A few weeks ago my friend and I visited the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting room in downtown Seattle. Opened in December 2014, it was Starbuck’s first foray into retail sales of small batches of coffee from around world. I had put it on my list of places to visit, but with the house-buying/renovation/child-rearing, it fell to the back burner. When a friend recently suggested we meet for brunch, I suggested we meet there. Hence, my review. I was not compensated for this post. Starbucks probably couldn’t care less about me or my review. No one knew I was coming. (Except my friend of course.)
The 15,000 square feet “Reserve,” whose logo is an “R” with a star above it, is a place where you can taste “rare and exotic” coffees, as former CEO and current executive chairman of Starbucks Howard Schultz explains in this promotional video. As in the video, the place looks more like a bar than a coffee lounge. If you want the feel of a bar but don’t want to be around alcohol, this is your place. More