Is A Kahluaccino Coming Soon?

I’ve dreamt of the day Starbucks would get a liquor license and now it’s here. Although not quite in the form I’d desired, it’s here. I’d imagined a world where hedonism was part of mainstream lifestyle and a frothy sugar-laden coffee drink came spiked to quell that oncoming hangover one would fear at 11 a.m. inside a Vegas casino. But alas that is not the case.

Starbucks apparently aims to bank off of making “the third place” available during evenings too, in select markets to start. Essentially select U.S. locations will offer beer and wine, as well as a few other higher-end appetizer food offerings. The program will launch in a few locations in Atlanta and Southern California by the end of 2012, alongside plans for the Chicago metro area and the Pacific Northwest region. This builds on existing extended hours at the Olive Way location in Seattle, which extended hours in October 2010. It is one of the five stores in the Seattle area and the one Portland, Oregon, location that already serves wine, beer, and “premium food.”

The coffee giant’s goal is to bring the evening concept to seven locations around Chicago and to four to six locations around Atlanta and SoCal, by year’s end.