Starbucks Puts an Elevated Drink Experience on its Menu

An elevated Starbucks  (SBUX) - Get Free Report experience is, for many of its fans, the ability to order a glass of wine or a fancy cocktail -- the coffee giant first started testing alcohol service at some Brooklyn locations back in 2015 but, by 2018, scrapped the plans and limited alcohol sales to its Reserve locations.

The second location in New York and the seventh in the world, the new Starbucks Reserve Empire State Building opened to the public on Nov. 16 and pays homage to the iconic New York landmark -- the 23,000-square-foot space takes up three stories of the building with a ground-level store and bakery, bottom level lounge and top-level restaurant and bar.

That bar and restaurant is built in an Art Deco style meant to mirror the Empire Statue Building -- a wall of metallic geometric patterns separates the dining area from a bar that looks like it'd belong on a set of "Mad Men."

Multiple Taps, Multiple Drinkers

Cocktail names like Empire Negroni, Siren Tea Punch Fountain, Starbucks Reserve Royale Experience, and Big Apple Blossom hearken back to that mid-century era but, for Starbucks, it was all about starting what it thinks will be a big new trend: cocktails to share, or a drink served in a single vessel for multiple drinkers.

The mixes come in retro-style vessels with either a spout or individual taps that one can turn to refresh one's glass and start at $100 for four people. There are also a number of signature individual cocktails starting upwards of $20.

"Found only here, and perfect for celebrating over, talking over and even making memories over," Starbucks says in describing its new offering. 

This isn't the place for a simple gin and tonic as the most interesting drinks are a nod to either coffee or the New York City -- the Big Apple Blossom is a mix Dorothy Parker gin, pear brandy and green apple liqueur with an edible flower for that apple-flavored tartness while the Roastery Old Fashioned is made from whiskey, cold brew and Amaro del Capo.

Starbucks has also seriously thrown some serious resources at the espresso martini. Dubbed by some as the hottest drink of the past two summers, the mix of coffee and vodka is served both as an individual drink and as part of a tasting flight with different liqueurs.

Alcoholic Drinks Are A Lucrative New Market

Visitors to the Reserve Empire State Building will also be able to book a session learning how to make it themselves with a mixologist alongside a separate class on barrel-aging coffee and whiskey. 

For kids or those who don't drink, there is also a class on making spirit-free spritzes. 

"Pour, shake, stir and sip -- discover your inner mixologist and learn to craft our Starbucks Reserve take on the classic and iconic martini," Starbucks says of its mixing and tasting classes. 

So why is Starbucks so set on offering so many alcoholic drinks and connoisseur classes? Their presence certainly help elevate the Reserve Experience from your neighborhood Starbucks but it is also an opportunity to tap into something customers will pay good money for when given the chance.

In some past research for an evening alcohol program that was ultimately scrapped, Starbucks found that 70% of Starbucks customers of legal age also like wine (compared to 30% of the general population).