Starbucks serving Christmas Blend

11/11/05 Starbucks Coffee Company invites customers to enjoy a holiday tradition now in its 21st year: Starbucks(R) Christmas Blend coffee. And what was once so prized it was stolen can now be savored.

"This is the coffee our customers wait all year for," says Dub Hay, Starbucks senior vice president, Coffee. "But if not for coffee's colorful history, we may never have had something like Christmas Blend."

Coffee is a plant native only to Ethiopia. The original, wild coffea arabica plants were discovered around 500 A.D. when, it is said, a goat herder observed that coffee cherries were being consumed by his goats with regularity and enthusiasm. For more than a thousand years, coffee flourished only in Ethiopia and Yemen, and coffee trees were guarded with fervor. But in approximately 1600 A.D., Dutch traders stole a coffee tree from the port of Mocha, and carried it to the Indonesian islands.

Over the next two hundred years, coffee flourished in Indonesia, and coffee plants made their way around the globe, resulting in the evolution of a "coffee belt" between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Today, coffee grows and thrives in more than seventy countries, with worldwide production of more than 11 billion pounds.

The recipe for Starbucks Christmas Blend follows this historical path, starting with smooth, full-bodied Indonesian coffees and circling the globe to add vibrant Latin American beans. The finishing touch is the addition of rare, spicy, aged Indonesian beans. When the aged Indonesian coffee is added to the blend, the result is a soft cedary spice that makes the coffee the perfect finishing touch for a rich holiday meal. Christmas Blend is a sturdy coffee that goes hand-in-hand with many holiday foods, including savory meals and sweet and spicy desserts like pumpkin pie and gingerbread.

Starbucks(R) Christmas Blend coffee is Starbucks best-selling seasonal coffee, a favorite part of holiday meals and a delightful gift for coffee lovers. In its signature red cup, Starbucks(R) Christmas Blend coffee is a cheerful sign that the holiday season is back in town.

Starbucks(R) Christmas Blend coffee (also offered as Holiday Blend) is available now while supplies last, in one-pound bags (regular $11.95 U.S./$15.75 CAN; decaffeinated $12.45 U.S./$16.95 CAN), and half-pound bags (regular $6.30 U.S./ $8.65 CAN; decaffeinated $6.55 U.S./$8.90 CAN) at Starbucks coffeehouses throughout North America.

Starbucks(R) whole bean coffee assortment includes more than 20 single-origin offerings and blends from around the world, including many worldwide exclusive coffees, such as Bella Vista F.W. Tres Rios(R) Costa Rica, Brazil Ipanema Bourbon(TM), Colombia Narino Supremo, and Panama la Florentina. The "Coffee of the Week" program links coffee in Starbucks stores to whole bean coffee offerings, providing customers with the opportunity to find new favorites to brew at home. Starbucks Coffee Masters are stationed in stores to answer coffee questions and help customers navigate the world of coffee.

Starbucks Corporation is the leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world, with more than 10,000 retail locations in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim. The Company is committed to offering the highest quality coffee and the Starbucks Experience while conducting its business in ways that produce social, environmental and economic benefits for communities in which it does business. In addition to its retail operations, the Company produces and sells bottled Frappuccino(R) coffee drinks, Starbucks DoubleShot(R) espresso drink, and a line of superpremium ice creams through its joint venture partnerships. The Company's brand portfolio provides a wide variety of consumer products -- innovative superpremium Tazo(R) teas and exceptional Starbucks Hear Music(TM) compact discs enhance the Starbucks Experience through best-of-class products. The Seattle's Best Coffee(R) and Torrefazione Italia(R) coffee brands enable Starbucks to appeal to a broader consumer base by offering an alternative variety of coffee flavor profiles.

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