by Nigel Ong
You may have heard of strong, dark espresso. However, would you consider a light, delicate, and flavorful one? Welcome to the world of Blonde Espresso.
Roasted light, these beans are meant to be intense, yet at the same time, not smash your palate with smoke and bold flavors. It is a rather different experience with Espresso and something few are familiar with.
For this post, I thought I would experiment with blonde espresso, starting with Starbucks’ Blonde Espresso roast. I will first sample the espresso before making several espresso-based drinks with them. Finally, I compare it against other espresso coffee I have.
About Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast
For many, Espresso is supposed to be dark, bold, and intense. It should be so strong it smashes your palate with nothing but smoke and bitterness before showing other flavors.
However, there are a small number of drinkers who enjoy lighter or blonde espresso. These drinkers enjoy its more delicate and intense flavor. Not as strong as your regular espresso, but stronger than your common cups of coffee.
It was Starbucks, however, that made Blonde Espresso popular. In 2018, Starbucks released the Blonde Espresso Roast, a whopping 43 years after introducing its original Espresso Roast blend.
Starbucks then created lots of drinks using it, including a line of Shaken Espresso. These further popularized the Blonde Espresso.
The Blonde Espresso is made by roasting coffee beans lightly, yet at the same time extracting as many flavors as possible. It has a roasting intensity scale of 6, firmly on the blonde roast side. It is as light as the Starbucks Veranda Roast.
Starbucks also offers their Blonde Espresso as bags, which means you can pick them up in stores and shops. Here’s mine, freshly picked up from a store.
How Does Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast Taste?
Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast is not your regular roast coffee, so I would not use my regular brewing method to review it. Instead, I will focus on making espresso and then use the espresso as a base to make other popular espresso-based drinks.
First Impression
The coffee beans did not look like regular espresso beans when I opened the coffee bag. The color is light, and there is no shine on the beans.
You probably would not for a second think that this is an espresso roast. I rechecked my coffee bag to ensure I opened the right coffee.
Regular espresso beans are dark and oily for maximum crema and flavor. At this point, I thought it would be a great idea to put the Blonde Espresso beans side by side with Starbucks Espresso Roast beans for you to compare.
The beans also do not smell too intense. The beans have a mild, soft taste, similar to when I light roast coffee. There is some acid-like smell I would say to be citrus, maybe tomatoes. But the acidic smell is pleasant, not rancid-ish.
The coffee bag does not give specific instructions on how to brew the coffee. Perhaps it is understood that the beans are to be brewed using an espresso machine.
There are, however, more affordable machines you can use to brew Espresso. I do not have an espresso machine at home. Instead, I relied on a smaller, more portable solution to make my Espresso – the Wacaco Minipresso GR.
Espresso
For my first drink, I’ll get started with straight espresso. I loaded 8 grams of fine ground and about 30 of hot, off-boiling water into my Wacaco Minipresso and pumped a shot out.
I like what I see. The espresso looks rich, with thick crema that looks very inviting. The crema is richer and thicker than when I use regular roasts to make espresso. The color is also lighter, more like a latte, actually.
I brought the espresso closer to my nose; there was not much smoke or charred smell with the espresso, either. Instead, I detected some citrus, even some floral notes.
As I sip, I make sure I draw in all the coffee, cream, and air. What I taste is an airy espresso with a complex flavor. As a start, it does not smash my palate with smoke and bitterness, unlike regular espresso.
Instead, the initial punch of flavor is as soft as a cup of Americano. It then goes away slightly, revealing the flavors in the espresso itself.
I get to taste some acidity, likely tomatoes and lemon. I also picked up soft floral notes, which is very unique to me. I mean, I do not expect to taste anything floral in an espresso, to be honest, so this is a pleasant surprise.
There is also some caramel sweetness, especially if I let the espresso stay on my tongue a little longer. This is not hard to do, as the espresso is so soft you do not feel like needing to gulp it down.
As I sipped further down, the crema remained with the espresso and did not dissolve away.
Macchiato
Next would be to bring in some milk. In this case, I started with a milk-light recipe, a macchiato. You make a cup of macchiato by adding a small bit of milk to espresso.
I warmed my fresh UHT cow’s milk in a microwave and poured it into my IKEA Mattlig Milk Frothing Jug. Then, I frothed the milk using the IKEA Produkt Milk Frother.
This combination costs less than $20, a cheaper alternative to buying a coffee maker with a milk steamer. Try this combination if you don’t have a milk steamer at home.
When that was ready, I pulled a fresh shot and poured a small dollop of milk into the espresso. Excuse me for how the foam layer looks; I am not too good at that yet.
