Starbucks Caramel Brulee Latte

I was expecting a strong, creamy vanilla flavor with a caramel finish. What I got was somewhat tasteless, watery, and not as sweet or rich as I would have expected. If you are expecting something with the flavor of the Gingerbread Latte or the Pumpkin Spice Latte you will be disappointed. It just isn’t here. However, if you are looking for something less sweet this may be the type of latte you are looking for.

Starbucks describes the drink this way on their site:
We’ve combined Starbucks espresso and steamed milk with a rich caramel sauce and topped it with whipped cream and shimmery pieces of caramel topping.

I would suggest starting with a tall to make sure that you like it. The flavor sounds great but doesn’t quite live up to its potential.

image: Starbucks

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Thing is, I can’t get them anymore. They closed the Starbucks locally that was good and left the one where all the really lazy people work open. Not sure how that worked but it did. Anyway..I figured it was time to learn how to make my own copy cat gingerbread latte.

If you want to make this really easy start out with the JazzyBird Espresso.

Gingerbread Latte Recipe

• 2- 4 oz espresso shot
• 2 tbs Monin Gingerbread Syrup
• 1/2 cup of whole milk steamed and frothed
• 3- 4 tbs whipped cream
• 1 tbs candied ginger
• 2 tbs caramel sauce
• Fresh grated nutmeg

1. A quick way to steam milk without a steamer is to heat it to a simmer on the stove (or in the microwave) and carefully blend it until it is frothy. Be careful though. It is very hot and if it flies out of the blender it will burn you.
2. Add the espresso shot to a warmed coffee mug.
3. Stir in the syrup
4. Add the milk
5. Put whipped cream on top, drizzle with caramel syrup, sprinkle with grated nutmeg and add the candied ginger

Serves 1

image SXC

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Starbucks Red is an awesome idea. It is an African blend and for every (::cough:::overpriced::::cough) pound of it you buy they send a dollar to support treatment for adults and children with Aids in Africa. This is not the only way to support that cause, nor is it the best way. So if that is why you are buying it stop now and find a really good charity.

The flavor of the coffee was rich and I liked that. It was redolent of dried fruits and spices…and it was bitter and kind of soapy. So basically the feeling I came away with was that I was drinking Thanksgiving dishwater. The myriad of flavors was interesting (as Thanksgiving dishwater might be) but totally unappealing together (also a characteristic of dishwater).

Interestingly I found I liked the flavor better when it was cool and room temperature. If this was a Holiday relative it would be the grim spinster aunt that had had a fascinating career when she was young but had soured into  a kaleidoscope of untold stories held in check by her determination not to saying anything nice or interesting. I got the idea that the coffee had a lot of potential but that it was not sharing.

I give it a 2.0 out of a 5. I would not buy it again, I did not like it, and I still don’t understand the Starbucks hype.

image: marye audet

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Oh, and don’t forget the extra whipped cream!

Here are some cool recipes for the Pumpkin Spice Latte:

• MY Pumpkin Latte recipe
• Crockpot Pumpkin Spice Latte which is an awesome cool idea..I am gonna try it.
• Coffee Sage has a Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe, too
• A Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe that uses brown sugar
• Make your own Pumpkin Spice Coffee Syrup

So, you can get your Pumpkin Spice Latte fix at Starbucks and then head home to try these recipes and see which you like the best.

Yum!

image:sxc

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Starbucks has announced that it will raise the prices on some popular drinks like Macchiatos and Fraps and lower the prices on coffee and some latte to continue to try to compete in the new economy driven coffee wars with the likes of McDonalds, Sonic, Panera, and others. You can read the whole article at the NY Times.

For a lot of people this is where the rubber will meet the road. I figure three things will happen:

• Customers will try other coffee drinks that are less expensive and decide they are close enough.
• Customers will try other coffee drinks and decide they would rather pay the extra.
• Customers will stick with Starbucks and just drink less.

