Well Fed Network

Posted by Abbey Lile-Taylor on A Nice Cuppa

Thanksgiving has become quite the extravaganza at my house. Since getting married six years ago, my husband and I start planning our huge meal weeks in advance. Me searching through tons of recipes looking for that new sparkler to add to the ever growing menu, and Drew trying to choose the perfect 15lb turkey.

I’m sure you’re imagining at least 12 people around my holiday table, but in reality it’s just the two of us… and the dog. We just love food and a big celebration - and I think that I’ve found this year’s perfect addition: Starbucks Thanksgiving Blend.

The Thanksgiving Blend was created in a collaboration between Starbucks and Tom Douglas, renowned Pacific Northwest chef and culinary entrepreneur and the 2008 Bon Appetit Restaurateur of the year. I was lucky enough to chat with Chef Douglas and ask him a few questions about his life as a chef and how this amazing new coffee blend came to be…

You have so many amazing restaurants. Do you have a favorite?
I don’t have a favorite per say, but I use them like any customer might. When I have friends from out of town I take them to the Dahlia Lounge for dinner. Many times we drop into Palace Kitchen for a sexy late night plate of plin after a catering event in our space next door, the Palace Ballroom. I eat lunch at Etta’s when I’m down in the Pike Place Market. I love going to Lola because serve the most interesting palate of Greek, Turkish and Moroccan inspired food. I often have cravings for the cherry bomb and fennel sausage pizza at Serious Pie. And who couldn’t resist a coco pie bite from the Dahlia Bakery at 4 o’clock in the afternoon with a shot of espresso?

I read that you were born back east. What made you decide to move to the Pacific Northwest?
Yes, I was born in Cleveland and raised in Delaware. After graduation I was looking for “the next big thing” that wasn’t scholastic. So I hopped into my ’67 Chevy, traveled across the country and ran out of gas in Seattle. It has become my adopted hometown, and vice versa, Seattle has adopted me.

I am always interested in how people come into their careers… What made you want to become a chef?
Something about being a chef has always been natural to me. I’ve enjoyed it form the day I started doing it, but I also just love restaurants. From the minute you walk in the door to a smiling hostess, great lighting, a manager who’s in control of the situation, and smells wafting from the kitchen – they all just kind of make me melt into, what I consider to be, the best business in the world. And I still love it 30 years later!

What made you want to create a Thanksgiving Blend? Most people would have assumed that Christmas is a more common holiday to create for.
Starbucks has a Christmas blend, which I’ve been buying forever. The idea of a Thanksgiving blend possibly becoming an annual tradition like Christmas Blend was appealing. I look forward to drinking it for years to come.

Do you imagine this coffee being drunk with the meal, or more of an after dinner “finisher?”
I think I was as surprised as anyone else how well coffee pairs with a savory meal – and I’m not talking bacon and eggs! I’m talking about the herbs we infuse into the turkey, the aromatics from the gravy and stuffing that ended up working perfectly with this Guatemalan and Sumatran blend.

I’m not going to lie to you… I’m a huge coffee drinker, and this was, hands down, the best coffee I’ve ever had. But how did you know this particular blend was “the one?”
When we were tasting the coffee we were looking for something that had spice, chocolate notes and acidity to cut through the flavors of a savory meal while maintaining its character. We actually didn’t realize we hit the jackpot until we actually made a Thanksgiving dinner, sat around the table and tasted it with the final two coffees in the running. The Starbucks team and our team looked at each other as we were supping the coffee and shoving sweet onion and sage gravy soaked turkey in our mouths, and it just hit us that we had been successful in our efforts in creating a match. While it was delicious with the pumpkin pie, the flavor of the coffee just exploded with the turkey.

What is your favorite meal to pair with coffee?
Since Thanksgiving is almost here, I would have to say that my favorite meal to pair the coffee with would be the following:

o Roasted turkey with sweet onion and sage gravy

o Cranberry hazelnut and oyster mushroom stuffing

o Candied sweet potatoes with a little red chili

o Butter braised green beans

o Pickled peaches that we canned last summer from our farm.

Like I mentioned to Tom, this is THE BEST coffee I have ever had. It’s the kind of coffee you always imagine classy characters drinking in diners in those old black and white movies. Rich, flavorful, never bitter. You just want to cradle the cup in both your hands, inhale the aroma, and let the creamy richness flow over your tongue. Whether you drink this with Thanksgiving dinner or the exhausted morning-after breakfast, you will be thankful to have this Starbucks Blend in your cup.

Bon Appetit!

Photo from TomDouglas.com.