I had an awesome opportunity while in Chicago a couple weeks ago to attend a private party held at the Chicago Flagship Starbucks! While at this event I got to learn how to make great Starbucks coffee from the convenience of my home. I am a daily Starbucks customer, so making it at my home would save some time and money. Although I will admit, I really like being at the store. There is just something about being in that environment that I love. Here is what I learned about making coffee that you may want to know for yourself!
The best tasting cup of coffee comes from brewing 6 oz. of clean filtered water with 2 tbsp. of fresh ground Starbucks coffee. Sounds good already, right? I got to see how they made this with two different methods. One was the French Press method and the other was the Pour-Over-Ice style. I personally liked the pour-over-ice because it gave the coffee a nice light feel with it still being flavorful. You do need to add more coffee to this method since the melting ice waters it down. You also need to look at how ground the coffee is before you brew it. For the iced coffee method it needs to be ground finely, but if you are using the French Press the grounds need to be a bit thicker so they are caught by the mesh filter. The French Press produced very strong and bold coffee and sometimes there are a couple grounds at the bottom of your cup (but not too many if done correctly).
They also taught us that there are four important keys to GREAT coffee: Proportion, Grind, Water, and Freshness! You need the right ratio of coffee to water (remember to take in account if you are making iced coffee), the way the coffee is ground, that your water is clean and filtered, and that you serve it fresh! Follow all these and you will get a wonderful cup of coffee brewed to perfection. It was so great learning this right from the sources there at Starbucks! What a great opportunity for learning and tasting! Thank you Mom Central for inviting me to attend this special event at BlogHer! Although I love visiting Starbucks for many reasons, I may just try brewing it on my own now that I know how to do it correctly! Do you brew your own coffee? And don’t forget to get your Starbucks Rewards card and start earning points today! Since we are frequent Starbucks users we constantly get free coffee postcards in the mail! You can’t beat that as a reward!
Great post, Kristin! Starbucks is a daily thing for me and my husband. I can’t wait to share these tips with my husband! Iced Americano says what??!! We lived in Seattle for 10 years and let’s just say we are HUGE FANS!
you know as much as I enjoy coffee I have never been there before, it’s on my list though!
I bet this was so interesting! I know so many coffee addicts who would have loved the experience.
I am becoming a bit of a coffee drinker these days. My husband is a pot of java a day kind of guy, and he is very set on what kind of coffee he drinks. I am ready to start venturing into the coffee world to see what really hits my taste buds and Starbucks is top of the list.
I love, love, love Starbucks!! During school, I get it almost every morning even though I know it’s more cost-effective if I make it at home. When I do, it just doesn’t turn out the same. Thanks for the great tips!
Now this is awesome! My Sister in Law would love to attend an event like this being a HUGE Starbucks addict! Looks like you had a lot of fun!
Great post..How FUN is that!!!!!
So fun! I usually make mine via french press (or I just buy it from a coffee shop!) Looks like it was a blast
What a fun thing to learn about. My experience making coffee is starting the coffee pot so this is really a neat experience.
That looks like you had a blast! I would love to learn from Starbucks how to make a great cup of joe
You got some great pics, my fave was the hot brewed coffee. I’m not a fan of iced. Glad I got to meet you there and hang out a little!
How fun! I LOVE Starbucks!! 🙂
We had such a good time, didn’t we? Love Starbucks!
This is wonderful! I love iced coffee all year ’round and I love the tips and photos…
I love Starbucks, but don’t go very often as we don’t have one nearby. I like the Frapaccinos!
That’s pretty neat! I love learning how to DIY drinks and recipes from my favorite places.
Awesome! My kind of coffee! Plus all the great information you received excellent! Looks like it was fun!