starbucks Archives

In Anaheim

Searching for Starbucks at Disney California Adventure Park

February 19, 2015

Finding Starbucks at Disney California Adventure Park is a must because you need to stay caffeinated the whole day in order to finish all the rides and attractions.

Head to the Fiddler, Fifer and Practical Cafe on Buena Vista Street and the only Starbucks will be inside. The cafe is a few steps from the entrance, so it’s not hard to miss.

The drink menu is pretty standard, but the prices are a tad higher that regular Starbucks since there are no other alternatives around.

They have baked goods, sandwiches, salads, etc.

Once you have your drink, there’s a lot of tables you can choose from. Since we came around 2pm, there wasn’t a lot of people around. After the day of walking, our feet needed a little break.

One cool aspect are the cups! You will only find the Disney Parks cups here. Cute.

No need to fear a day without coffee! Disneyland also has a Starbucks too but in only one shop.

Website: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/dining/disney-california-adventure/fiddler-fifer-and-practical-cafe/

In British Columbia

Starbucks Canada: New Chestnut Praline Latte

November 12, 2014

Starbucks Canada introduces their new Chestnut Praline Latte, which replaces the Gingerbread Latte. When that news was announced, people petitioned to get the Gingerbread Latte back on the menu. Perhaps it was a marketing move to get people to vocalize their outrage…but it worked.

Starbucks hasn’t released a new holiday drink since 5 years ago, but its always fun to try something new.

I found it a bit silly since there’s so many alternatives you can choose from. No need to fuss over a flavour of latte.

Chestnut Praline Latte has espresso, steamed milk, and flavours of caramelized chestnuts and spices. Topped with whipped cream and spiced praline crumbs. You can also get it as a Frappuccino.

It was surprisingly good! Definitely on par with the other drinks on their holiday menu.

I got a little big greedy and asked for A LOT of whipped cream and it kinda fell over on itself. It looked really good before it fell over. No need to be on a diet. I near MORE whipped cream.

Website: http://www.starbucks.ca/

In Cafe

Starbucks: Oprah Chai Tea Latte

May 1, 2014

Oprah Chai Tea latte was just introduced at Starbucks for a limited time. When I first heard about this, I was very confused why there was a drink named after Oprah.

The drink was created in partnership with Oprah Winfrey and Teavana teaologists to create the distinctive chai blend. Each beverage purchased, $0.25 is donated back to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation to help benefit youth education.

As there was a Starbucks right below the office, I might as well wander downstairs to try it out.

Here are the prices at Main and Terminal location in Vancouver.

Tall – $3.85
Grande – $4.55
Venti – $4.95

They are the same prices for Oprah Chai Tea Latte and Ice Oprah Chair Tea Latte.

Oprah Chai Tea Latte (Tall – $3.65) has a spicy chai blend of cinnamon, black tea and rooibos, lightly sweetened and finished with steamed milk.

I’m not a usual Chai tea drinker but I thought it tasted fine. Nothing too special.

Website: http://www.oprah.com/app/steep-your-soul.html

In Cafe

Starbucks in Las Vegas

April 6, 2014

When in Vegas, go to Starbucks. At least that’s what my sisters and I did. She’s really obsessed about getting those collectible Starbucks mugs from different cities around the world. While walking inside Caesars Palace, we found a Starbucks and needed a cool drink to refresh us.

The Starbucks in Caesars Palace is located to the left of the lobby.

The space is quite small, but there are these long long couches to rest for a bit and enjoy your beverage. It’s not a cafe where you can sit for a while.

Another huge difference are the prices. Most tall drinks are $6 and it has a crazy markup. I pay about half the price in Vancouver. My wallet hurt after coming here.

After going to this location, I started looking at the other location’s prices and it can vary from $5 to $6 for tall drinks.

Vanilla Macchiato was the drink that they are currently advertising. In Canada, they introduced the Maple Macchiato and in the states, they released the Vanilla Macchiato. How different right?

The Vanilla Macchiato is a multi-layered drink that has steamed milk, espresso, and the sweet drizzle made of brown sugar, butter, vanilla and some salt.

