It’s getting cold outside, and more and more i start to favor hot coffee instead of cold again. Now the local Starbucks has this new blend i haven’t seen before in the past two years, an autumn special called, very imaginatively, Autumn blend.

The fresh brew has this slightly burnt, well roasted, thick (or rather, as the packaging puts it, syrupy) warm aroma. It’s actually a bit darker than i thought it’d be, but there is also a sweet but crisp touch to it that softens it.

At first i was surprised how familiar it tastes. If you search the blog archives for “Starbucks” you’ll see that i already tried most if not all of the bold (and bolder) coffees, so there’s plenty to compare it with. Looking at the packaging though it says that it’s a blend of Guatemala Antigua and Sumatra produced beans, both of which i already wrote about. As the scent suggested, it’s indeed quite a dark roast, though nowhere as much as the French roast. What’s surprising is that unlike the Guatemala Antigua, the aftertaste is rather smooth and sweet. Much smoother and sweeter than I’d expect.

This blend is nothing unusual, i’d have expected something more special for a special blend, but it’s good and warms well on chilly autumn evenings.