Since the exams got near (and started), i’ve been drinking a lot more coffee than usual. Which means that the 250g pack that’d usually last two weeks or more now runs out in five days. All of it was out of Starbucks’ limited edition Gazebo.

Considering the insane heat, i never drink it hot, just brew the whole load (roughly 2.5 litres) from half the pack in the evening, so that i can have a not-warm (i won’t say cold though) coffee in the morning.

The thing is, there is a reason that yesterday i bought the third pack of it in two weeks. Just as there’s an iced coffee blend which is balanced to be made into iced coffee, this Gazebo blend was called Summer blend in other lands in other times.

When i bought the first pack, the cashier girl seemed to have some idea of how to interact with customers (unlike most part-timers), and told me some details about the coffee (with a wide smile). Fruity, mostly blackcurrants. Sure you can say it has the citrus touch that the label claims to be so characteristic, but i think the slightly sour yet sweet flavor similar to blackcurrant and other berries is more obvious.

I think i’ll be drinking this blend till the end of the summer, because except the ice coffee blend, the other roasts are better hot.

After two years, i bought Verona again. Actually this was probably the first coffee i ever bought in a Starbucks, and until i tried Italian roast, definitely my favorite (not so definitely after that). I found a few beans in one piece in the ground package, and crunched them for the taste, and it was amazing. It’s roasted black, but it doesn’t have a hint of the dark charcoal taste typical of such roasts. It’s fresh, surely dark, but in a colorful way, something like watching colorful birds fly at dusk through a forest’s canopy. The espresso’s foam is darker than anything i’ve ever seen, and it emphasizes the dark, thick, somewhat chocolate-ish taste of the brew. The aroma itself reminds me of some sweetish cocktail that nevertheless kicks in so hard a few minutes later that you find yourself partying hard. It’s not as bitter as i’d have expected from such a dark roast. I definitely favor this over the bitter smokiness of Italian roast.

I got this pack of coffee way back in March, but among all the moving and related troubles, i didn’t really have a chance to write about it. I have to note that the clever assistant at the shop ground it not to the size for espresso machines but for coffee press, which is very rough and gives off a very different feel.

Starbucks Tribute blend is sweet. It might not be apparent at first, but a while after drinking a cup of it, i started wondering what might be this sweet taste in my mouth. The coffee. It fits very well with yoghurt.

It also has a bitterish taste that reminds me of a familiar office, where the ladies are sipping drip coffee at their desks, a fan is turning slowly on the shelf and every now and then a paper slides out of the printer.

As a multi-region blend, having a complex and interesting taste is just natural. A fitting tribute for those 40 years.

Yesterday i bought a big pack of the Starbucks Tribute blend. For those who don’t know (which is probably a quite small number of people considering i’m posting coffee reviews every now and then), i go to Starbucks to buy my coffee all the time, and have tasted most of their blends. Of course by coffee i mean beans and not the drinks they sell at those insane prices.

I always ask them to grind the beans at mode 3 (for espresso) on the grinder, but this time the guy ground it at 13 (for coffee press), which means i get a lot less of the aroma. Shit. Should i go complain?

It’s been a while since i bought a big pack of the Guatemala Antigua beans, but i never really had a chance to write about it. Even now i’m kinda in trouble what to write…

It’s a nice coffee, with medium body and usual complexity. Its aroma has hints that remind me of chocochip cookies covered in honey, honey from some kind of very strong scented flower.

When i drink it in my everyday routine, i usually don’t pay attention to its taste. The bitterness of the espresso brew is more characteristic, that is. But once i take the time and taste it for the sake of tasting it reveals interesting layers. Some tastes that remind me of the hungarian Easter Monday traditions, and some that remind me of the taste of that blade of grass in the polish Zubrowka vodka.

There is also a surprisingly cold aftertaste as well, a bit sour, but it matches in with the overall summery feeling of the coffee: imagine it as drinking a handful of cold water from a mountain spring after walking across a flowery field.

Something like that. Guatemala did it again.

I bought the Komodo Dragon blend after the Finca el Faro ran out. Since back then i was about to face off with a bunch of tough exams, i bought a full package of the Komodo Dragon as a precaution–it would run out fast anyway, with daily three or so cups during the exam season… I’m having one of the last brews i could get out of it today, so…

While brewing, it filled my room with a really strong coffeey aroma, which had something flowery to it (in look for a better word). It has a soft yet characteristic bold body, and a taste i could only describe as being “black”: it tastes black, with the good roasting, warm tastes just a bit stingy that kind of remind me of some hot spice like pepper.

This black gold from Indonesia is really refreshing, especially on a cold winter morning with its warmness, but as a bold blend expect that it has a good weight to it as well.

Those guatemalans know something.

Finca el Faro is also a limited edition coffee produced on one certain farm in Guatemala for Starbucks (though it’s strange i can’t find anything about it on their or any related website), but in general it’s a different sensation than Casi Cielo was.

While making the coffee i tasted a bit of the ground beans, and it reminded me of two things at the same time: nuts and popcorn. The aroma of the fresh brew is first of all lively and fresh. It’s like an autumn campfire, not all so soft but an overall warm feeling. Also a touch of cocoa.

With just a bit of sourness (most of which comes back after finishing the coffee) and a really nice, soft and full, i would even say buttery if i dared to. Its sweetness is really well counterbalanced by the boldness, so it matches my preferences (though not as much as Casi Cielo). This coffee also leaves a cover of pure coffee taste on the tongue, so its taste lingers around for a long time.

Like.

A limited edition coffee now sold in probably all the Starbucks shops around the world (they surely sell it in hungary), Guatemala Casi Cielo is really how its name suggests: almost Heaven.

The ground beans and the fresh brew have a sweet but bold aroma, that somewhat reminds me of a well done tiramisu cake. You can also smell the smokiness of a well roasted coffee. It really makes you want to drink it.

And the taste… It just hits the spot. I can’t recall drinking a coffee so fit to my tastes ever since the italian blend (and before that, Verona). It has just the mix of sourness, sweetness, characteristic aromas (a hint of chocolate-ish, a hint of rum-ish, a hint of some latin spice-ish) and smoothness. I like how thick it is even for a medium coffee, it almost makes me forget that i’m a fan of extra bold ones usually. A perfect, easy sting of bitterness in the end tops it all.

People trying to stop smoking, be careful: this beauty will make you want to smoke.

#hellyeah.