I got my drink in iced form since it was pretty hot outside. The drink was ok, but nothing special.

The other drinks we ordered were iced green tea and iced coffee. Pretty standard stuff. We spent over $20 of 4 tall drinks which sucks. But, it’s on The Strip, so always expect to pay more.

Website:
www.starbucks.com

Address:
3570 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89109

In British Columbia

Starbucks Canada: Maple Macchiato

March 6, 2014

Another new drink from Starbucks and it’s the Maple Macchiato. It looked very tempting and I just had to try it. How good is maple in a coffee? It reminded me of something super super Canadian.

Asking the staff about their opinions on the drink, they suggested we have it half sweet. It is served either hot or cold.

Maple Macchiato is a multi-layered beverage that consists of steamed milk, espresso and the sweet maple syrup. The maple syrup comes from Quebec too. The maple was more dense than the foam, so it sank into the drink faster than caramel drizzle.

If you’re not into maple, they also have the caramel macchiato or hazelnut macchiato. It’s always best to get half sweet just in case.

The drink is only available in Canada, but alternately in the states, they have released the vanilla macchiato instead.

Website: http://www.starbucks.ca/coffee/espresso/macchiato-beverages

In Fast Food

Starbucks New Caramel Flan Latte

January 12, 2014

Starbucks has turned the traditional custard dessert – Caramel flan into a new drink at all their locations. As the weather is still chilly sometimes we need to huddle inside with a coffee and enjoy the rainy Vancouver weather.

Thats just what KoreanGirl and I did this weekend. We both had a Starbucks reward available to redeem a free drink, so we both decided to try the new Caramel Flan Latte. If we hated it, it wouldn’t be a loss since we used our rewards on it.

The Caramel Flan Latte is composed of espresso, steamed milk and caramel flavours of creamy flan. Topped with caramel-infused whipped cream and caramel flan drizzle.

KoreanGirl ordered it with it’s normal sweetness and said it was way too sweet especially with the caramel flan drizzle. I got mine half sweet and it was much better. There’s definitely a lot of caramel going on here.

I’m still not sold on this drink, so I will still stick to my usual lattes.

If you tried it, what do you think about it?

Website:
http://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/espresso/caramel-flan-latte

In Fast Food

Starbucks: Salted Caramel Mocha and Pumpkin Spice Latte

September 23, 2012

You know it’s fall when you can enjoy some pumpkin spiced lattes. Starbucks is currently promoting two drinks to ring in the Fall season – Salted Caramel Mocha and pumpkin spice latte. KoreanGirl and I were having a chit-chat over some coffee, so we decided to try out the drinks.

Pumpkin Spice Latte was what KoreaGirl ordered. She did enjoy it, but she found it to be very sweet.

Salted Caramel Latte was what I ordered, I didn’t get it with mocha because I don’t like mochas. Instead I substituted it as a latte. The drink was also very sweet. The drink has a few pumps of butternut toffee, so it is sweeter than a normal latte. I would suggest getting it half sweet.

Have you tried their Fall drinks yet? What did you think?

In Cafe

Starbucks in Asia: Red Bean Green Tea Frappuccino

August 25, 2012

I was strolling through the international departures of Seoul International Airport before my flight back to Hong Kong and I stumbled upon a Starbucks! I noticed they were promoting 2 of their new drinks -Red Bean Green Tea Frappuccino and the Soy Green Tea Frappuccino. Since I had 20 minutes left till departure, I thought I might as well kill time trying something new.

These drinks are also available in Hong Kong as well. I am not exactly sure about other Asian countries.

Red Bean Green Tea Frappuccino was pretty good. The beans were not too sweet and balanced nicely with the green tea. I usually dislike red beans, but the way they cooked the beans were very firm and enjoyable. I would definitely order this again.

Even though they don’t sell these in Vancouver, Canada. You can still get something similar from a few local bubble tea cafes in Richmond. If you do encounter this drink on your travel, definitely give it a try!

In Insadong

Insadong: Finding Sikhye in Ssamziegil and the Famous Starbucks

August 13, 2012

In Vancouver, Insadong is just a Korean restaurant, but in Korea, it’s an awesome shopping/eating area. During my time in Korea, I knew I had to wander down this street. People have said it’s a good place to buy old antiques and folk items. Walking around this area, I found it to be a little bit pricey compared to other areas.

