Starbucks has been brewing its way into people's hearts since the first location opened in 1971. Beyond all of the fancy handcrafted lattes and flavorful treats, at the core, Starbucks focuses on its blends of coffee. There have been over 30 different blends over the years, and Starbucks wants to continue to push the envelope for the kind of coffee that it sells.
I was lucky enough to attend a special tasting of Starbucks newest blend, the Milano Duetto. Conducting the tasting was Sergio Alvarez, senior coffee developer, who gave great insight into the process that Starbucks goes through to create new blends. He shared that with the Milano Duetto specifically, he and his team aimed to challenge what a roast does to a coffee.
They took this new Milano blend, roasted it two separate ways, and created two different roasts: the Milano Sole and the Milano Luna. Alvarez explained that these two roasts open up a conversation about what you expect from a "light" versus "dark" roast, and can make you reflect on how those expectations can be shifted when trying new things. This was something that Alvarez pointed out to be part of the goal in creating this blend, and I definitely experienced that in our tasting.
I entered the tasting with one expectation and left carrying a completely different opinion. I'm excited to see what the rest of the world thinks of this new blend. Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manu.
