The Gospel According to Starbucks®

This book has not been authorised by Starbucks Coffee Company

Product Details
Price: RM 56.90 at Borders
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: WaterBrook Press (January 16, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1578566495
ISBN-13: 978-1578566495

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Studies show that fewer Americans than we thought attend church, and Sweet, popular author (Soul Salsa) and professor of evangelism at Drew Theological School in New Jersey, thinks that the church should take cues from an institution that isn't suffering a lack of customers: Starbucks. For all his hip cultural sensitivity, Sweet hasn't shed one standby of church-growth books: the acronym. His is EPIC, which stands for Experience, Participation, "Images that throb with meaning," and Connection. Starbucks has mastered EPIC living, and the church can, too. The successful coffee corporation recognizes that people are drawn in through visual icons, and it beats competitors because its design sensibility is superior—indeed, its imagery is shot through with "spiritual significance." The church should take a hint and, instead of focusing solely on its written mission statements, devote some energy to design. Starbucks understands that people hunger for "authentic experience." Finally, just as people like to drink coffee together, people seek community and connection in religious settings. Sweet's bottom line? Christianity must move beyond rational, logical apologetics, and instead find ways of showing people that it can offer "symbols and meaningful engagement." This whimsical and insightful book offers a fresh approach to a topic of perennial interest. (Apr. 17)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Praise for The Gospel According to Starbucks®

“Cultural barista Leonard Sweet serves up a triple venti cup of relevant insights to wake up decaffeinated Christians. Careful, the book you’re about to enjoy is extremely hot.”
–Ben Young, pastor, author of Why Mike’s Not a Christian

“Reading this book is a caffeine jolt. Get ready to be accelerated into the future, with Jesus a central part of the experience.”
–Dan Kimball, pastor, author of The Emerging Church and They Like Jesus, But Not the Church
“The Gospel According to Starbucks® inspires us to quit playing safe and mediocre lives and to fulfill our God-given potential. Leonard Sweet uncovers God’s purpose for people not just as individuals but also as communities. An outstanding and thought-provoking book.”
–Paul McGee, international speaker, best-selling author of S.U.M.O. (Shut Up, Move On®)

“I have a massive passion for passion. It’s my favorite spiritual topic. And I have a nominal coffee obsession, Starbucks being my ritual more often than not. So what a treat to read Leonard Sweet’s extra-shot weaving together of the two–all in the hope that each of us will drink in the meaningful and passion-filled life we were designed for.”
–Mark Oestreicher, president of Youth Specialties

taken from Amazon.com

This book was spotted by my friends (Martin and Anne) at Borders one day, and they immediately called me to ask whether or not I have it already - because they know it is a must have in my collection. Yup, I don't have it yet and I must have it!

Though I have not read the book thoroughly yet (there's still a long queue before it comes to this one) but browsing through it is enough to pull me to ditch the rest and sit on this (like the strong aroma of good coffee that is so irresistibly tempting).

The author explains matters of faith using acronyms that is related to coffee and Starbucks' business plans like BREW for Being, Real, Engages the, World and EPIC for Experiential, Participatory, Image-rich and Connecting.

Sprinkled with experiments that illustrates how much Christian faith can be exemplified by our day-to-day coffee knowledge, using coffee related jargons, this book is truly going to be one of my favourites.

AZUKI FRAPPUCINNO @ STARBUCKS COFFEE

"Taste the daydream"

- complicated tacky caption or just plain distastefully Japanese?-

By comparison, this is not a new drinjk introduced by Starbucks, since I get to try it about a month back at Kl Central Starbucks. The name is definitely catchy for me, because I like anything and everything Japanese.

The Frap before it's made to affogato

Come to think about it, I now feel that I was cheated into trying it, since I was told that it is a coffee based Frap. On its own, it was a tad bit just too sweet for my liking, and I was wondering where did the coffee taste go? So to spike up my drink, I ordered a cold shot of Espresso to drown it and make it stronger. As I have experienced before, cold Espresso is pretty much necessary to maintain the texture of the Frap, since a hot pour will spoil everything.

