After two years of designing and restoring a 100-year-old building in Seattle, the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room opened its doors last week as the first of about 100 stores that will open throughout the U.S. and Asia by 2016.
Starbucks describes the new concept — an interactive, immersive space dedicated to roasting and coffee education — as a Willy Wonka experience, or coffee theater.
“This Roastery is the fulfillment of a decade-long dream – an homage to our relentless pursuit of coffee innovation that will create for our customers the most immersive, sensory demonstration of how we source, roast and craft the finest coffee from around the world,” said Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz in a statement.