Or …maybe some of them will start making frappuccinos at home. The thing that I think is funny is that there is always a segment of the population that will think because the Starbucks is more expensive it is going to taste better, which is not necessarily true.

Here’s the deal: People’s tastes are different. Some people drink Maxwell House or Folgers and are completely happy with it. Some of them have tried Starbucks and Peets and Green Mountain and honestly prefer the Maxwell House. Somewhere on the way to the caffeine jitters coffee drinkers turned into snobs and decided that if you don’t like the right coffee you have no taste.

I love me some good coffee. I am also a foodie and I am particular about the tastes I like. Ice Cream? Homemade or Breyers. Despite my almost imperceptible Texas drawl I cannot stand Blue Bell. Ick. The chemicals stomp aross my tastebuds like they were wearing muck boots. Does that mean that everyone that likes Blue Bell has no taste?

Well yeah, it kind of does….

No, of course not. It means that I like what I like.

Whatever Starbucks does, whether it raises or lowers prices? You should be true to what you like. Don’t buy it because it is the cool thing to buy, or because you think it will make you look more sophisticated and knowledgeable – drink it because you like it…and only for that reason.

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You have to understand that the Veteran’s Admin. Hospital in Dallas is the size of a small nation. In fact, I think my whole family could fit in there. Sadly, the parking lot only has five parking spaces (warning:gross exaggeration) but that is another story for another time.

What they do have is a Starbucks, and a food court, and a department store, and a couple of boutiques. Yes Virginia, the VA Hospital is the ultimate in Super-Stores.  You can meet for coffee, buy a new dress, pick up packing tape and have your thyroid removed in one fell swoop.

They need a spa.

I suppose the Starbucks is there to provide over worked medical staff with much needed caffeine.

Not sure how it works.Maybe the VA Hospital rents space like a mall. It has always seemed odd to me..You can’t imagine how huge that hospital is until you try to have an Ekg, then labs done, then an X-ray all before your appointment. I find my self  jonesing after the electric scooter chairs that zip through the hallways.

Anyway..Just th0ught it was weird that the VA would have a Starbucks.

Maybe it isn’t the government I should worry about taking over like Big Brother. Maybe it is Starbucks… You find that store everywhere now!

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Post from: Kettle and Cup

It seems to me that Starbucks is either experiencing adolescent angst or a corporate wide multiple personality disorder…or maybe they are grasping at straws. Over the past year they have:

• Added protein shakes
• Added sandwiches and other lunch items
• Pushed  “new”instant coffee which tastes like “old” Maxwell House instant

I think there were a few other things. Now, that isn’t enough so they are trying to lose the Starbucks name and give their shops a new moniker. They will be renaming the shops after the streets that they are on to give them a bit more local “Mom and Pop” flair.  I don’t know what they are going to do with the shop nearby that is on I-35 because I -35 Coffee and Tea doesn’t really do a lot for me. These local shops will be having things like poetry readings and live music…

Some will add wine and beer. So..is it a coffee shop or a bar and grill?

Maybe if they add strippers…

You can say what you want. You can say I am being critical, picky, heard-hearted…But the fact remains that Starbucks is losing sight of the fact that when you try to be all things to all people you become nothing to anyone. Starbucks has muddied the waters rather than waiting it out.

Sure, it is easy to say hat I would do from the position of my couch but I think I have a valid solution.

1. Focus on coffee and tea drinks
2. Bring in local pastries
3. If there are more than 2 locations in a 10 mile radius close one of them
4. Cut advertising budget 85 percent
5. Cut  salaries by 1/4 for everyone making over 150,000.00 per year.
6. Pull out of everything that is not directly coffee or tea related:movies, dvds, radio stations…
7. Rediscover who Starbucks is and focus on that rather than being in competition with McDonalds or anyone else.

Now, in case I need to explain any of that….Most people just want a place to go for decent coffee. They want to meet friends, have business meetings or take a break. Maybe something a little sweet is nice. Having a local bakery supply pastries will stimulate the local economy and the pastry will be fresh.