I would prefer the red bean chunks to be slightly coarser too, to add to the texture. Bigger straws are a better idea (like the ones in Coffee Bean) rather than the usual individual packed green ones for this.

Being a coffee purist, I'd frown upon any attempts to make fanciful combinations that doesn't really bring out the taste of coffee, but this is one exception, to have it is to have it Affigato, or not at all.

foam

COFFEE STORY @ MALACCA

the pond along the length of the coffee house

Recently I was in Malacca for an official field-trip and I had some free time at night to go strolling around the town. Unluckily or maybe luckily, it rained a heavy down-pour when I was out and I had to run for shelter to some shop-lots. Wet, stranded, tired and in a terrible mood from the sudden change of weather, one unexpected consolation was to find this place: The Coffee Story - Concept Coffee Shop.

Located at the fringe of town, sandwiched by old shops left and right, this great place is easily overlooked.

Walking in to the restaurant almost felt like walking in my dream place - Cafe Philosoffee as I meant it to be.. well, almost. But the concept in this set-up falls nothing short of superb.

the sound of trickling water calms the tired nerves

One most glaring attraction is a rectangular pond with flowing water running across the length of the coffee house. There are 2 water fountains at each ends of the pond and gold fish swimming freely in the water.

fusion of simplistic modern design with Oriental deco

The seaters are comfortable, clusters of sofas and dining tables loosely placed in and outside the main enterance. Chinese House and CantoPop plays in the back-ground - an acquired taste, of course. Alternatively, bring your own jazz CD and get them to put it on, I'm sure they'd be happy to entertain requests.

Another intriguing character of this place is in the menu. They named their food and drinks with catchy names like Coffee Story Toast, Old School, Brand New Day and drinks like Superman Milo and Coffeeman.

Being happily stranded in this cool place, it is unlucky to have forgotten my camera. And without any decent books in hand for that matter. They do have a few selections of Chinese Mags and tabloids though, but... never mind...

In the time-frame of about 1 hour, I had the opportunity to try 2 drinks and 3 dishes - talk about greed. But the portions were pleasantly appropriate for me to try out more than just one.

First I had the Coffee Story Toast - toasted bread and cheese with cherry tomato on top - and Coffeeman which is a vanilla+coffee milk shake.

Coffeeman and Coffee Story Toast - ideal finger food for the small eater

Then I went for the heavier dishes - Mayonnaise Chicken and Sweet+Sour Chicken without the rice. Downed with a very interesting drink, the dream of every child: Superman Milo which is actually iced-Milo topped with a hill of Milo powder. Messy, but which child will eat cleanly?

Pricing
I spent about RM16.00 for all the mentioned above. This, as opposed to a Frap Venti(R) drink for the same price - extremely worth every cents spent.

Recommendations
I strongly recommend this place for a night out catching up with friends or just to run away from routine life and sink your nose in a good book. The centre-piece pond and its catchy ornaments scaterred around the coffee house serves as conversational starters making this place a good port for first date too. If you don't already have a date, lug your laptop along and start chatting up a company for this place is equipped with WiFi connection.

And if for nothing else, I'd come back just because the waitress (?owner) was extremely hospitable and welcoming - making my short patronage a pleasant experience.

Coffee Story Concept Coffee House is located at:

328, Jalan Melaka Raya 1
Taman Melaka Raya
75000 Malacca
(same row as Maybank, right opposite HQ Bookstore)

Business: 0800 - midnight (Mon - Sat)

GOLD COAST BLEND @ STARBUCKS COFFEE

All that glitter is gold: not your ordinary bling-bling

Intro by Starbucks

Starbucks created its biggest and most flavorful blend in 1987 to commemorate its first store opening in Chicago. Gold Coast Blend® is a sophisticated coffee with waves of flavor that evolve as the coffee cools. This full-bodied blend showcases our finest Latin American and Asia Pacific coffees, accented with a touch of Italian Roast's sweetness.

