Confession: I’m not a true blue coffee drinker – the kind who tries almost every kind of coffee there is and one who knows where to get the best brewed coffees. I just like coffee and I just have to have it in the morning to function but it’s as far as it goes. And if you ask me about my favorite coffee shop, I would tell you that I am a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf gal. But today I stopped by to have coffee with a friend at the recently opened Starbucks Reserve in Makati at Salcedo Village.  

I’ve heard of Starbucks Reserve – the one that opened at The Fort – but while I was curious to know what made the difference to this place, it wasn’t until Erin invited me for coffee there and it was her treat – that I decided to pay a visit. The building it resides in is also fairly new – the last time (which was I guess 6mos to 1 year ago) I was around the area of VA Rufino near PBCom Tower, this building was still under construction and now it houses this coffee shop! You gotta love Makati. So many new places to check out every now and then! 
So what makes this Starbucks different from the other Starbucks? They have special coffee blends that aren’t offered at the usual Starbucks branches.
And they brew it on this Clover machine. 
I don’t know if it’s really how they designed it at every Starbucks Reserve but at the branch we visited, the Clover machine was there at the counter bar, out in the open for customers to watch the coffee brewing. In fact, we’re so close to it that we could also smell it! 

We ordered the Brazil Bourbon Rio Verde – sweet plum with a hint of chocolate and a creamy finish in each sip – as described in Brews in the News. Personally I didn’t really taste anything special about it. For me it just tasted like the usual black coffee I take in the morning during the work week. But you know I’m no coffee connoisseur so don’t take my word for it. 😛

I actually prefer the French Vanilla Latte that was served to us for free.

I go for anything that’s sweet to drink actually which is probably why I liked this.

And what made that free drink even better was the fact that Erin and I both won these Starbucks Buy One, Take One gift certificates. When the barista served us the drinks, we were told to look under the cups to see if we’ll get a special prize from them. Voila! There it was – under the cup – the sticker that said ‘Winner’ which got us the gcs. 
So will I come back to Starbucks Reserve? I would, yes. I kinda liked the ambiance. It was less busy than the usual Starbucks coffee shops. But more importantly, I’m going to come back soon because the buy one, take one GC is only honored at that branch. 
If you’re a fan of Starbucks or coffee in general, then do visit the nearest Starbucks Reserve around your area and go try out their special blends for yourself.