There is an area near me that has 4 Starbucks within 2 miles. How dumb is that?

Advertising is unnecessary at this point. Starbucks doesn’t need it. Everyone knows who they are. Salary cuts? 1/4  of 150,000.00 is 37,000.00, leaving 113,000.00- the person would still be making more than enough money to live comfortably on yet the company would save a significant amount. It is called not killing the goose that lays the golden egg.

And I think the rest is self explanatory.

I don’t want to see Starbucks go under.  I want to see them flourish without being stupid. Now that they have run all the mom and pop places out of business if they go there is no one left.

If nothing else it will be interesting to watch…

image:sxc

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Just remember folks, all natural is NOT the same as organic. However they are promising the following:

• No artificial flavors
• No artificial trans fats (LOL! ALL transfats are artificial)
  
• No artificial dyes
• No high-fructose corn syrup

I think that is a great step for them. They are even giving recipes for a couple of their items. You know what I would like to see them do? Seriously? I would like to see Starbucks and other large coffee shops that carry pastries and such begin to source locally. I realize that they would lose the continuity flow but the items would be so much fresher, so much tastier, and it would be good for local economies.

I don’t know how difficult that would be, how many government and corporate hoops they would have to jump through or anything..but to me it makes much more sense.  Let’s face it. Baked goods are their best within the first 12 hours or so of being baked. The longer they hang around the more stale they get. Having pastries delivered from a local bakery every morning at 5 am would solve the freshness issue for sure.

What do you think? Is it feasible? Should be hit them with a barrage of emails?

image: MaryeAudet

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Let’s play three guesses where these are made. Ready? When I count three just shout it out….one…two…thr…….Yep China.

Now, I don’t want to say that the Chinese government has a furtive terrorist plan to subdue the entire  United States by booby-trapping children’s toys, pet foods, and now coffee…but..I’m just sayin.

The only coffee makers and coffee grinders tht I could find that are US made are by Bunn. They are all commercial products and over 500.00

I don’t know about you but that is a little out of my price range.

If you know of a coffee grinder that is made in the US please leave a comment with a link to it!  All of this outsourcing is getting to me. I was looking for a soapbox to get up on but they are all made in China….

image:Via CPSC

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Frankly, I am not sure that any large company can ever be green. No matter how much they try their very existence as a corporation will preclude them being environmentally friendly.

Green belongs to the small, local coffee shops that use “for here” cups and buy their organic, shade grown, bird friendly coffee from a local roaster or roast it themselves. Green belongs to small, family owned companies that operate in communities, support the local communities, and refuse to grow past a certain, controllable point.

The problem with those small green companies is that the big companies that pretend to be green run them out of business. People prefer to save a buck here or there and in this economy who can blame them? And it isn’t just that. If you have ever owned a small business you know that all of the various regulations, inspections, permits, and taxes work together to maintain a high level of stress and frustration. You are expected, as a business owner (at least in a small town) to be nice, friendly, always available, always compliant, and always ready to give your product away for free to friends, neighbors, and city officials.

Companies like Starbucks are corporations. That is an entirely different set of rules. It is sort of the difference between being a work at homemom and a work at an office mom. Both work really hard, and both may be equally talented and successful but the work at home mom will be expected to babysit for neighbors, make cookies for the class party, and keep an eye on all of the latchkey kids for two miles. Different standards apply.

There is a point that you have to choose between your budget and your commitement to green-ness. Pretending like a corporation is green is like pretending a president or other government official really will do something about the environment. They won’t. As long as there are private jets using gallons of fuel, and multiple domiciles with staff I can’t be comforted that they care as much as I do about environment.

Starbucks will always be more interested in growth and profits than environmental concerns. If that wasn’t the case ALL of their coffee would be organic.

image:sxc

Post from: Kettle and Cup