic -- made with signature espresso combined with creamy, steamed eggnog and served with a dusting of ground nutmeg.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/12/Holiday-Beverages-Toasted-White-Mocha.jpg

United States: Caramelized white chocolate mocha sauce meets espresso and steamed milk, which is then finished with whipped cream and a celebratory topping of holiday sugar sparkles and crispy white pearls. Available hot, iced or as a Frappuccino blended beverage.

Starbucks holiday beverages around the world - Starbucks Stories

Starbucks holiday beverages around the world

Here is a roundup of the unique flavors of Starbucks holiday beverages around the world, available in participating stores while supplies last.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/12/SBX20191216-HolidayBeveragesAroundTheWorld-Feature.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/starbucks-holiday-beverages-around-the-world-2/

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/12/SBX20191216-HolidayBeveragesAroundTheWorld-Feature-1024x498.jpg

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.

core/button

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

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

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/11/SBX20191112-ChicagoTopTen-Feature-Opt2-1.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/top-10-things-to-know-about-starbucks-chicago-roastery/

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/11/SBX20191112-ChicagoTopTen-Feature-Opt2-1-1024x498.jpg

Natalie Ramirez, a 17-year-old Starbucks barista in Carlsbad, Calif., says that making café de olla (literally, coffee of the cooking pot) for her family every morning is one of the best ways she can stay connected to her roots. “The majority of my family lives in Mexico, and I didn’t get a traditional Mexican childhood because I grew up in the U.S.,” says Ramirez, a senior in high school. “Keeping my culture alive in the U.S. is super important to me and one of the ways I do that is by making that traditional coffee every morning.”

2. Place the sugar, cinnamon, star anise, cloves and water in your container and cook until it boils and the sugar dissolves. If you don’t have any piloncillo, you can use hard-packed brown sugar.

3. Turn the heat off and spoon in your favorite Latin American ground coffee. Stir and cover. Steep for 5 minutes, longer if you want more flavor. 

4. Ladle the coffee through a cheesecloth and a strainer. Serve. 

Natalie's recipe

Café de Olla, traditional Mexican coffee recipe - Starbucks Stories

Café de Olla, traditional Mexican coffee recipe

Natalie Ramirez says that making café de olla (literally, coffee of the cooking pot) for her family every morning is one of the best ways she can stay connected to her roots.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/10/SBX20190410-Latinx-Recipes-Feature.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/cafe-de-olla-traditional-mexican-coffee-recipe/

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/10/SBX20190410-Latinx-Recipes-Feature-1024x498.jpg

Starbucks partners from Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba and the U.S. share how they honor their culture and create ties that bind.

The apartment is quiet and dark when Natalie Ramirez wakes up. Sometimes, she’ll check on her baby nephew and hush him back to sleep. Most of the time, she heads straight to the kitchen and gathers the ingredients she’ll need for her morning ritual: a large clay cooking pot, water, ground coffee, cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise and a hard-packed cone of cane sugar called a piloncillo.

She clicks on the gas stove, puts on her headphones (on a recent morning, Ángela Aguilar sings “La Llorona”) and waits for the water, sugar and spices to boil. A sweet, pungent smell fills the kitchen.

She takes the pot off the heat with an oven mitt and sprinkles in the coffee to steep. Five minutes later, she pours everything through a cheesecloth and a strainer into a large mug-shaped container called a pocillo. The coffee’s ready. The family is awake. She passes the first hot cup to her dad.

“My grandmother would make coffee for my grandfather. My mom made it for my father,” Ramirez says. “And now I’m making it for my family.” 

In recognition of Latinx Heritage Month (from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15), Starbucks Stories asked Starbucks partners around the country how they honor their culture, and what comes to mind when they think of their heritage. What we heard were stories of celebration, family and, of course, coffee and music, but also stories of sacrifice, love and heartbreak, stories of homecomings and home leavings, stories that remind us that no matter who we are, no matter where we come from, in ways big and small, estamos unidos. We are united.

