| rev:text
| - The store looks huge, almost cavernous in photos, but it's deceptive due to the high ceilings and long wraparound bar. It's really about the size of a small McDonald's. Which is still about 2-3 times as big as a normal Starbucks. Music playing was upbeat "Hot AC" with some EDM mixed in, which was a lot better than some of the depressing stuff (country, ballads...) I have had to endure at other stores.
At time of writing there are only 3 Reserve Bars in Canada - Vancouver, Ottawa, and this one. There's a hierarchy in the Starbucks chain, with the Roasteries (so far just Seattle and Shanghai) at the top and your run-of-the-mill "Dairy Queen" Starbucks decked in green at the bottom, the ones full of squealing high school girls in Hello Kitty gear lining up for stupid Unicorn Frapps. Reserve Bars are about halfway up the chain. Look at the menu on the wall here and you'll see the Frappuccinos are hidden at the bottom right corner. They don't feature prominently here at all. In fact during my visit I never heard the Vitamix run even once. This is Starbucks for the mature crowd. This is Howard Schwartz's answer to all those hipster coffee shops downtown. The hipsters have US$30,000 Black Eagle Gravitech espresso machines (as used in the World Barista Championships), so does this store. The hipsters have Nitro Cold Brew Floats and Affogatos, so does this store. The hipsters have rare exotic "small lot" coffee beans, so does this one. The hipsters will brew a "flight" for cupping, they'll do that here too. And so on. If you love and appreciate coffee, come here. If you want dessert out of a blender, go find a Dairy Queen or Baskin Robbins, don't come here.
If you're a Starbucks Rewards member and have a lot of free drinks to redeem, this is a great place to do it. On my visit I decided to treat myself to dessert (to redeem 2 freebies). On arrival I started with a Nitro Cold Brew Float, which is a scoop of vanilla gelato with nitro cold brew poured over it, and would have cost $10 after tax. Wow. Creamy foamy coffee greatness in a glass! I followed that up with the House Affogato (also made with that delicious gelato) but I specified that I wanted it made with 4 ristretto shots (the standard order is 2 regular shots) of Micro Blend 21. (by making these mods that bumped the price over $10 as well, but this was a free order) MB21 is a special blend of beans exclusively used at the Reserve Bars and only brewed in the Black Eagle machine (which is fully manual - the barista hand-tamps the portafilter and hand-pulls each shot... not that lazy "press button and look away" business). The barista then added demerara syrup and dusts it with cinnamon. The special espresso blend with that vanilla, heavenly stuff. Try what I had today and you'll ask yourself, why did I ever waste calories and money on Frappuccinos?
Along with the Black Eagle and the Nitro Cold Brew on tap, they also can brew Reserve coffee beans on the $15,000 Clover Brewer, do a pour-over brew using Chemex glassware, or for a special show, have them brew it at the Mod Bar, which looks like a high school chemistry setup. I was disappointed that the Reserve Bar (at time of writing) did not yet have the Siphon brewers, which are actually available at the new Yorkdale Mall store. Hopefully this gets included soon as that is a fun presentation to experience...
Lots of Starbucks Reserve branded items, but you'll get sticker shock... Cold Brew growler for $54, and a 2-tablespoon measuring spoon (!) for $10! Ouch...
I can't wait to return to the Reserve Bar! I was ecstatic to learn we were finally getting one (how did Ottawa get one before Toronto?). Long overdue, Starbucks.... This is Starbucks as it was meant to be, not that Dairy Queen clone it mostly had become.
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