It’s been about one year since all of the new Starbucks packaging launched. Have you figured out all the clues on the coffee? The official Starbucks blog post on this is here. This came up as a conversation topic recently when I was at a coffee education seminar for Breakfast Blend.
Take a look at the “clues” and hidden words you’ll find on the core whole packaging. You might look at the whole bean wall with new eyes:
Of course, this wasn’t without a small controversy that some customers wanted to be able to have old favorites like Breakfast Blend as the lighter roast profile option, or wanted more availability for the bolder coffees. At this point though, Pike Place Roast is here to stay. And in the Starbucks world of abbreviations, “EDB” stands for “Everyday Brew.” (I assume that’s what the EDB stands for. This is my educated guess.)
The hidden words on this coffee are “Emerson St.” I think this is the very most difficult one to figure out, of all the hidden clues. I think I’ve got it, but if anyone knows better, please tell me in the comments. My only clue to solving the Espresso Roast Emerson St. puzzle came from this official Starbucks blog post here. The blog article says this: “And who could tell the story about Espresso Roast better than the man who created the blend? Dave Olsen described how he and the original founders of Starbucks were at the roasting facility near Fishermen’s Terminal. They talked about what would be needed for a coffee that could carry its distinctive flavors through 6 to 12 ounces of steamed milk.” That episode would have been in the mid-1970s with the three original Starbucks founders, pre-dating Howard’s entry into the business in 1982. That article states that the original roasting plant was near Seattle’s Fishermen’s Terminal. It you look at a map of the Seattle area where Fishermen’s Terminal is, there is a West Emerson Street in that immediate area. I have to assume that the birth of the idea for Espresso Roast happened right there, in Seattle at Emerson Street.
This coffee is going to be extremely low acidity, and very smokey and dark. I don’t mind a cup of French roast now and then, but it’s probably not my go-to coffee.
If anyone knows more about the Big Hat Blend story, do tell!
(Edit on July 31, 2014 – A reader sent in an image from one of her very old coffee master books. It shows the coffee stamp for Big Hat Blend! I feel privileged to be able to add that image to this article. Thank you Stephanie!)
I would assume that Willow Blend has Terroir on it because it’s so light roast, you get a lot of origin flavors when drinking it.
There’s probably a lot more to the Willow Blend story, but that’s my guess.
This just gets you started. If you pick up each package of coffee, you’ll find there’s a story in the packaging, if you know how to decipher it. Here’s the old Caffe Verona coffee story. I only wish the new Verona packaging had some way of honoring that beautiful bridge that was on the older version of the coffee.
What do you think? Hope you enjoyed this lesson!