Pricing
Tall serving RM6.50 + 15%Tax

Origin
This is a multi-region variety of blend, fusion of the best from Latin American and Indonesian origin.

Starbucks Gold Coast Blend: the diva

Assessment
This is truly a complex blend, a multiphase showcase of flavour and aroma. One just need to sit and sip through the cup to experience the spectrum of stimuli it presents. I recommend sitting through it because this is one with very interesting character needing a bit of concentration to appreciate.

The initial impression comes about as tame and gentle. Comparing to Colombia Narino Supremo which is intense on the first sip, Gold Coast Blend gives a non-explossive introduction. Even the aroma is not striking, rather soft and smooth, creating an image of a sweet talking gentleman welcoming his dame.

Further discernment finds a fruity tinge, similar to a sweet wine consistency. The midtaste experience turns more intense, giving off a tinge of bitter-sweetness, very much like burnt-sugar. This bitter-sweet character lingers at the back of the throat, enhances the aroma, changing the initial mild impression to a level higher.

As the strength of the brew is most noted in the aftertaste, characterising it as unmistakably bold - or Extra bold as the company claims - constant sipping helps me to stay in the sweet wine phase of the showcase, which is my favourite for this blend.

Although the strength of the brew is most intense in the aftertaste, the general impression I have is still a clean coffee, with a pleasant bitter sweetness that stays for a while.

Aroma 8/10
Acidity 8.5/10
Body 8/10
Flavour 7.8/10
Aftertaste 6.5/10

Recommendations
Like a good movie, this one is best enjoyed in silence (not necessarily alone). I would drink this as my breakfast coffee, on a calm morning, after a well-rested night, when a high joltage jump-start is not needed.

After-coffee mint recommended.

SWEET SWEET COFFEE

It's been a while since I last had a good cup of black coffee. Last week, when I was at UPM attending the National PROSTAR Convention, I had to endure 3 full days of absurdly sweet americano or kopi-o that was dispensed from a leaky plastic container every time we had a break. I swear that would be the last time I will put up with such insult.

Anyway, congratulations to Starbucks KK for the opening of its third branch at KK City Mall. Why do we need another Starbucks I do not know, but I am not complaining, in fact, I think we can never have enough... I just think that Berjaya Group should be careful of over-domesticising the brand because the way Sabahan or rather Malaysian mentality as a whole, appreciates the exotic more.

MOCHA FRAPPUCINNO: AFFOGATO STYLE @ STARBUCKS COFFEE

MOCHA FRAPPUCINO : AFFOGATO STYLE

I was just browsing through Starbucks' merchandise cabinet last night, thinking to myself.. I was around KK all the time and there are outlets there, why should I get mugs and what-nots here when I have to lug everything up and down the plane?...

So I didn't get anything, and was just about to get away with a boring Mocha Frap when my new barista friend, Hieffny, suggested that I should give it a little twist - or drown it - and make it affogato. We need more baristas like this. Good for the company :-)

Starbucks Coffee @ Bukit Raja, Klang

Affogato - or drowning - is actually a common recipe, taken as dessert or beverage by topping it with hot espresso shot. Ice cream, pudding or ice-blended beverages has been drowned in the past.

Espresso used to top a beverage

Affogato was on offer at Starbucks some years back, and has not returned since. Although the norm would be to drown a cream based beverage (Chocolate Frap or Vanilla Frap et cetera) I tried it on my Mocha since I was just too curious to know what's it like, so I went for it.

I can understand why Hieffny stressed that this recipe should be done on a cream based frappucino, because adding a shot to an already coffee based drink did not bring out the wonderful taste of getting cream and coffee mixed as you sip - the coffee taste was too overpowering. When enjoying the beverage, the whole idea is to let cream and coffee combine in your mouth, so sometimes you get more of the sweetness of cream and sometimes the bitterness espresso. So dont stir the whole thing as you'll just end up with a latte frap.

