Starbucks: The exploration-a second date!

The notorious Mr. Greybeard, ladies and gentlemen, and I have had ongoing conversations about the siren song of the green mermaid—the one better known as Starbucks. Well, he threw down the gauntlet and asked me, the ever so humble-minded coffee guy, to search again the wares of this seller and see if there was anything I liked. To which I agreed, In this go around we did talk about the infamous coconut milk. Let me tell you my general rules with how I use almond or oat milk: oat is for savory, earthy notes like chai, hazelnut, and brown sugar; Almond is for sweet things like caramel, mocha, and so forth. Now, onto the review.

I tried three different locations across the Metroplex: the first one is in Pantego on Park Row in front of the Tom Thumb, the second one is all the way out in South Ft. Worth by the Popeyes, Panda Express, and QuikTrip on 35 southbound on Everman Parkway, and the Final one was I-20 and Matlock in Arlington, TX. Why do I mention this? Well, to let you, the reader, know, I gave this a fair shake and tried it across time, space, and different locations.

I got the Shaken hazelnut espresso from the first location with oat milk. It tasted like coffee; the hazelnut and the oat milk were not noticeable in this drink. I would use a standard cigar pairing of a Flathead 660 from CAO, Rock a Feller Smolder Jaw if you happen to have one, or a Rojas Bluebonnet. It was crowded, per usual, at this location, and while it did take some time to get my drink, I would not say this counts against the store. Just be aware that if you are on a time crunch or do not like being crowded, maybe try a different store.

Off to the second Starbucks location, where I got a hot vanilla latte. The vanilla tasted thin, and I would recommend the regular hot latte instead.  Now, which cigar would I pair, I believe that the Perdomo Champagne, Connecticut, would be my recommendation. The tobacco’s gentle notes should complement the natural sugars in the milk. A contrast pairing would be a Crowned Heads La Patissier, which would be an excellent option. It is hard to truly contrast here because it has both sweet notes and earthy and bitter notes from the coffee, but the Crowned Heads cigar, or the yellow rose, I believe, will come the closest to contrasting it. I went to the drive-through here and did not stop inside the shop, it was fast and friendly.

At the final location, we got a few things: a hot caramel latte, a hot coconut latte, a cinnamon caramel crème cold brew, and a frozen pineapple refresher. Let me stop and add something: the staff at this location were amazing. They gave us water and syrups when asked and cared for us. What I will ask of you all is not to abuse their generosity. Now, onto the drinks. The hot caramel latte tasted like surgery milk, and I would pair the Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich, the Punisher Jalapeno Popper cigar, or generally something with some spice or black pepper for a contrast pairing. For a complimentary pairing, I think, pipe tobacco in a corn cob pipe is a must. The hot coconut latte plain has a fermented funkiness, and I would recommend the swamp thing from Drew Estate or the Seven Sam from Tatuaje. To contrast it, I would do the surrogate animal cracker. Now, I did ask for some honey, which made it taste like a distillery rickhouse with some dusty corn, and then I would do something with earthy and leathery notes. or to contrast something similar to the La Aroma de Cuba mi Amor. The frozen pineapple lemonade was sweet, slightly acidic, and cold. I had to telephone a friend about this, and Greybeard recommended an Ecuadorian Habano. The cinnamon caramel crème cold brew tasted like chocolate horchata; I would do the Romeo y Julieta book of love and Ohana left-hander. The Espinosa Laranja.

Did I find things I could live with from the mermaid wares? Absolutely. Will I go back there in the future? Probably. Does this change any of my feelings from the first review? Not entirely. The scenario in which this experiment was envisioned was Greybeard and I sitting down at Starbucks and looking at the coffee not so much as a standalone item but as a mixer similar to Jack Daniels or Elmer T Lee. So, the goal here is to make drinks where coffee plays a role and not just the main character. The ones I would get again are for an honorary mention that goes out to sweet vanilla creme cold brew. The other options from this list would be the pineapple lemonade frozen drink and the shaken espresso. Let me finish by revealing some of my biases against this place. My feelings towards Starbucks are mainly because I have heard rumors as to how some locations treat their team members. I feel uncomfortable in there. I also feel that the coffee bean, their base product, is not quite what it used to be.  But overall, this has been a fun exercise, and I hope this helps you all either have a backup plan or discover new things at your favorite chain coffee store.