Would You Pay $10 for a Cup of Coffee? Starbucks Sure Hopes So

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In light of Starbucks' CEO Howard Schultz's decision to step down and instead serve as executive chairman, the company is in store for some big changes. Schultz's new role will focus on expanding the company's high-end Reserve brand, which debuted in 2014.

Thus far, the only Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room exists in the coffee capital, Seattle, but the brand has plans to launch one in Shanghai in 2017 with additional locations in New York and Tokyo to follow in 2018.

In addition to the Reserve Roastery and Tasting Rooms, Starbucks announced on Wednesday that it plans to expand its elite Reserve brand to the formation of additional Reserve stores, which aim to: "integrate the theatre and romance of the Roastery with the unique culinary experience of the company's new Italian food partner, Princi." The brand expects to open more than 1,000 Reserve stores worldwide in the coming years.

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Regular Starbucks locales will benefit as well--approximately 20 percent of all existing stores will add Reserve "experience bars."

Sooo ... what does that mean for your daily caffeine intake? Well, if you're ready to learn and grow with Starbucks and its upscale spin-off, it will cost you.

The existing Reserve stores boast some pretty extravagant prices. For a cup of morning joe made in "glass siphons," it's about $10. The same goes for special Reserve brew "flights."

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The expansion of Reserve is thought to be a strategic move employed to gain more millennial customers. Hmm ... we aren't quite sure how the promise of $10 cups of coffee is going to entrap the young and broke, but we're certainly curious about this bold business move.