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A cup of instant coffee served with a high-end lunch and a spritz of perfume on the side? How many ways can we say this combination-event seemed off-the-beam? But this, in fact, was on the menu for the debut of the new Starbucks line of flavored VIA coffees.
The ubiquitous coffee company invited Slashfood to sample a tasting menu created by chef Sisha Ortúzar at Tom Colicchio's new Riverpark restaurant, in Manhattan, to highlight its four new flavors of Starbucks VIA instant coffees: Mocha, Caramel, Cinnamon and Vanilla.
The event was hosted by Starbucks and by New York Times Scent Critic Chandler Burr, who paired each coffee with a perfume that highlighted its flavor.
For the first course, Chef Ortúzar paired Starbucks Mocha VIA with a grilled chicken skewer accompanied by a mole dipping sauce, amping up the chocolate flavors in both the sauce and coffee. Burr paired the chocolate with Italian designer Missoni's Missoni perfume, which has a few chocolately, fruity notes of its own.
The Caramel VIA was paired with a "breakfast napoleon" which featured banana and seared pork belly, highlighting the smoky caramel flavor of the coffee. Adding some cream turned the coffee from a dark, buttery blend to a dulce de leche–flavored dream. The caramel was complemented by the honey, spicy Ambre Narguilé fragrance by Hermès.
Cinnamon Spice VIA was paired with a Mediterranean spiced beef–and-rice dish over squash. The slightly spiced meat helped draw out the cinnamon flavor in the coffee, which also became a richer, more dessertlike concoction with added cream. The cinnamon scent was enhanced by a whiff of Calvin Klein's Secret Obsession perfume, with its complex mix of floral, burnt amber, vanilla, and sandalwood.
For dessert, Ortúzar paired the Vanilla VIA with a wildflower honey–and apple panna cotta, creating a delicate sweet that brought the vanilla front and center. The final fragrance pairing enhanced the rich vanilla scent of the coffee -- Diptyque's Eau Duelle is itself vanilla based, with black frankincense.
Starbucks new VIA flavors are available now at Starbucks locations for a suggested retail price of $6.95 for six servings. Each combines Starbucks coffee, spices and cane sugar in individual packets that can be mixed with hot water to create single-serving beverages.
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10-10-2010 @3:51PM amanda said... Why are fine-dining establishments accompanying their seasonal cuisine with artificially flavored burnt coffee from a fast-food chain!? Starbucks is buying out big name chefs to cover the fact that they are using the lowest quality coffee in years. What is Tom Collicchio thinking?!!!?
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10-10-2010 @2:30PM Rose said... Via is microground coffee that is naturally flavored and sweetened with pure cane sugar.
10-10-2010 @7:10AM Sunday said... I think Starbuck's coffee is WAY overpriced.
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10-10-2010 @8:27AM kay said... I agree....and the flavor sucks!
10-10-2010 @2:31PM Rose said... I've never understood this statement.
A tall cup of coffee at Starbucks is $1.50. Coffee refills are 50 cents or free with a rewards card. The only thing cheaper is gas station swill, or just making it yourself at home.
Also, Starbucks' fancier hand-crafted beverages average around the same prices as any other coffee house.
10-10-2010 @8:57AM jay said... I remember when Starbucks charged fire fighters for water so as to try to treat people on 9-11 in NYC. Since then I have not purchased a single thing from them. And FYI.....the coffee isnt that great either.
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10-10-2010 @10:20AM P said... Don't believe everything you're told. All I know is Starbuck's and their employees have been sending coffee to our troops and haven't been given much pub. And, fair market value for farmers growing their coffee. (SB buys only the top quality (1%) of coffee grown and the rest goes to others.)They also have great benefits for their employees by not requiring a minimum amount of hours worked per week to qualify. To see where some of these ideas come from check out the bio of CEO Howard Schultz who grew up poor in the projects of New York.
10-10-2010 @2:31PM Rose said... Starbucks doesn't charge anyone for tap water. Ever. It's always free.
10-10-2010 @9:11AM Marsha said... Mocha, Cinnamon and Vanilla are all very good, but the Caramel is outstanding!!!
Jay, regarding the story about Starbucks charging for water on 9/11: Must be a vicious rumor started by Seattle's Best!!
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10-10-2010 @10:19AM jj said... NO, its no rumer. words worst seattles best is owned by starbucks. truth is truth, charbux charged firefighters for tap water on 911 AND charged soldiers doble the price normal shoppers get.
10-10-2010 @2:30PM Rose said... The vanilla was my favorite. I loved the smell of the Cinnamon, but when I tasted it I didn't care for the flavor very much but it could have been what I was pairing it with. The other two flavors were pretty good. :) BTW, Seattle's Best is owned by Starbucks.
