Starbucks is now offering wine and beer in their menu, schooling their baristas in wine and beer and turning them into bartenders. The wine and beer offerings are available in 70 Starbucks stores in the U.S., and the number is growing.
The move comes after years of cautious testing if selling beverages "stiffer" than espresso is feasible. As a result of positive results, the company is accelerating its efforts of increasing the number of Starbucks stores selling wine and craft beer in America.
The total of 70 stores serving beer and wine followed the opening of 5 more locations this week. The coffee shops with expanded menus with booze include locations in the Orlando suburbs, Denver, Miami, northern California and New York City.
The reason for the menu expansion?
Starbucks' online evening menu reads:
"We've always been your neighborhood morning stop-a place to help you start your day. Now we're bringing a little delight to your evenings too."
The official operational date of the Starbucks' evening menu was on Wednesday in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. However, it was reported that a Starbucks at Macy's in Manhattan had already begun serving alcohol before that.
Online, the Starbucks Evenings menu shows a selection of wines which include sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, pinot gris, Malbec, Prosecco and chardonnay, to name a few, according to Food Beast.
"Ask your barista about our current selection of curated craft beers," the Starbucks Evenings menu reads.
With the additional beverages comes uncommon dishes to enjoy them with. Small plate dishes featured in the new Starbucks Evenings menu include, but are not limited to, truffle mac & cheese, chicken sausage and mushroom flatbread, chicken skewers, meat balls with tomato basil sauce, goat cheese flatbread, artichoke, a cheese plate and truffle popcorn and bacon-wrapped dates.
According to CNN, the "evening program" has been tested by the company since 2010 in Seattle. With its apparent success, Starbucks is planning to use the new menu in 2,000 of its 12,000 locations in the U.S. in the span of five years.
In recent months, the coffee giant has reportedly submitted liquor license applications for several hundred more of its stores, with Rachel Antalek, Vice President of concept innovations and Starbucks sommelier, being optimistic with the opening of those stores before the year ends.
"We learned resoundingly that our customers want to come to Starbucks and have a glass of wine or a craft beer," according to Antalek in a Williamsburg company store interview. "There aren't that many places to go in the evening where you can go very relaxed, very casual. It's not loud. You can actually have a small group and hear yourself talk."
According to company officials, they have not left out customers' worries that Starbucks might simply evolve into bars.
According to Antalek, when Starbucks Evenings was launched, company officials were positive of patrons' strong interest in the new menu, especially with internal data showing about 70% of customers also drinking wine. In addition, a 2014 Gallup survey showed that about 31% of Americans who drank alcohol actually preferred wine.
Antalek said Starbucks customers wanted to get their alcoholic drinks the same way they pick up coffee. As for spills, the innovative coffee company decided to use stemless glassware. Baristas are also reportedly trained to fill a ramekin with salt and cayenne dusted pepitas that perfectly fit over a wine glass' lip.
"It's a different occasion for the customer and what they need from us is different in the evening," said Antalek.
According to USA Today, the Starbucks Evenings baristas are not only trained to speak about the in depth flavor profiles of coffee beans, they are also being schooled now on wine and beer to help customers choose their Evenings beverage.
"I think their biggest concern is being sure that we're able to meet individual customer's needs in the moment," said Brandon Giles, the store manager of Williamsburg.
