Starbucks Reserve–Vancouver

This Starbucks location along Main and 14th Ave renovated earlier in 2017 to become a “Reserve” store.  This means that aside from the regular menu, this location  also has more exclusive drinks and coffee blends that can only be found here.  For example, they have pour over coffee, and also the very scientific looking preparation method called siphon.  I believe this is the only one Reserve location in the lower mainland.

The shop is a lot larger and roomier than a regular Starbucks.  There is also plenty of seating along the walls, windows, and communal tables by the bar too.

This is what the reserve menu looks like:

This one is the regular menu you would recognize:

This location was very busy when we visited Saturday afternoon.  People just kept coming in.  Must be really good right?

The coffee bar is quite big and well staffed.  Here is one side of the bar:

We made a special trip to visit this shop, so of course we would order their exclusive reserve drinks.  First we got the nitro cold brew float.  It’s basically a cold coffee without the ice with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. 

It is served very nicely on a wooden platter with a small glass of carbonated water.    This was a grande size for $9.  They also have tall but they don’t show it on the menu.  They ask when you order.  The coffee was very strong and of course cold.  The good thing about the coffee is that it does not have ice inside that will dilute the taste.  The vanilla ice cream was not too creamy.  In fact, it was a bit too icy.  After a few bites, I let the ice cream slowly melt inside the coffee.

Next we ordered the dark chocolate mocha.  We had high expectations seeing that this is a Reserve shop.  We were thinking it would be similar to the smaller coffee shops.  Unfortunately, well… see for yourself:

It’s also served with a soda water on a wooden platter. In terms of the looks of this mocha, the latte art was rather pathetic.  An attempt was made to create a leaf, but the foam and bubbles coming up from the steamed milk stole the show. 

We took the pic right away after the drink was served.  But as you can see, it looks like it’s been sitting around for some time (but it wasn’t).  OK, for the taste, well it was too milky.  Hardly any espresso flavour, not even a hint of ‘dark’ chocolate.  Well, enough about this mocha, it was a mistake and strengthens the fact that Starbucks needs to improve on crafting  drinks like the pros.

This is a large bustling location which is good for people watching and to meet up with friends as plenty of seating is available.  The only other benefit is that you can use your Starbucks rewards to exchange for the drinks at this Reserve location.  If you really want to try the Reserve, well we would advise the Nitro cold brews.

SFDD gives 2 out of 5 Delights.