It won't let me respond to the other response for some reason, but I do feel the need to speak up about what was said.
First of all I want to point out three things:
1. I am a Starbucks partner
2. My fiance is currently serving in the US Army.
3. I am from NY and myself as well as many family and friends were directly affected by 9/11.
I want to make it clear that Starbucks doesn't charge anyone for tap water ever, much less people who were in genuine need after 9/11.
In addition, lots of individual stores and districts participate in coffee drives for the troops, with actual donation boxes in their store that are packed up and shipped when full. I've seen firsthand many partners donate their weekly mark-outs this way.
Starbucks offers military leave of absence for US partners. Starbucks does NOT charge double for troops... I'm pretty sure it's actually illegal to charge one group of people more than another for the same item or service... or at the very least, such discrimination would be a massive PR Fail.
In fact, in my first store my manager had a policy of offering a free cup of coffee to any soldier who came in the door. (Though to be fair this was not a company wide policy, just something my first manager wanted to offer.)
Who starts these ridiculous rumors?
10-10-2010 @9:32AM S Garey said... Some of these comments only confirm what I've thought all along: Starbuck's coffee is bitter. There are two Starbuck's at the hotel I stay at in Las Vegas. Every morning, I walk right past them, across the casino floor to get a great tasting coffee at the hotel deli.
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10-10-2010 @2:32PM R said... Not for nothing, but if they are inside a casino they are unlikely to be Starbucks. Rather they are most likely licensed stores (EG: They (in this case, the casino owner) pay Starbucks for the right to display the Starbucks logo, use Starbucks recipes and sell Starbucks products.)
A lot of what you think are Starbucks are actually this, including but not limited to: All Airport Starbucks, all Starbucks inside of grocery stores, all Starbucks inside Barnes&Noble, all Starbucks inside convention centers, most mall locations, etc...)
10-10-2010 @9:33AM S Garey said... Some of these comments only confirm what I've thought all along: Starbuck's coffee is bitter. There are two Starbuck's at the hotel I stay at in Las Vegas. Every morning, I walk right past them, across the casino floor to get a great tasting coffee at the hotel deli.
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10-10-2010 @9:50AM Kevin said... People have been fooled into thinking that the taste of Starbucks coffee is good. What you're tasting at Starbucks is BURNED coffee beans. There's a difference between BOLD and BURNED. The burned coffee beans is why the coffee tastes so bitter. There are now fast-food places that have better-tasting coffee, and it costs half as much as Starbucks. If you're still buying Starbucks, you're a sucker, and people who really know coffee KNOW you're a sucker.
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10-10-2010 @1:12PM Bruce said... The WORLD's BEST COFFEE is right here in Ferndale Michigan. Chazzanno's on 9 Mile Rd @ Wanda Ave. Beans are roasted on site, coarsely ground to be used in a French Press, add 210 degree water and let stand 2-4 minutes and it's GREAT! Frank does an outstanding job of roasting, and the prices are fair for what you get. Try it, if your in the Detroit Metro area next time.
10-10-2010 @10:08AM Pamela said... I visit Starbucks/Barnes and Noble on a weekly basis. I love flavored coffee and I used to buy all of the Torani flavors so I could have them at home. Well, that's not really very portable so now I make all of my own flavors out of powdered real vanilla, spices, and cane sugar. I use small baggies (Walmart craft section) to put just the right amount of the mix so when I go to Starbucks or just a friends house I can have a cup of coffee just the way I like it.
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10-10-2010 @11:38AM Tom said...
jj said... NO, its no rumer. words worst seattles best is owned by starbucks. truth is truth, charbux charged firefighters for tap water on 911 AND charged soldiers doble the price normal shoppers get.
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You are a very disingenuous individual. Nothing could be further from the truth about charging fire fighters for water on 9/11 or for that matter, charging soldiers "doble" the price. Your lie was brought to light on Facebook, Google, Snopes.com and Factcheck.org. Stop publishing lies. The only truth in your statement is that Seattle's Best is owned by Starbucks.
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10-10-2010 @12:22PM slinky said... i buy bags of starbucks coffee at a discount retailer (no, not wal-mart), not because starbucks is great coffee but because starbucks refused to bow down before the brady campaign. if you have a permit to carry a firearm, you are welcome to do so at starbucks, unlike peet's coffee. think of this...you will be much safer at a starbucks than at peet's if someone decides to pull a robbery.
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10-10-2010 @2:31PM Rose said... Starbucks adheres closely to local, state and federal laws and the counsel of law enforcement regarding this issue.... as they should, imho.