Starbucks Reserve: Finca Nuevo Mexico

Mere weeks after I was gifted with a cup of Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, I went to one of only two Starbucks Reserve stores in Metro Manila to find that no, they were no longer serving that. They had run out of stock and probably for good. So goodbye, fruity coffee! I shall definitely miss your cherry-berry vibe. 

This time I went for an American coffee, the Finca Nuevo Mexico. This is a coffee with a reputation that precedes it. It's been four years since I first heard of this arabica bean grown in the highest and driest part of Mexico by a Mexican family of German origins. This coffee is supposed to be "very very good," according to people whose raptures feature epithets like "ethically grown" and "sustainably farmed" but lack adjectives such as "delicious." I had some ideas how virtuous this coffee was but no idea if I would enjoy it.     

As your coffee drips, the Cofee Master tells you why it's so special.

Well, I guess this is why Starbucks have those leveled-up baristas called "Coffee Masters." After I've made my choice, the coffee master congratulated me on my choice and began supplying me with the details of the legend of Don Ricardo Baumann and his magically sustainable coffee beans while preparing the coffee. As soon as lime odor began wafting off the funnel, he began going more into the characteristics of the coffee itself and concluded by recommending that I get a chocolate- or citrus-based dessert to go with the coffee. (If you have the time and are so inclined, do get a cup at a Reserve store and let the CM show you the works. There's just enough ritual there to recall a tea ceremony but it's chatty and you're standing so you'd neither be bored nor cramped. The steps are as I had described previously here.)

I took my cup to one of the counter seats. Its opening taste was bright and, as promised, very citrusy. It reminded me more of calamansi or dayap than of oranges—acidic, indeed. It was light and crisp and almost clean, leaving only the merest taste of brown sugar. If I had it at home, I'd probably drink it with a nutty müesli steeping in orange juice. All in all, a good breakfast coffee.