No new summer drinks from Starbucks?
Starbucks rolled out new menu boards and signs (which are very nice, by the way) to launch their summer promotions this week, but unlike last summer and the summer before, the “new” menu doesn’t include any new drinks. Probably due to cost cutting somewhere down the line, Starbucks has opted to promote Caramel Frappuccinos and Iced Coffee as their two big summer beverages this year. Both these drinks are good – and you can get the iced coffee sweetened or with mild added to it if you’re not the black coffee drinking type – but it’s a bit of a let down for some customers who look forward to trying something new. They have to wait until the next promo period comes around to see if any new drinks make the cut then.
If you want a new Starbucks drink right now, consider heading over to a Barnes and Noble Cafe Starbucks instead. The one I checked out this week was offering Mocha Mint Chip Frappuccinos (which have been available at the regular ‘bucks before) and Mocha Toffee Chip Frappuccinos.
Southwest introduces eco-friendly coffee
Southwest Airlines just introduced a new coffee to its onboard menu that has some perks beyond the usual caffeine pick-me-up. The LIFT coffee is a dark-roasted Arabica blend and is served in eco-friendly cups made from post-consumer recycled materials. The cups have built-in sleeves to make them easier to handle when filled with hot coffee. The coffee will be available free of charger to airline passengers, but for every cup served, Southwest will make a donation to the Guatemala Light Project, a charity which brings electricity (i.e. light) into the rural coffee-growing regions of Guatemala via solar powered LED lighting systems.
The coffee blend was only introduced on May 4th, but is already getting positive reviews from flyers. Southwest is also serving Coffeemate liquid creamers, instead of the powdered creamer they used to have.
Trader Joe’s Maragogype Coffee, reviewed
The first thing that you’ll notice about the Trader Joe’s new, limited edition Maragogype Coffee is that the name is hard to pronounce. The second thing is that the beans inside the can are enormous, at least twice the size of the average bean I see in Trader Joe’s other coffees, and very impressive to look at. They’d make great chocolate-covered coffee beans for anyone who is a fan.
The coffee itself is a medium roast, with a medium body and low-to-medium acidity. It wasn’t the most dramatic coffee I’ve ever had, but it did have a subtle caramelized sugar flavor with a hint of smokiness, kind of like the top of a creme brulee. It’s a good, balanced flavor that almost everyone will like – a huge plus if you buy coffee for a whole family – and it’s a coffee I will definitely get again, especially considering that it’s a limited edition and there is no telling how long it will be available!
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