A visit to the Starbucks Reserve Roastery & Tasting Room, Seattle WA

What a nice treat to have a day of sunshine after that horrible storm we had last week! When the sun is out, it feels wrong to stay inside and so Hubby and I took the kids downtown. Starbucks had just opened their new mega cafe plus roastery in Seattle and we thought we would check it out.

What a beautiful day in Seattle!

The Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room is located in 1124 Pike Street. We had trouble finding a parking spot and ended up parking in the Washington State Convention Center. We walked 3 blocks to the cafe.

We were pretty excited when we finally got there.

We have heard that the place is huge but we didn't realize how big the place is until we got inside. OMG, the place IS HUGE!

The first thing that greeted us was the roasting area. There is a big coffee roaster, a cafe, a restaurant, and a retail and merchandizing area on the ground level. The lower level holds another cafe (offering "fancier" coffee), another roaster, and a reading/quiet/"library-ish" space.

We decided that we wanted a drink first so we joined the line for the cafe.

The food they sell here is unlike the La Boulange pastries offered in the regular Starbucks stores. The food here actually looks good! If we hadn't already eaten at our favorite dumpling restaurant, I would have loved to try the Dark Kale salad and the Coffee-Rubbed Turkey Sandwich.

The drinks menu here is also different. Instead of a menu board, we see what is offered from several sheets of paper secured on a clipboard. I was curious about the Pantheon blend that is exclusive to the roastery and so I asked to have it Clover-brewed.

While waiting for my drink, I noticed that the coffee is served in a mug here rather than a to-go cup. I had missed those days when Starbucks used to serve their drinks in an actual cup and so I was pretty impressed. I was also surprised to see that they even do latte art!

Charlie didn't collect his (her?) drink and so folks like me couldn't help but sneakily take photos of it. hehe.

My coffee took a while but it was worth the wait. The drink was great!

We found a nice couch to relax on and a map to peruse while we enjoy our drinks.

Once we swallowed the last sip, we headed to the lower level.

We found that they serve the fancy stuff like pour-over coffee, the french press, and the siphon coffee here.

We headed back upstairs just in time to catch a demo of the roasting process.

Even though I know the coffee roasting process well (I used to roast my own beans), it was fun to see how they do it here. I thought that the kids would be bored but they too were fascinated to see how the roasting is done.

Before we headed out, we took a look at the retail and merchandizing area. There are mugs, bags, and various coffee gear offered here.

Of course, they sell coffee beans too.

I bought a couple of mugs and several giftcards. (If you want one, keep reading. *wink*)

Serious Pie (restaurant) is located just next to the retail area.

The Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room was an interesting experience. If you are in the Seattle area, definitely stop by to take a look. There is no other cafe quite like it.

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I thought of you guys while I was at the Starbucks Roastery and so I bought extra giftcards! Check back here tomorrow to see my giveaway!  Click HERE to see how you can win one.

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