Six Espresso Martinis, One Very Happy Afternoon at Starbucks Reserve NYC

If you know me well, you’ll know I’m unapologetically a basic bitch. I drive a Fiat 500, I’ll never say no to a Pumpkin Spice Latte (happy PSL season, btw!), and honestly, I’m pretty much a Starbucks girl through and through. So, naturally, a visit to the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in New York City was always going to make the bucket list. With only three Reserve Roasteries of this kind in the world, it felt like the perfect stop on a bucket-list trip — especially when there was an espresso martini involved. ☕️🍸

What started as a mission to try the Starbucks Espresso Martini quickly turned into a full-blown espresso martini tasting experience. We ordered the flight of six espresso martini cocktails and put every single one to the test.

Keep reading to see which ones made the cut, which ones missed the mark, and how we rated all six. 👀

The Cocktails 🍸

Mole Spice 🌶️

Starting with my least favourite — this one was definitely not for me. It was spicy and really peppery, which is probably where it lost me straight away because I’m not a spice girl at all. I tried to give it a chance, but I just didn’t enjoy the flavour enough to keep going back to it.

My rating: 2/10

Cherry Limone 🍒

This one had a really sharp cherry flavour, making it quite tart compared to some of the sweeter cocktails we tried. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but it just didn’t wow me and wasn’t one I found myself wanting another sip of.

My rating: 4/10

Orange Cacao 🍊🍫

This was giving chocolate orange with a little bit of brandy. The orange flavour was definitely the main one coming through, and it actually reminded me quite a lot of Cointreau — that strong, sweet, slightly boozy citrus flavour.

I liked the concept, but it wasn’t quite one of my favourites of the night.

My rating: 5/10

Double Matcha Margarita 🍵

I know matcha isn’t for everyone, but as a matcha lover, I was actually really excited to try this one. It was tequila based too, which is very much up my street. I really enjoyed the combination and especially loved the creamy top, which added a really nice finish to the drink.

I gave it a 7/10, although this was definitely a controversial one in the group. Some people said it tasted like seaweed and rated it closer to a 2/10 😂

My rating: 7/10

Starbucks Reserve Espresso Martini ☕

Now THIS was an espresso martini. It was sweet, strong and had that really good coffee flavour you’d expect from Starbucks Reserve. It was exactly what I wanted from an espresso martini and definitely one I would order again.

The only reason it didn’t get a 10 was because the Ube Espresso Martini was that good. On any other occasion, this could easily have been my 10/10.

My rating: 9/10

Ube Espresso Martini 💜☕

And finally… my clear winner. 10/10. No notes.

I’ll be honest, the Ube Starbucks coffee I’d previously had in the UK hasn’t always been my favourite, so I wasn’t expecting this to top all expectations.

But it absolutely did.

It was sweet, creamy and the purple ube cream added the BEST flavour. The combination worked so well and it was easily my favourite cocktail of the whole experience.

My rating: 10/10

The Overall Experience ⭐️

The whole experience was honestly a 10/10. Being right by the Empire State Building made it even more memorable. New York was already a bucket-list city for me, so having cocktails at such an iconic location made it feel like one of those proper pinch-me moments.

And obviously… merch was acquired 😂 My Starbucks mug collection needed a New York addition.

Overall, this was genuinely the best cocktail experience I’ve ever had — great drinks, a bucket-list location and a new mug to take home. What more could I want? 🗽🍸