The milk foam added some color variation to the crema, making it a nicer drink to look at, too. Taste-wise, the milk improved the coffee, at least in my opinion. I notice the macchiato is a tad sweeter; perhaps the lactose in the milk helped with this.
It further softens the espresso and makes it a little bit more mellow. I think the milk also cuts into the acidity of the espresso slightly.
Latte
I then decided to use more milk with the espresso. This time, I made a cup of Latte. I made a latte over cappuccino because it is generally more popular.
I used the regular latte formula of one part espresso and three parts milk, with a thin foam layer on top. Once again, I kept the pouring simple: a blob on the foam.
I am a little unsure about the latte. On one point, I really love the taste of milk, and how it greatly softens the espresso. The creamy, milky taste makes the coffee much nicer to drink, with the flavor adding to the satisfaction.
On the other hand, I noticed that since the espresso itself is a little weak, I noticed that using a lot of milk risks drowning the flavors away. This may be the case if you use whole, full-flavored milk.
I tried making another cup of latte, but this time with low-fat milk. This time, I tasted more coffee and the mild bitterness. I enjoyed this cup better than the latte with whole milk.
Unless you like a mild and milky latte, I would advise you to use low-fat or skimmed milk for your Blonde Espresso latte instead.
Americano
Aside from milk, people also enjoy diluting their espresso with water to make Americano or Long Black. After deliberating between Americano and Long Black, I made Americano instead. The reason? It’s more popular.
I brewed a shot of espresso and added two shots of hot, off-boiling water to break the crema up. After two shots of hot water, the crema actually remains intact, showing how good the crema is despite it being a light roast.
As I sip the coffee, I notice that there’s very little smoke, and the flavor is mild and soft. The coffee flavor is there, and the overall drinking experience is pleasing. There are also some mild floral notes.
However, I am a little uncomfortable with the strong, acidic taste of the coffee, making it a little sour to sip. As the coffee cools, however, the sour taste goes away a bit, making it more tolerable.
Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast vs. Espresso Roast
It only makes sense to compare the Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast with the regular Espresso Roast. For this, I made the same cup of Espresso, using beans from these popular roasts.
Technically, it may not make sense to compare these two since they are prepared differently. Blonde Espresso is roasted light and produces Espresso with a light and delicate flavor. The Espresso roast is dark, bold, strong, and earthy, just like your regular Espresso.
I get the same impression with both. Starbucks Espresso roast is intense, smashing my palate nicely for a deeply satisfying espresso. The Blonde Espresso is more refined and has a more complex taste.
I would enjoy sipping on the Blonde Espresso while leaving the regular Espresso for gulping or as a base for Latte, Americano, etc. The stronger flavor makes it more able to withstand being diluted with water or milk.
Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast vs. IKEA Patar Espresso Roast
I have another espresso roast sitting in my stash, and I thought I’d also sip it side by side with the Starbucks Blonde Roast. My verdict is similar: it is stronger, bolder, and earthier than the Blonde Espresso.
However, the IKEA Patar Espresso Roast is a little mellower than the Starbucks Espresso Roast. To me, the IKEA Patar Espresso is a more sippable espresso than the Starbucks Espresso roast.
Starbucks Blonde Espresso Americano vs. Regular Coffee
I kept thinking of a way to compare the Blonde Espresso with regular coffee, and I thought I’d compare them to Americano. Most gas stations or convenience stores sell Americano, but not Espresso.
For this, I went to pick up a cup of Americano from a 7-Eleven. Then, I made a fresh cup of Americano using the Starbucks Blonde Espresso. I then sip them side by side and see what I think.
It goes without saying that the Blonde Espresso Americano wins hands down. There’s more flavor, and you can taste the quality. The regular Americano just tastes a little dull and flat. It is basically bitter water.
If you care about good coffee or have some time at home in the morning, just put in the effort and make your own Americano at home. You can also pay a dollar or two more and get a nice cup of coffee from your local coffee shops.
Just skip the gas station or convenience store and only get coffee here when you need something quick or when it’s late at night and you have few options.
Who Is The Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast For?
The Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast is a unique take on the traditional Espresso. It is not intense, bold, and dark. Instead, it is light, delicate and bright.
I see the Blonde Espresso Roast as a way to simultaneously enjoy something intense yet light. Let’s say you enjoy light roast coffee but are too full to sip a cup.
You can get the Blonde Espresso. You will get a more intense yet mild flavor on a smaller volume of coffee.
On another note, you can consider the Blonde Espresso for occasional drinking if you enjoy dark Espresso. Let’s say you wanted something milder, and regular Espresso feels too strong. A blonde Espresso may work well here.