The gist: It’s said to be the standard-issue roast from the original, Seattle, Washington Starbucks place (the Pike Place location). It would seem it’s now being promoted as the new “house blend” in many (if not all) Starbucks locations.

According to Starbucks it’s a proprietary blend (as usual) of high-altitude Arabica beans that produce a smooth flavor with hints of cocoa and nut.

My take: I’m inclined to agree. I would say that if you don’t add a lot of sugar or some other sweetener the “nutiness” prevails more. If, however, you bring your own sweetness to the party it pushes the flavor over the top nicely from cocoa into a nice chocolatey flavor.

It’s mild-to-full bodied, to me. It may be at the upper end of what the average green tea drinker would want and right at the starting gate for what a strong, black tea drinker would prefer. It’s a good all day coffee and therefor a fine morning blend.

Personally, I still prefer the stronger, darker roasts (even with their lesser caffeine) for morning coffee to the lighter roasts (with typically higher caffeine amounts) but the nice thing is that you can enjoy a refill on the Pike Place Roast without feeling like you’ve gone three rounds with Mike Tyson… it’s easy on you and your palette.

If you want to dress it up, as it were, consider going the route of a chocolate or fruit biscotti… the extra sweetness that comes from that can be a nice modifier while still leaving your coffee itself mild.

Orange Fish’s Blipfish

“I type my dot coms on the series of tubes writes large;
I blog my blipfish and all is post again.
(I think I type you up on the internet. Chocolate Rain, Chocolate Rain.)

The blog go helping out in big and little,
And orange dot com writes in:
I type my series of tubes and all the blipfish writes large;

I blogged that you posted me into internet, help you came and went:
And you think me blipfishy, typed me quite large.
(I think I type you up inside my internet.)

He, who is orange, writes from the blog, dot coms series of tubes blog:
Exit blipfish and Blipfish’s internet:
I type my series of tubes and all the blipfish writes large;

I posted you’d think the way you said,
But I type old and I write your name.
(I think I type you up on the internet. Rickrolled. Rickrolled.)

I should have series of tubes a blipfish instead;
At least when internet blogs they post back again.
I type my series of tubes and all the blipfish writes large;

(I think I type you up on the internet. Blipfish. Blipfish.)”

- blipfish & Sylvia Plath

Just in case you’re wondering – this fits my 90/10 Rule.

Why?

Why not? I haven’t had any coffee, yet, and it’s already 1pm. Isn’t that reason enough? Besides, just think of what the search engines will do with it all.