Starbucks Finally Opened Its 5-Story Roastery in Chicago

Earlier this week, the world's largest Starbucks opened in Chicago. Located in the city's iconic Magnificent Mile, the new roastery is five floors and offers 35,000 square feet of retail space.

Last month, Starbucks announced that it was introducing whiskey-infused coffee, but there was a major catch. The barrel-aged beans and beverages are only available at the company's Reserve Roastery in Seattle, WA. For those of us who don't regularly hit up the West Coast, this news was a total bummer, but folks in another part of the country may soon get a chance to try the whiskey coffee or at least some other seriously exclusive Starbucks beverages.

The coffee company announced today that in 2019, a Reserve Roastery will open in Chicago. If you keep up with Starbucks news, you know that a Roastery location is expected to open in New York City in 2018, so soon we'll have our two coasts covered. And, now, Starbucks is showing the Midwest a little love.

Chicago seems like a perfect place for Starbucks to open its third domestic Reserve Roastery since the city's relationship with the chain goes way back. According to the executive chairman, Howard Schultz, "Having opened our first Starbucks store in Chicago nearly 30 years ago, our first outside of Seattle, this is a very special city for me. At the time, it was a true test for Starbucks because the Chicago customer is so savvy and discerning about their coffee." So, it seems Chicagoans are deserving of a space like this.

The Chicago roastery will be located on Michigan Avenue in the city's iconic Magnificent Mile, and it will be a whopping 43,000 square feet. The four-story shop will offer more than any regular Starbucks location. Here, rare, small-batch Reserve coffees from all over the world will be roasted, packaged, and brewed, and customers will be invited to watch and interact with the processes. The shop will also offer specialty Reserve beverages that can't be found anywhere else in the world. We want to know what Chicago's version of whiskey barrel aged coffee will be. With 43,000 square feet of space, we're guessing it will be good.