Chicago’s Storybook Love Affair: Starbucks Reserve® Coffee & Chocolat Uzma

The love affair of coffee and chocolate has an almost storybook quality. For centuries, culinarians have paired them in creations like ice creams, butters,  cakes — the list goes on. As one anonymous gastronome quipped, “When coffee dreams, it dreams of chocolate.” 

It’s no wonder, then, that when the Starbucks Reserve® Roastery Chicago eyed a culinary partnership in 2019, chocolate came to mind — specifically, Windy City’s own Chocolat Uzma.

Chocolat Uzma has been a part of the fabric of Chicago’s food world since it opened in Pilsen nearly a decade ago. Owner Uzma Sharif didn’t start her career with chocolate, though. Her roots are actually in pastry — an inheritance from the family business that launched in Pakistan in the 1940s. Over time, however, Sharif focused on cacao.

And while chocolate is ubiquitous, she earned support in Chicago for pairing it with traditional Pakistani spices like turmeric and cardamom. In fact, it’s these flavor combinations that won the attention of the Starbucks Reserve® team.

“Partnering with Uzma Sharif has been natural and delicious,” says Gretchen Kulesza, Senior Product Manager. “Starbucks has a history of working within local communities, and our business can only succeed when those communities thrive. Chicago is an exceptional city with a diverse set of customers, and we wanted to honor that with a local chocolatier who celebrated the undeniable connection of chocolate and coffee.”

The team worked with Sharif to create chocolates exclusive to the Chicago Roastery, which bring out the diverse flavors of its rare, single-origin coffees. Starbucks Reserve® coffee and Chocolat Uzma pairings are available at the Experiential Coffee Bar, and are also part of the epic Roastery Revealed Tour so both coffee-lovers and chocolate aficionados can taste this storybook deliciousness. Or, pick up a box set and a bag of Starbucks Reserve® coffee from one of the retail spaces to host your own at-home coffee & chocolate tasting.

If you haven’t yet experienced Chocolat Uzma or Starbucks Reserve® Roastery, there’s no time like the present!

Learn more at: starbucksreserve.com/chicago