Starbucks celebrates 50 years with a special blend
I love coffee, I love tea/ I love the java jive and it loves me
Coffee and tea and the java and me/ A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup (boy!)
The words of this song came to mind when I took part in an event this week to celebrate 50 years of Starbucks at a coffee tasting event at the brand’s first Pretoria store which opened in 2016 at Central Square, Menlyn Maine.
After a brief history of coffee from Sam Nkuna, the store’s brewmasters were on hand to demonstrate to a small media party the difference in taste produced by various brewing methods using the Starbucks 50th anniversary limited edition blend.
This dark roast Arabica is sourced from three areas in Indonesia (including Java) and, according to the beautiful packaging with the brand’s signature Siren motif, displays tasting notes of “smoked cedary spice, black truffle, & fresh tarragon."
Our first tasting was of freshly ground coffee prepared by Bennet Manzini as most of us make it at home in a plunger or coffee press.
Manzini stressed the importance of proportions saying a good coffee brew requires not only good coffee but correct proportions and water which is off the boil. Brew for four minutes, pour and enjoy …
Katlego Magongwa shared the legend of the goat herder Kaldi in Ethiopia who discovered the potential of coffee beans when he noticed how energised his goats became when eating the berries of certain trees while Paula Maponya demonstrated the simple pour-over brewing method, and how it produces a very clear coffee compared to the press.
Tebogo Seboya introduced coffee pairing with tips on how to ensure the taste of the popular cakes such as chocolate or cheesecake did not overpower the coffee.
Then it was back to Manzini for the show-stopper: the siphon brewing method which uses flames to produce heat for boiling water. What a sight as the vapour pressure pushes water upwards to brew the coffee in the top glass globe, with the filtered coffee falling back into a glass carafe for pouring.
In tasting, we discovered, the first step is to define the aroma, followed by the coffee body and flavour. While we could all smell and taste it remains surprisingly hard to describe what one is experiencing, and the closest we came was spicy woody and earthy licorice characteristics.
* Coffee tastings can be arranged at Starbucks, and the special blend is available at R140 a packet. I discovered too that among its mug collection, there is one available for Pretoria.
Pretoria News