Since it was a last minute improvisation on a Mocha Frap, the whole Frappucino texture was lost after the drowning, making it a tad bit too fluid to stay as a conversational beverage, and because the coffee was doubled by a notch, the chocolatey taste of the original mocha was also drowned.

How I would probably do it at Cafe Philosoffee - is to make the base drink more dry - by using more ice, so that it will not all be dissolved by the hot espresso. Another idea is to use chilled espresso - so that it will not readily mix with the cream based frap and I'll get more texture from the concoction. It is Starbucks' policy to customise drinks for its clients, go have it your style, ask away.

Yusira dressing up my Affogato

Generally the drink is a pleasant one, good for first dates or reunion, since it can also provide conversational starters for those awkward silences. Don't do this when you're in a hurry because this is one beverage to sit down and contemplate over.

Hieffny and Yusira

BREAKFAST @ THE CRUISE

If for nothing else, I would come back to this place for its retro-strips and retro-squares sofas..

Today I went for a cheap breakfast with my cousin in Tanjung Aru at a place called "the Cruise".

Of the three items on offer, I decided to ditch my diet for the day and try out all of them.

The first was Kon-lo Noodle with Minced Chicken, served with coffee or tea. Of course I asked for coffee, but it never intended this entry to be coffee-trashing, so I'll skip on the comments.
The noodle was fine, a generous serving for its price. Tastes okay, nothing to shout about.

Chicken Kon-lo Noodle
Taste 6/10
Value 8/10

The second helping I had was Chicken Porridge. Came in a huge bowl, but only filled up half-way. The porridge was prepared with fine strips of ginger which made it fragrant and appetizing. Though the consistency was a tad bit too fluid for my liking, they were generous with their bits of chicken so at the end it is still okay. Could do better with a dash of sesame oil though.

Chicken Porridge

Taste 6/10
Value 7/10

At the end of the second dish I was too full to continue, so I decided to stop there, and probably come another day for the last offer on the menu, Chicken soup with choice noodle.

Pricing
The price for each dish is RM2.00 plus 15% tax.

Recommendations
Come hungry or don't. Order the kon-lo noodle and don't expect too much from the coffee.

KENYA 'AA' @ SAN FRANCISCO COFFEE

A Limited Edition Coffee

Many coffee experts agree that Kenya produces the most consistent of the world's best coffees. Kenya's coffees, especially AA, are known for their winy acidity. Ours is a medium-roasted, medium-bodied coffee with a bright, fruity flavor.

Kenya "AA"

Assessment

The aroma first hits with a fruity sweetness, such that suggests a sourly anticipation because my mouth just fills with saliva from the fragrance. The first sip portrays a strong acidity but mellows down to a medium aggression as it cools down. The winy pleasantness lingers around for a while after you're done.

Aroma 7/10
Acidity 8/10
Body 8/10
Flavour 8/10
Aftertaste 7/10

Recommendation

Because of its winy sweetness, I would recommend this coffee for after dinner conversations. The aftertaste is pleasant, leaving me wanting more than one helping. Also ideal for a long night on a book-date. The moderate midtaste leaves you relaxed, ideal for winding down from a busy day.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA : ESTATE @ STARBUCKS COFFEE

An exclusive blend from the island's finest estates. This bold, full-bodied coffee is notable for its round mouthfeel, clean herbal notes and mouth watering juiciness.

Origin

The coffee is grown in Kigabah Estate in Papua New Guinea and processed via washed method.

Assessment

The aroma is pleasantly joyful with burst of herbal bouquet, somewhat dims the stress I've had for the day. The coffee gives off a sweet aromatic scent and even sweeter on the first sip. The body is not as bold as it was written on the packet, leaning more towards medium acidity. It gives off a rather chocolaty finish which is quite clean on the palate. Sweet throughout the whole process.

