Starbucks is rolling out exclusive ice cream drinks at 100 stores in Orange County as it brings more upscale experiences to its cafes.
The affogato menu, espresso poured over premium ice cream, is the company’s first large-scale expansion of the program. Beyond a few specialty cafes, the local Starbucks are the only traditional cafes serving the drinks at the chain’s 13,000 U.S. stores.
The menu launches Wednesday. Starbucks did not provide a full list of the specific locations. A company spokeswoman said half of the 200 stores it has in Orange County are getting the ice cream drink including locations in downtown Huntington Beach, Newport Beach (Fashion Island), Anaheim, Irvine, Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, Orange, Fullerton, Mission Viejo, Dana Point, Laguna Hills and San Clemente.
The coffee titan said Orange County is a great market for testing the hot and cold “winter treat” primarily because of the region’s typically warm climate this time of year.
“We’re testing it to see what our everyday customer thinks of it,” a company representative said.
The ice cream drinks debuted last summer at the chain’s Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room in Seattle, a 15,000-square-foot facility designed to test premium craft coffees for java lovers.
At the Roastery, affogato drinks are among the Top 5 beverages ordered. Enthusiasm for the drinks prompted the chain to roll them out to 10 of their 18 Reserve coffee bars in the U.S. The bars feature premium coffees prepared with different brewing methods such as siphon or pour over.
None are in Orange County.
Traditional Starbucks cafes in Orange County will be the first in the nation to sell the affogato drinks. They are made with vanilla ice cream from Mora Iced Creamery, a small-batch purveyor from Bainbridge Island, Wash.
The drinks include affogato, a cold brew float and a cold brew malt shake. The affogato, $5.25 for a tall, is made with two shots of Starbucks Reserve espresso poured over a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
The cold brew float, $5.95 for a tall, is prepared like a classic affogato with the Roastery’s cold brew (instead of espresso) poured over ice cream. For an extra $1, the drink can be made with nitro cold brew, which is available in some Orange County locations. A tall cold brew malt ($6.45) is made with cold brew concentrate blended with ice cream, malt and chocolate bitters.
The Roastery in Seattle was launched two years ago to create craft coffee products that could be scaled nationwide to traditional Starbucks cafes. Other beverages first tested at the Roastery and later rolled to cafes include nitro cold brew — now available in 500 locations including some Orange County stores.
Starbucks will open its second Roastery in Shanghai this year; its third and fourth locations are coming to Tokyo and New York City in 2018. In addition to the Roastery and Reserve bars, Starbucks said it plans to open a third premium cafe called Starbucks Reserve stores – “a new retail format that will integrate craft coffee experiences at the Roastery with an entirely new menu by Italy’s Princi.”
Last year, Starbucks announced a partnership with Princi, a Milanese institution known for its wood-fired breads and pizzas. Reserve stores will not serve the core Starbucks menu; instead, they will have a completely new beverage and food menu centered around Reserve coffees and foods designed by Princi.
The first of these new stores will open later this year in Seattle and Chicago. Starbucks said it plans to open 1,000 or more globally over time. In addition, the company plans to open standalone Princi stores in Seattle, New York and Chicago in late 2017. and in early 2018.
Contact the writer: nluna@scng.com
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