Ramirez, 17, is a Starbucks barista in Carlsbad, Calif., about 30 miles north of San Diego. Born and raised in nearby Vista, she says making café de olla (literally, coffee of the cooking pot) for her family is one of the best ways she can stay connected to her roots.

“The majority of my family lives in Mexico, and I didn’t get a traditional Mexican childhood because I grew up in the U.S.,” says Ramirez, a senior in high school. “Keeping my culture alive in the U.S. is super important to me and one of the ways I do that is by making that traditional coffee every morning.”&nbsp; 

In 2016, for eight months, Ramirez lived in Chiapas, Mexico, where her grandfather and her uncle live and work on a coffee farm with 146 trees. She remembers the fresh air, the green berry smell and the steep inclines. She helped pick the coffee cherries and lugged them downhill. 

“Just learning about all the work that was put into making this cup of liquid that’s in front of me, all the hands it has passed through just to be right here, that got me thinking,” Ramirez says. “I gained a huge appreciation for those who are doing this on the daily and have been doing this on the daily for decades.”&nbsp; 

Ramirez took responsibility for her family’s morning coffee about two years ago because she wanted to help when her mother’s arthritis got worse. But now, it’s become something more: a symbol, a connection. 

Dawn becomes day, and Ramirez hears her neighbors outside, starting their car engines, heading off to work. She gives coffee tumblers to her brothers as they walk out the door, pours a cup for her mom, another for herself. It’s delicious, she says—chocolate, cinnamon, spices, a bit of an earthy flavor from the clay pot, even better than lattes. 

“Part of Latino culture is feeding everybody. This is my way of making sure my family doesn’t leave the house hungry or thirsty, that they leave the house with enough … I like to send them to work with a warm cup of coffee.” 

When Hurricane Maria tore through Puerto Rico two years ago—wiping out farms, buildings and livelihoods and taking thousands of lives—Rodriguez was in Doral, Fla., a suburb of Miami. A year earlier, she had left San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital, where she was born and raised, to take a job as a Starbucks store manager on the mainland. 

“I lived through not knowing where my family was,” she recalls. “My parents and siblings were out there. We didn’t know how they were doing, where they were.”

Her family was fine, thank goodness, but “they suffered without basic necessities.” Rodriguez was compelled to help everyone she could. She mobilized donations out of her store and sent them back home to be given to those in need, called family and friends who needed support and, for weeks at a time, hosted Puerto Ricans who had no place to live. 

She returned to Puerto Rico last month, on the two-year anniversary of the storm, with about 150 other volunteers. In partnership with veterans from The Mission Continues, Starbucks partners like Rodriguez helped plant 4,500 coffee tree starts on three farms that had been devastated by Maria, which destroyed an estimated 80 percent of Puerto Rico’s coffee trees. 

Now 50 years old, Rodriguez remembers how her parents took her all around the island as a child and told her to never forget where she came from. The trip&nbsp; home brought back a flood of memories: the food, the accents, the family house in the mountains, the way she’d celebrate Three Kings Day, a holiday akin to Christmas, as a kid by putting grass in a shoebox for the camel to eat. 

coffee

Starbucks at Home: Mother’s Day Coffee Date

Dalgona coffee: Here’s how to whip up the latest coffee trend at home

Starbucks gives 1 million cups of free coffee to front-line responders in U.S. and Canada

This Earth Day, meet some of the people working to make coffee sustainable

Starbucks holiday beverages around the world

Top 10 things to know about Starbucks Chicago Roastery

Café de Olla, traditional Mexican coffee recipe

During Latinx Heritage Month, ‘We are united’

Introducing Siren’s Blend

Farmer Support Centers help ensure coffee’s future, farm by farm

How Starbucks is helping farmers weather climate change

Starbucks espresso and brewed coffee offered in Amazon Go stores in New York and Seattle