Posted in Starbucks on 05/05/2011 11:24 pm by Claudine
To celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival (端午节) on June 6, Starbucks won’t be paddling any rivers but will be peddling triangular sticky rice traditionally eaten during this festival. Pre-orders already started for these sticky rice and Starbucks will be selling them in a green felt basket for RMB 98. Each basket will contain 12 sticky rice weighing 60g each. The sticky rice comes in four flavors: coffee, mango, green tea with red bean and mocha chocolate. I probably should order two baskets to bring home as presents to my relatives and friends.
More Starbucks Via Merchandise
You got mail! Since Starbucks stores in China do not have the same type of promotion for each region, I have to search the internet for items which interests me. In the eastern region of China, Starbucks stores gave away Starbucks Via mobile phone straps for every RMB 88 purchases with any Starbucks Via items.
In northern China stores, customers who purchased RMB 50 in a single receipt with any Starbucks Via items will stand a chance to win either 1 sachet of Starbucks Via coffee, 3-pack sachet of Starbucks Via coffee or a Starbucks Via tumbler. The northern China stores already ended their promo last 30 April 2011 but I can’t confirm the eastern China stores.
In any case, I’m happy with the Starbucks merchandise I got in the mail today.
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Posted in Starbucks on 04/06/2011 02:01 am by Claudine
Now you don’t have any reason to miss your daily brew of Starbucks coffee as Starbucks Via is officially launched today in mainland China, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong Starbucks store. This instant coffee pack is filled with 100% roasted Arabica coffee. All you need to do is pour the packet in a cup, add hot water and stir to enjoy your coffee.
Coffee blends
For the initial launch in China, they introduced the Italian Roast and Columbia blends. The Italian Roast blend is perfect for coffee drinkers who like it black as it has a strong bold flavor. The Columbia blend flavor has just the right boldness and can be lessen if you pour in milk and sugar.
The Starbucks Via coffee packs can only be purchased in packs of 3 or 12. A pack of 3 costs RMB 25 while a pack of 12 costs RMB 88. From April 6 to 10, customers can try these Starbucks Via coffee for free at your nearest Starbucks store. Moreover, if you wish to purchase these coffee packs, you will be able to get 10% off on your purchase.
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Posted in Starbucks on 03/27/2011 04:56 am by Claudine
Mark your calendars as new merchandise will be released on April 6, 2011. According to the friendly baristas, the Starbucks Via will be officially launched in China. A pack of 3 will go for RMB 25. I’m hoping that they will giveaway free samples so that I can taste them. I bought some last year as presents for my staff from my trip to Japan and they didn’t really love it. Hopefully the new merchandise will include the Via bearista and the discount card. (Bring them back! I’m not a fan of the Starbucks rewards card. There’s no life after 50 stars!). If not the bearista and the card, I hope they’ll release the new mugs and tumblers with the new icons.
When the new logo was unveiled on March 8, 2011, only four stores around the world has this logo as their store signage. The four are located in Paris, New York, London and Beijing. After church today, I went for a sunny walk towards Starbucks Solana which has the new logo of Starbucks as its signage. It would have been great if it’s located in the store window but it wasn’t meant to be. They’re using the old logo on the paper cups as they ran out of stocks. Twas nice while it lasted. I hope they release some more soon. According to the baristas, they won’t be replacing the mugs which they use to serve dine-in customers till next year.
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Posted in Living in Beijing, Starbucks on 03/08/2011 07:25 am by Claudine
To all my female readers, Happy International Women’s Day! If you’re working in China, you get half-day off. Go out and shop as there are lots of sales for women shoppers.
Not only is it women’s day today but also Starbucks’ 40th birthday. Starbucks @ 40 meant a different logo for the company. They removed the words “Starbucks Coffee” from the logo and featured prominently the Siren.
Starbucks Coffee Blend
To celebrate it’s 40 years in the business, Starbucks released their Tribute coffee. The coffee is a blend of four Starbucks’ highest quality coffee beans – Aged Sumatra, Papua New Guinea, Sun dried Ethiopia and Colombia.
It has a bold flavor with spicy and full bodied, with berry and dark cherry taste. In Beijing, they offered free taste of this coffee from 10am to 2pm today. I missed it but would probably ask for a free taste in the future.
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Posted in Starbucks on 02/21/2011 09:35 am by Claudine
I’m late! This was supposed to come out last 15 February. However, due to amount of work for the past two weeks, I didn’t get enough time to write this blog. Moreover, I still didn’t get any EDM from my favorite baristas. In any case, here’s the latest from China for this year’s Spring edition.
