Goodbye, Shawn

Shawn is a Starbucks partner/friend who is transferring to another store in the neighborhood where she lives, and I wanted to pass a card among my co-workers, since some will not see her before her last day. What better way to commemorate her time than with a coffee cup card!

The original design template for this card came from Amy Voida, who sent me this card to congratulate me on my new job at Starbucks. It's hard to believe that I'll celebrate 1 year there in about 5 weeks.

This monster from Starving Artistamps is called Zot, but I prefer Coffee Zombie. The color combination inspiration came from the DSW bag that I toted my new sandals home in yesterday. Elegant Eggplant and Gable Green are the colors of card stock, but Coffee Zombie is colored with Green Galore, which is just a tinge darker and seemed more "monstery." I stamped the image twice so that I could pop up the coffee cup and his eyes (don't you love the Lavender Lace bags he's sportin'?).
I also stamped CZ in LL on the Whisper White card stock and colored it in so that he would have a proper shadow. Stamp-A-Ma-Jig strikes again! Click on the photo to view more details. (The secondary shadow in front of the image is photographer's error. Please disregard.)

The stamp that wraps around the card is from a retired Hostess Level 1 set called Riveting, which was from the Fall-Winter 2006-2007 catalog. I had it my pile to sell, but now I'm rethinking that decision!

Sorry I've been so quiet this week. Lots on my mind, and I'll reveal what it has been early next month. This coming week, I'm leaving Wednesday to travel to Salt Lake City for the SU! Convention. I'm getting more and more excited, although I really don't care for air travel. I'm going to be sharing what I see and hear HERE while I'm THERE, so check back starting Thursday!

I need to go and make a thank you card for the maid who will be servicing my room while I'm at the hotel. These gals are usually unseen during our stays, and it struck me that they do so much that deserves to be recognized and appreciated. Who do you know who does something without expecting acknowledgment who needs to be told they're valued by you? Have a good rest of the weekend...

Spilling the Beans

Several of you said that you wanted to know what the scoop was at the Starbucks shareholders' meeting yesterday. You ask, I tell. These are the things I took away from the 1 hour audio version of it that we listened to last night online. These are all initiatives that will effect you, the customer.

1) There will be a new fresh roasted signature blend coffee debuting next month called Pike Place Roast. Pike Place in Seattle is the site of the first Starbucks store, and Howard Shultz still has a key to the place. The coffee will be brewed daily at all US locations, all day long. This is being done to provide the customer who has a daily ritual of getting a cup o' joe and just wants to know that the same roast will be there to start his/her day off just right. You may or may not know this, but we have, to this point, worked off a coffee calendar that rotates us through our various blends. Now we'll have just one other coffee and a decaf option on tap besides PPR.

2) A rewards program will be launched mid-April. I don't have all the specifics yet, but there will be rewards, such as:
a free tall drink of your choice with the purchase of a pound of whole beans
free modifiers (syrup and milk of your choice) when you purchase a latte,
free refills on brewed coffee and
free wireless internet access for 2 hours daily.
This is just phase 1, and was initiated in response to comments expressed on the surveys that customers took that said that they had to switch from an espresso drink to brewed coffee because their favorite drink had become too expensive.
I know this to be true, because we had a daily customer--James: double tall soy latte--who stopped coming in daily and gave up his drink for brewed coffee because it was just too expensive.

This rewards program should allow him to be able to get his favorite drink again for about the same price as his cup of coffee, because he won't have to pay for the soy, only the shots. It's a bit confusing, but I'm sure it will be worth it to have an active Starbucks card. 1 in 7 customers pay this way, and it's time to reward that loyalty.

3) New Mastrena espresso machines will be coming to 30% of the stores by year's end and to 75% of the stores by the end of 2009, and even though the process will still be automated, these machines will harken back to the days when baristas pulled shots by hand. The amount of customization will be greater and the length of the shot will increase again (we went from 13-17 sec. length when I started to 15-19 sec. length with the 3-hour retraining last month) to 18-23 sec. length and be timed by the machine. Plus, the machines will be half a foot shorter, allowing the barista to continue connecting with customers while they wait for their drinks.

4) The technology dept. launched a new website called MyStarbucksIdea.com. This is an online community where customers can tell the company--48 experts from various parts of the corporate headquarters will moderate forums and chats--things they'd like to see Starbucks do. The online community will vote on these ideas, and those with the most votes will be acted upon. There's a separate site just for partners to provide similar feedback, since our experience is a bit different than the customer's. I think this is a really cool idea, and I think it's not just a promotional tool. I believe the company designed it because it's seeking to be responsive to its customers' ideas.

5) We increased our commitment to being a good steward of the earth by increasing our support of farmers who grow coffee responsibly. The goal is to have all our coffees bear the seal of being grown according to conservation standards.

6) Starbucks purchased a company that makes an $11,000 machine called the Clover. This machine makes 1 cup of coffee at a time, and recreates the flavor of french pressed coffee with high technology. These machines will be in select stores, and customers will be able to have a cup of their favorite blend brewed to their specifications anytime they want, and in less time than it takes to make a traditional french press.

If you'd like to read a full blown press release, follow this link. All this is being done to reinvest in the consumer's experience with the company that has defined coffee for Americans, so I hope you're happy about what you've just read and what you're hearing. It's all for you.

Starbucks Training Recap

I realize this is a crafting blog, primarily, but I said I'd share what I learned last night at the partner training that I participated in. It was very thorough, and some of it I shared yesterday when I educated you about espresso shots. Here's what else I learned:

1) Steamed milk must stay between 150 and 170 degrees in order to be used in beverages, and may NEVER be resteamed. This is new, because just 5 months ago when I was trained, I was taught that the milk in the pitchers could be resteamed ONCE, if it fell below 150 and not at all if it fell below 140. The same standard for steaming milk no higher than 180 degrees remains, because after that point, milk scalds. Yuck.

