I ran into partner Matt, whom I’ve known since about 2007. When I met him, he was a baby barista at the Columbia Tower Starbucks in downtown Seattle. He moved to “15th Avenue Coffee and Tea” which at one time was also an “Inspired by Starbucks” store. In January 2011, 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea reverted back into a standard Starbucks location.
Matt is the kind of guy that always leaves you smiling after you talk with him. He knows how to have a good laugh and smile a lot too. I know that Matt is a musician in a band, so each time I see him, I follow up with him on how he’s doing. I appreciate the hard work that any creative output requires (and for me this blog counts as that as well as my book). Matt mentioned that he’s recording an album. The conversation went something like this:
“We’re recording an album Melody, and maybe a band tour starting in October.”
“That’s awesome! I’ll buy a copy of your CD. I’ll buy a copy even if I don’t like the music!”‘
“I appreciate that! You know I’m going to hold you to it. We’re looking at ways of fundraising. Maybe Kickstarter. We’ve talked about doing an auction and having the band members auction of kisses!”
I laugh: “You bring out the cougar in me!” Matt laughed. He knew I was joking around.
But back to the topic of Roy Street. It has a beautiful Simonelli Black Eagle espresso machine. Every latte is handcrafted with your choice of a single-origin Reserve coffee or a more standard Espresso Roast. I was surprised that the store was fairly slow when I dropped by. I don’t consider 8:30 AM to be very early. As far as I know, Starbucks currently operates three “Inspired By” stores. One is in Tokyo. I believe that the Herald Square Starbucks in New York City is considered an “experimental” store but it doesn’t have the Inspired By branding. I’m not actually positive about that, and if you know better in the comments, do tell. And of course, Roy Street is an “Inspired By” store.
I end up mentioning the older 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea, as well as Roy Street several times in the book Tales of the Siren: A StarbucksMelody – If you haven’t picked up a copy, I hope you’ll do so.
Enjoy the photos:
We paired Fall Blend with cheese from the Starbucks bistro box. The idea was that the cheese added creaminess and brought out more savory notes yet calming the peppery, spicy notes. This was a pretty good pairing, though the chocolate pairing we did was even more fantastic. Jocelyn picked out a Vosges Peppercorn and Parmesan chocolate bar. This may be a hard to find chocolate bar – I’ve heard that it’s exclusive to Whole Foods stores. This was amazing. The subtle peppercorn notes made the spicy notes in the coffee pop yet the dark chocolate balanced it well. Our coffee was brewed with the standard Starbucks pour over kit, found at Starbucks stores everywhere. I hope you get the chance to pick up some Fall Blend 2014 too. Look for it at any grocery store.