Yum, Yum, What?
It's the busy season for coffee retailers! Starbucks has been industriously rolling out its holiday specials, including my personal favorite, the pumpkin spice latte. (A lot of people have tried making their own, using actual pumpkin puree. All I can say is, gross.)
I don't know if Thanksgiving Blend was a new thing this year, or if I had just never noticed it before. A friend gave me a pound as a gift, I probably would not have bought it for myself otherwise. I'm usually pretty skeptical of the special blends Starbucks offers. There have been too many that I disliked intensely. (I don't like the acidic fruity berry tone coffee flavors, and Gazebo blend is of course an atrocity.)
So I was surprised to discover that not only did I like Thanksgiving Blend - I liked it a LOT. Which is too bad, because by the time I realized it was tasty, all the local stores had sold out. I guess they didn't make very much of it, or maybe everyone else was just faster on the stick than I was, and bought it for their stockpiles before I could get there.
Thanksgiving Blend was promoted as being fine-tuned to "go perfectly with your stuffing and pumpkin pie." I don't know about that, but I do know that it was a thick, dark, spicy blend much like some of the better Anniversary Blends.
(At one Starbucks, I stood in line behind a pair of Starbucks employees from Canada who had driven across the border to hunt for Thanksgiving Blend. It wasn't sold in Canada, because their Thanksgiving is in October, and this was judged too close to "Anniversary Blend Season." Needless to say the guys had to keep looking - I hope they were able to find some!)
It's Christmas Blend season, of course! I bought a pound yesterday, but I haven't had a chance to try it. I guess it wouldn't seem as special and delicious if Christmas Blend was sold all year. I sure do like it, though.
Recently Starbucks announced plans to brew a lighter, "blonde" roast, for haters who insist that "Starbucks tastes burnt." This seems like the worst kind of capitulation if you ask me. Also, people will bitch about Starbucks regardless of what the taste is.
You know that Starbucks haters aren't going to be lured in by a lighter coffee roast. At this point, it's basically a religious difference. The Catholic church isn't going to lure in any Baptists by announcing "Now with fewer Communion wafers!"