Bearista
The 100th edition bearista bear is out! If you’re a collector, this would be a good collector’s item. This pretty bear is dressed in a pink kimono top with ruffled skirt and pink flower on the ear. There’s no male counterpart and is considered as the 2011 Sakura bear. It sells so fast, that I had to post my experience on how I hunted this bear. This bear retails at RMB 128.
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Posted in Starbucks on 02/10/2011 11:23 am by Claudine
Have you ever wanted something so bad that you’ll search for it no matter what? Here’s what I did for my growing number of fairy godchildren of Starbucks collectors.
February 10, 2011
After waiting for half an hour for the police station to open, I arrived at the office freezing. I headed straight to Starbucks to get a cup of vanilla latte to warm me up. When I was waiting in line, there was suddenly a commotion in the counter. Apparently, one of the regular customers spotted the delivery of new products and asked to have a look. The delivery was for the spring 2011 products which will be launched on 15 Feb 2011 (Mark your calendars already). One of the merchandise that she loved the best and bought all of it at once is the Sakura 2011 Starbucks Bear.
Since she was ahead of me, I was only able to get a glimpse of this bear which was in a dusky pink kimono top before it was bought. The barista told me that they won’t have any more stocks delivered in their store so I better check out other stores. When I reached my desk, I posted on the Exclusive Starbucks Collector group on Facebook about my find. Throughout the day, people were ordering and I don’t know what to do.
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Posted in Starbucks on 01/03/2011 10:12 am by Claudine
A new year means new Starbucks merchandise to celebrate Chinese New Year which falls on February 3 and Valentines Day. Have a look on what’s new in Starbucks China as they celebrate “A Cup of Prosperity” to coincide the Year of the Rabbit.
Bearista
This year’s CNY bearista is dressed as a rabbit with the Chinese character of rabbit as a scroll. I believe this is the male bearista.
The Valentines bearista is definitely the female bearista. She’s dressed in a pink coat, chequered skirt, rose headdress and a red mink hand warmer.
Both bearistas are sold @ RMB 128 each. The Valentines bearista sells faster than the CNY bearista.
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Posted in Starbucks on 11/23/2010 06:19 am by Claudine
I’m back! I missed the autumn edition. I was planning to write one but was feeling lazy. Hopefully, I’ll be able to post continuously from now on. Well.. not daily but hopefully every other day or at least every Tuesday and Thursday.
In any case, Christmas is around the corner and the Starbucks theme is “Share a cup, share a story”. Of course, there will be new merchandise, coffee, and pastry for sale.
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Posted in Starbucks on 07/15/2010 09:00 am by Claudine
It’s summer sizzling hot in Beijing. It’s suffocating outside that going to a bar is like going to a sauna. For the second half of the summer, Starbucks theme is “Step into your oasis”. This would be great as you really need to cool down with the weather outside. So what’s new for Starbucks?
Beverage
I’m so glad that they got rid of the Black Sesame theme and introduced three new cold tea drinks and frappuccino. The first cold tea drink is the Black Currant and Raspberry Juiced Tea. I haven’t tried this one yet but I would imagine it would taste more berry. The next tea drink is the Hibiscus Mango Juiced Tea. It has a flowery mango taste and the mango doesn’t taste like Chinese mango flavor. Price: Tall for RMB 20, Grande for RMB 23 and Venti for RMB 26
The Coffee Jelly Frappuccino Blended Coffee is back. I’m not sure if the black jelly is the Chinese “Gui Lin Gao” but if it is then it’s good for you to have it in the summer months. Price: Tall for RMB 30, Grande for RMB 33 and Venti for RMB 36
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Posted in Starbucks on 05/05/2010 03:25 am by Claudine
Winter weather is finally out and Spring was cut short. Summer is now in the wind but it’s still relatively cool. If you’re planning to visit Beijing, do it now as weather in July and August is unbearable. In any case, the summer theme of Starbucks is “Black is Chill This Summer”
Promotions
From April 27 to June 27, every purchase of the Black is Chill merchandise or food product will entitle you a sticker. Collect 12 stickers to form a picture of the new summer drink and get a free Starbucks summer cloth bag. The stickers they will give you may be the same as your previous one so better befriend your local barista and they might give you the missing sticker you still need.
Collect 6 stickers and they will give you one free Black Sesame Green Tea Frappuccino Blended Cream drink.
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You got mail! Since Starbucks stores in China do not have the same type of promotion for each region, I have to search the internet for items which interests me. In the eastern region of China, Starbucks stores gave away Starbucks Via mobile phone straps for every RMB 88 purchases with any Starbucks Via items. 