2) I also learned that I'd been steaming milk not quite correctly. The steaming standard creates the kind of dense, tiny bubbled foam that is used to make cappuccinos. My bubbles were too big. Not a tragedy, but once I did it correctly, the difference was noticeable, not only visually but in the taste of the drink. Milk that is properly steamed has a subtly sweet taste, and the mouth feel is satisfying, as it coats your palate. As part of our training, we did have to taste milk that had been steamed but not aerated at all. It tasted very flat and had no mouth feel, no creaminess. Yuck.

3) After practicing milk steaming, we made cappuccinos. The proper weight for a cappuccino is between .47 and .67 on our food scale, and mine weighed .58. The variance is there to accommodate those who like dry cappuccinos and those who prefer theirs wet.

4) We discussed how we could improve our customer connections. I think my store does well in this category. One of the activities we did was to take a cup and write the order on it of a customer we know. For me it was a venti, 7 pump, whole milk, with whip cream white mocha for Christy. It was enlightening to go around the room and share that drink order and what we know about the person who orders it. This is the reason I'm at Starbucks. Starbucks is the "third place" for many people because of the connections that we partners work to establish with each customer, and I'm proud to help facilitate that culture.

For some, the connection is limited to what their drink is and that's it. Those customers like that they don't have to talk, and still be confident they're going to get their beverage just the way they like it. For others, the reason they choose to pay the price for their drink is because they feel "known" when they stop by. I know their name, their drink, and most likely, something about them, and that's important. We all long for community, and that's what Starbucks is for many. I don't know of any other food service establishment that has made it its key principle to intentionally establish connections with customers. It's what sets Starbucks apart.

Besides all the training we received last night, the time was a re-establishing of commitment to the bottom line at Starbucks. We're in the people business selling coffee. Valuing our customers by doing whatever it takes to make sure they have the perfect beverage isn't about the coffee. It's about communicating something intangible through the simple act of serving.

I hope you'll experience a difference in your drink and your encounters with the partners when you next frequent your local Starbucks. I'll return to crafting tomorrow.

Starbucks is Closing (for 3 Hours)!

I have to go to work tonight. As you are most likely aware, and as I also know some of you are lamenting, ALL north American Starbucks locations will be closed this evening--GASP!!--from 5:30-8:30 for partner training. One partner told me that his grandma called him, all concerned, because she'd heard that Starbucks was closing...as in, for good! Here's a little post to dispell some accurate information.

I've had some customers poke fun, facetiously inquiring if their drinks will taste different or better tomorrow after we're taught again how to push the button that pulls the espresso. Here's what those of you who have ever had a Starbucks espresso drink that DIDN'T taste good know: there's more to the creation of an excellent espresso drink than "pushing a button."

The reason the stores are closing is so that all the partners can be educated at one time about the recent changes that have been made to the espresso bar and some new standards that corporate is handing down for making the drinks. Five thirty to 8:30pm is a logical time, since dinner falls in that time frame, and it is hoped that most normal Americans don't consider coffee or espresso a meal. Some stores will even reopen after the training period, although the one I work at won't.

Here's what's happening: the espresso machines have been recalibrated so that the shots pulled are 15-19 seconds in length, instead of 13-17 seconds. The result is a more intense, sweeter, more flavorful shot and harkens back to the day when the barista measured the grounds, hand tamped the espresso, and timed the shot's length in his/her head. (Bob remembers these days and is one of those people who would like to see Starbucks return to this type of shot pulling. Never gonna happen...)

Every espresso shot has but a 10 second optimum flavor shelf life. If you have ever had a bad tasting espresso drink, odds are the shot sat longer than 10 seconds before it was added to the other ingredients of your drink. < 10 seconds and mixed with milk=wonderful taste. > 10 seconds and mixed with milk=battery acid. I've had to taste the espresso after 10 seconds, and that's an accurate description. Also, if a shot takes less than 15-19 seconds or more than 19 seconds to pull, flavor is also impacted.

So, having a fully knowledgeable barista working behind the bar who is timing the shots hourly to make sure the espresso is correct really is worth going without your venti toffee nut latte, grande nonfat caramel macchiato, or quad short breve mocha for 3 short hours. I've heard of a few other things that are going to be instituted, so I'll share those tomorrow.

You Just Never Know What a Day Can Hold

You know how I wrote this morning that I woke up on the proverbial "wrong side of the bed" and that I was grouchy and tired? Well, I'm singing a much different tune now!
You probably already know what I'm going to share by what you see here, but let me just tell you (imagine me shouting loudly because I'm so excited): I GOT A JOB AT STARBUCKS!!!

This afternoon a phone number I didn't recognize appeared on my cell phone display. I answered, because I also do some freelance work and thought it might be someone calling about something I'd submitted. Instead it was Clay, the manager I'd interviewed with earlier this month, calling. He shared that the gal who had been working the slot that matched my availability (basically "mom hours"--9:30-3:30) had just informed him that she is moving out of state. He called me right away and extended me an offer! I was shocked and pleased, to say the least. My first day will be Sept. 4, the day after Labor Day. I'm ecstatic that I can start work now and not in November, when the other store is scheduled to open.

I keep having to pinch myself to believe it's real! With my family being in town next week, time is going to fly and it'll be time for me to start. My husband's concerned that this may impact my card making and blogging, but I'm going to find a way to make it all work. Thanks for being such cheerleaders. Now to find some collared white and black shirts!