Walking down the street, I stumbled upon Ssamziegil, an outdoor shopping area that has a spiral walkway all the way up to the top of the building. There are a lot of unique shops, galleries, and restaurants!

It was a very hot day so I needed a drink to cool down. I spotted a shot on the bottom floor selling Sikhye. Sikhye is a sweet traditional Korean drink.

Sikhye is made from rice and sugar water. It very delicious and refreshing! Very healthy for you too. Apparently good for digestion.

In the drink, you can see the little grains of rice on the bottom. If you are ever in Korea, you should try out this drink! It kinda reminded me of sugar cane. I got it for 2,000 won, but you can find it all around town for as little as 1,000 won.

As you walk down the stairs of Ssamziegil, you will see tons of graffiti lining the walls. Some are love messages and some are awesome drawings! Do you see the Michael Jackson image?

The Starbucks in Insadong is quite famous because they are required to write their name in Korean to keep the traditional-feel on this street.

All the other shops in the area are written in Korean too. There are lots to restaurants to eat at too! It’s definitely an awesome area to check out!

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In Cafe

Starbucks: The Original Store in Seattle, WA

November 15, 2011

M and I arrived in Seattle way too early during the long weekend since we expected there to be a wait at the border…there was no wait. So, we were downtown by 7:30am. Nothing is open that early except for Starbucks, so we decided to head to Pike Place Market to roam around. A lot of the merchants were getting ready, so the market wasn’t open either.

As you may or may not know, Starbucks originated in Seattle Washington and has grown into a global phenomenon. Every time I go here and it’s PACKED. Since it was so early in the morning, I knew it would be empty.

The interior is quite spacious when there are a few people inside. On a normal day, it is just filled with people grabbing drinks. If all you want is coffee, best to just go to another Starbucks a block away. They serve the same drinks as all the other Starbucks locations.

They have tons of cups, coffee and stuffed animals to purchase. Since its always so packed in here during usual hours, its really hard to get nice photos of inside this location.

It is a tourists hotspot and it is always packed with people buying coffee and purchasing the original Starbucks mug with their original logo. There’s another location on Firstand Pike that also sells the merchandise. If you hate crowds, thats an option.

Location:
1912 Pike Pl Seattle, WA 98101

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In Food for Thought

Starbucks: Frappuccino Hidden with Whipped Cream

June 28, 2011

Nothing says summer like a good ol’ Iced Frapp from Starbucks. Since M and I strolled all the way to New Westminster to go to the pet store, we saw Starbucks and really just wanted a Frapp! Surprisingly it was quite busy, but we really didn’t mind since there is usually a long line up at any Starbucks during peak hours.

M had the Mocha Coconut Frappuccino. He really loved it since it has a hint of coconut taste with the nice mocha flavour.

If you like coconut and chocolate, this drink is probably for you.

I ordered the Green Tea Frappuccino, but I was quite mad about my drink before it was even given to me. You see, as you wait for your drink, you usually stare at the person making your drink because there really isn’t anything else to stare at.

As I was watching her make the drink, everything looked normal. When she poured the drink into cup, 1/5^th of the drink fell onto the counter. To cover this up, she just put more whipped cream on top.

I looked at her, she looked at me and we gave each other an awkward look. Since there was a long line behind us, I just took the drink and left.

Has this ever happened to you?

In Dessert

Starbucks offers Peppermint Mocha’s all year round!

January 24, 2011

THIS IS THE BEST INFORMATION I HAVE EVEN GIVEN YOU. This may be interesting to some … or maybe not.

I went to Starbucks a few steps away from work and started talking to the cashier about holiday drinks. Since there is obviously no more holidays promotions promoting the drinks…I thought why not just ask them if they can make me something.

To my surprise, they had enough ingredients left to make me a carmel brulee latte!

It also turn out, they make Peppermint Mocha’s all year round!

I’m excited! Are you excited?! Seriously, what is cooler than having a holiday drink in the summer?