The journey begins with fresh, unroasted (green) Sumatra coffee beans purchased at the peak of harvest. Then select lots are moved in burlap bags to Singapore, which has the perfect climate for temperature and humidity. There they rest for three to five years, aged with meticulous care. The Starbucks coffee team tastes a sample each year to see how the coffee is progressing until it reaches the optimum flavor with deep notes of cedar and sweet baking spices.
Gay Niven was Starbucks merchandising manager that year and remembers closing the company’s five stores early the night before Thanksgiving to prepare for the holiday season. She and the team decorated with fresh poinsettias and cedar garland from the Pike Place Market’s garden store and lined the shelves with gift baskets filled with mugs, coffee and tea. And when the doors opened on Black Friday, Nov. 23, there was Starbucks Christmas Blend.
“I do think that Christmas Blend was a really a pivotal moment for Starbucks, where it really hit on something that was like, ‘This is really good,’” Niven said.