What To Expect From NYC's Starbucks Roastery

Starbucks just announced that it will open a 20,000-square-foot Starbucks Roastery in New York City in 2018, which, depending on how big of a Starbucks fan you are, is either a.) amazing news, or b.) confusing news. The announcement, buzz-worthy though it may be, left many New Yorkers wondering — what is a Starbucks Roastery, exactly? The mega store will be based on the first Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room, which opened in Seattle a couple of years ago, but updated and customized for the New York market. Like the Seattle Roastery, the New York location will have small-batch coffee bean roasting at the center of the action, and will include a tasting room with master baristas to teach customers about the entire coffee-making process from sourcing the beans to brewing your daily dose.

The New York Starbucks Roastery will be perched on 20,000 square feet of retail space one block south of Chelsea Market in Manhattan's Meatpacking District on Ninth Avenue. Customers will be able to order from a unique menu that highlights the rare Starbucks Reserve line of coffees while immersed in the Starbucks universe, as designed by architect Rafael Viñoly.

While we don't know a whole lot about what we might find in the New York City Roaster, other features in the Seattle location include an entire coffee library with over 200 books all about the craft, Siphon-brewed coffee straight out of a sixth year Potions class, and coffee flights for tasting the different varieties of rare beans. East Coast coffee scholars will receive their owl post to attend what I like to call Starbucks School of Beancraft and Roastery in short order — approximately two years from now when the building is finally complete in 2018. Currently, the future home of the building that will house the Roastery looks like this—

So, there's work yet to do! When it's all said and done, if the design of the New York location is anything like that of the Seattle Roastery, the fine folks in Hoboken will have a shiny new nine-story one of these peeking through the skyline.

Get ready to experience your Starbucks latte on a deeper level than you ever thought possible.

Images: Courtsey of Starbucks (2); Google Maps