Aroma 8/10
Acidity 7/10
Body 7/10
Flavour 8/10
Aftertaste 8/10 (clean)

Recommendations

Definitely a feel good coffee. Not to be wasted on a rushed sitting, this one is for you to get a big mug of, sit with your favourite companion (in the form of a person, or a book) and de-stress. I'd have this as a dessert coffee, to be enjoyed with a slice of orange meringue, or a basic cheese cake.

ESPRESSO COFFEE CHOCOLATE @ DANSON

Roasted coffee beans covered with dark chocolate

Danson is rather unknown to chocolate lovers but it has quite a large variety of flavoured chocolate products on the shelf in the market. One notable courage is to mix durian into their chocolate.

Danson's Espesso Coffee Chocolate

The Espresso Coffee variety has roasted coffee bean halves enveloped in chocolate. The idea may not be new, and certainly I've tasted better ones. The coffee beans are over-roasted, hard and the chocolate was not as dark as it claimed to be.

the dark chocolate tastes more like milk chocolate

Remember how some of us eat almond-chocolate by stripping the nuts first, then chew on the almond on its own?... This isn't exactly the same thing... especially if you don't have a glass of water nearby.

Price RM8.90 for 120g
Taste 4/10
Value 4/10
Fun factor 3/10

Recommendation
Skip.

COLOMBIA: NARINO SUPREMO @ Starbucks Coffee

Origin

The coffee cherries are grown and processed in the province of Nariño in Southwest Colombia - a precipitous landscape known for its breathtaking scenery and active volcanoes. Many Starbucks blends are enriched with Nariño's fine coffee.

Assessment

Rather intense first impression followed by a busy mid-taste. Slightly heavy for a medium roast, intense acidity turns round as it cools. Slightly lingering aftertaste, but not unpleasant.

Aroma 8/10
Acidity 8/10
Body 7/10
Flavour 7/10
Aftertaste 7/10

Recommendations

The complexity of the taste, and the strong pleasant aroma makes it ideal as a mid-morning jolt, when the extra zing is needed to carry you through till lunch-break. Good on its own, I'll have this brew around when I'm tied down, through some paperwork that needs extra brain-work.

BEYOND SIPPING IN STYLE

I have grown to appreciate the subtle pleasure of knowing my coffee much more since the time when everything was black-and-sweet. To mark another level of complexity, I've asked to join a cupping session, held very regularly at Starbucks Coffee outlets. I am very honoured to be invited to a coffee cupping session for the first time today at Starbucks@Warisan Square.

Starbucks partners

Amongst those on trial: coffee, and a variety of desserts

It was a very interesting experience, plus I got a Passport to stamp the 'journey' through discovery of brews and flavours. Felt like I've been granted another nationality - Coffeeland. Now it's official - I am going to blog about the experience - and stay tuned for everything and everythang coffee...

The passport

Starbucks @ Warisan Square organises cupping sessions on a daily basis at 10am and 7pm. Ask for Ronny or Eddy for further information.

PHILOCOFFEE REBORN

Homosapien coffeephillus

I've taken in coffee ever since I could make sense of my memory. Cooled and heavily sugared was the preparation of choice (as it was made for breakfast) and though it was believed to stunt someone's potential height, I got my way around and still have to sit at the back of the class in school.

Coffee has accompanied my days (or rather nights) preparing for exams throughout secondary school, and those days, I prepared black coffee by the pot. Seriously, a whole pot just for myself. I believe by this over-exposure, I don't get caught up with sleepless night even if I take it for supper.

Appreciation for designer coffee started during Uni days when opportunities and choices were plenty. Just then I swore off Nescafe or any other kind of instant coffee for good. Though not allowed in the dormitory, I kept a drip machine in the room to have fresh brewed coffee every morning. Nothing beats waking up to the smell of real coffee.

For the past few years though I shamefully admit that I've switched back to 3-in-1 just for the sake of convenience. Yea, excuses-smexcuses, I know it has to stop. It's time to get real again.