Starbucks Ethiopia Sun-Dried Yirgacheffe

Company: Starbucks
Name: Ethiopia Sun-Dried Yirgacheffe
Origin: Africa / Arabia
Description: Ripe dark berries and baking chocolate highlighted by delicate floral notes, with lingering intensity.

At the southern end of the Ethiopian high plateau in Africa’s Great Rift Valley lies Yirgacheffe (year-ga-chef-fee), home to the smallholder coffee producers who grow these beans. After harvest the coffee cherries are spread across huge outdoor tables to dry in the sun. The dried sugars in the coffee pulp give the beans intriguing and intense nuances of flavor – and a taste experience completely different from coffee produced using the washed method. The sun-dried or natural process is becoming more popular in the region because of the varied and unique flavors that can be coaxed from the beans.

Given the rarity of these coffees, they are not available in most Starbucks stores. These small batch coffees are available online for a limited time only, but be sure to visit often and see what’s new on the menu.
Food Pairings: Enjoy it with dried fruit, berries, nuts, spices and chocolate
Purchase: Here
Grind: French Press
Preparation: http://coffeegeek.com/guides/presspot (20 ounce press pot - 5 minutes)
Amount: 2 Tablespoons
Water: 20 ounces boiling filtered water

Body: full
Smell: spice, citrus, earthy
Taste: smooth, slightly acidic, bold
After-taste: citric, sweet
Notes: I got this from putting my comments on MSI - My Starbucks Idea for each of the 8 weeks of bold MSI tasting club. It is delicious, too bad this wasn't at the NYC Starbucks with the Clover when I visited.
Rating: 3/3

Starbucks Clover® Brewed Coffee

Starbucks Clover® Brewed Coffee information

On Twitter I saw Jason Simpson @JS_Starbucks Tweet about a Clover brewer in NYC (not too far from me) and I asked where it was.

11:49 AM Mar 29th via Tweetie in reply to amazonv
"@amazonv the first @Starbucks Clover store in NYC will open on 4/13. Spring St. In SoHo."

I had been jealous of Starbucks Melody and her access to the Clover brewer for a while so I decided the next time I was in NYC I would go try some Clover brewed coffee.

5/1/2010 I was in NYC, 6:29PM I had my chance!

I sent a frantic tweet earlier that day asking for an address, one of my friends, Gil, came though with "78 Spring Street"

I set about getting to the store via the subway, I promptly got myself lost, even using Google Maps on my Blackberry.

After I ran out of possible wrong turns I went into the store.

I was greeted by a partner wearing a headset who took my order before I even reached the menu boards. Being I had not seen them yet I ordered two tall Clover Komodo Dragon. I was promptly looked at with confusion and asked to repeat my order, then finally told I had to pick from a separate menu.

After looking at my choices MilitiaJim choose 100% Kona and I choose Sumatra.

It was neat to watch the beans be weighed, ground, and pressed while I watched.

The coffee had a layer of oil when it was handed over, which I believe is supposed to be part of the point and good for the flavor.

100% Kona
Intensity: Medium
Origin: Asia/Pacific
Notes: citrus, nutty

my notes: light, spicy after taste, almost floral and flowery

Sumatra
Intensity: Extra Bold
Origin: Asia/Pacific
Notes: earthy, herbal

my notes: earthy, smooth, slight acidity

MilitiaJim and I switched as I was enjoying the Kona more than the Sumatra.

We both agreed the coffee was smoother (MilitiaJim "less burn-ed/y") from the clover, but as unrefined coffee drinkers we won't be trekking out of our way to hunt the Clover brewer down again in the future,