Monday, June 17, 2013

Liquid Gold...

On Tuesday, June 10, 2013, Mark Ormsbee (Licensed Starbucks District Manager/Coffee Master) & Stacey Carpenito (Licensed Starbucks Brand Champion/Coffee Master) toured locations for HMSHost on the New Jersey Turnpike in the NJ Mid-Region.  Alongside Mark & Stacey were Tuan Tran & Henry Klien (Starbucks National Executive Account Representatives) as well as Krista Kondravy & Shari Eaton (Starbucks Regional Directors).
The tour started at Richard Stockton Travel Plaza where the group met up to discuss the days agenda and wake up to a coffee tasting fascillitated by Jordan Alejandro.  The coffee picked for this special occasion was the rare Panama Geisha Auromar, only the third time Starbucks has ever carried this varietal.  Only 790 reserve bags were available on the Starbucks website and they sold out in hours.  The Geisha varietal originated in the small town of Gesha, Ethiopia and was spread across eastern Africa into Kenya.  The varietal made it's way into Latin America succesfully growing in Costa Rica and later in Guatemala.  Only in the last 50 years, the discovery of the Volcan Baru region in Panama was the perfect place for the Geisha varietal to strive and reach the pinnacle of it's flavor potential.  The complexity in the cup opened the eyes of our Starbucks visitors at Richard Stockton that tuesday morning.  Distinct flavors of mango and papaya with a bergamot finish as the coffee cooled down, the aroma was extremely unique and like no other coffee we have tasted through out our coffee journeys.  Starbucks warned us not to pair this coffee and simply "enjoy alone", it also noted that the coffee is extremely complex and changes flavor profiles as it cools down, pay attention to how the coffee develops with every sip.  The group was very appreciative over the coffee tasting that was hosted for them and it was our way of showing a warm welcome to our Starbucks & HMSHost team.

The rest of the tour went exceptionally well, and the team was very pleased to see the locations operating to their fullest potential.

Thanks to Mark & Stacey!

Special Thanks to Tuan, Krista, Shari, & Henry!

-Jordan

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2 comments:

  1. Jay GreenbergJune 18, 2013 at 6:47 AM

    I enjoyed the tour also and was very proud of how our Starbucks loacations are operating. We are true partners with Starbucks and I think our passion for the brand was very evident to all.

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  2. Henry KleinJune 18, 2013 at 7:38 AM

    Jordan,

    Thank you for hosting our coffee tasting on June 10th. Your passion for the Starbucks brand and enthusiasm to share your coffee knowledge was very motivational. It was a great start to our tour of the Turnpike locations. I like forward to my next visit

    Henry

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