Starbucks debuted their new “everyday” coffee blend yesterday and the initial reports say that the new roast seems to be a reaction to all the “over-roasting” criticism that is routinely hurled at Starbucks.
Some reporters from the Chicago Tribune stumbled into a few cups of the mythical new brew a day early. Their description of the experience is weird and gross, but enlightening:
We felt like spies ordering it, photographing it, sniffing it, cupping it, gargling it and finally gulping it down. So here’s the scoop: Pike Place delivers a pretty great cup of joe. It’s got a light fruity and nutty aroma, a smooth feel on the tongue but nice body and no wimpy finish. This lighter roast (clearly a response to widespread complaints about Starbucks’s penchant for over-roasting) allows a broader spectrum of flavors and aromatics to emerge, things that can sometimes be burnt away in a darker roast. Starbucks might not like this, but it kind of reminds me of Dunkin’ Donuts’ house coffee.
We suppose that’s good news for you people in California who are always trying to get me to mail you bags of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, though we’re not sure why Chicago Tribune reporters (who presumably have access to Intelligentsia coffee) would be sufficiently excited about some new Starbucks joe that they’d gargle it. I guess everyone pines for the coffee they can’t have, eh?
So what do you think? Does the new Pike Place Roast still “taste burnt?” Or is that sad chapter in our nation’s history finally over?
Starbucks’ new Pike Place Roast drips out early in Gold Coast [Chicago Tribune]
(Photo:Travelin’ Librarian)
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@Nelsormensch: “As an American expat now living in Vancouver, if I had to return to the Motherland, I’d miss Tim’s something fierce.”
Just move to Columbus, Oh we have lots T.H around here its great. I agree the mocha is great.
Is this like changing old Coke to New Coke?
@trujunglist: Hah, you rule!
I refuse to believe anything at Starbucks that isn’t syrup-ed or frothed within an inch of its life such that there is no coffee taste left would ever taste good. I love coffee, which is why I don’t go to Starbucks.
Eh regardless, if I’m going to buy coffee I’ll get Peet’s. I’d rather make my own because I’m Cajun and like coffee with chicory, which no chain sells ’round these parts.
@SomeoneGNU: “…but it’s missing depth and complexity.”
And we have our winner of the pretentious-bore-of-the-day award.
For chrissakes, it’s a cup of coffee from a chain that has thousands of stores. Most customers drown the coffee in cream, syrup and sweeteners anyway. They ain’t looking for “depth and complexity.”
@trujunglist: Don’t we have anything better to do than sit around our computers and talk about Stabucks new coffee? I don’t.
@ehrgeiz: Ha! Who the hell wants to live in Ohio?
@SuffolkHouse: Is this like changing old Coke to New Coke?
Yes, they plan to switch back in two weeks. Cleverly, they’ll substitute High Fructose Corn Syrup for sugar when they bring back the old Starbucks. People will be so happy to get the old stuff back they won’t notice the HFCS until years later.
I drink sanmiguel three in one coffees I buy in bulk from the filipino grocery. Stuff is awesome.
I really love coffee. I mean I adore it. There is a wealth of variety of flavors out there. I think that many people who have posted here about the flavor of starbucks new coffee using language that others are saying is pretentious just love coffee much as I do. What kills me is that people pay through the nose for coffee that tastes cheap. If I were to pay as much as starbucks asks for their crap I would expect Jamaican Blue Mountain, not flat, burnt, stale, crap.
It sounds like they are offering a light roast. That means more caffeine and more kick. It also means less sugar and milk, and that means coffee that is ALOT healthier.
@Witera33it: I also love, love, love coffee, but I think this bullshit is pretentious.
I will try it, hope it’s cheaper.
AND TODAY THEY HAD THE MOUTH HOLE COVER STICKS! evolution is a long and bumpy process…
@trujunglist: You should really get it from Europe.
That sounds like you’re advocating killing the environment by airlifting fresh-roasted beans over here. They’re using the same equipment and bean sourcing in Europe. Although some countries have a longer, uninterrupted tradition of good coffee*, theoretically you can get the same stuff here, just not in Starbucks.
I support my local** coffee roaster (Duncan Coffee Company), thank you.
* A “wag of my finger” goes to the percolator and pre-ground robusta beans (e.g. Folgers). Your economies of scale killed American coffee in the mid-20th century. A tip of the hat goes to Starbucks for bring Coffee back.
** Local is defined as within a 150-mile radius, close enough for overnight ground.
i’d hate to see where we’d be as society without our daily caffeine dose. it all makes since now. coffee is a government conspiracy to make us work more and sleep less. of course it’s addictive, makes it easier to coever up. that’s why kids won’t drink it, at least until the government figures out how to get rid of those damn child labor laws.
seriously though, think about how productive we’d be without it.
Many things taste great when they’re free or the employees are going out of their way to do something new.Wait til the free coffee Wed are done and the barristas think they have the new brew down pat.
@backbroken:
Agreed.
@snoop-blog: Sometimes I wonder the same thing about life without beer (voluntarily, of course). It’s kind of like they cancel each other out.
I’ll stick to the SB Verona, made at home.
hey i think we can at least all agree coffee is best served HOT!!!! coffee is about the only thing that doesn’t taste bad after microwaved (at least i think). i’m a slow sipper, so my cup gets cool before it’s gone.
@rjhiggins:
And we have our winner of the pretentious-bore-of-the-day award.
WOOT! I won an award!
So, were you born with the stick up there or somehow get inserted later in life?
@rjhiggins: I’m telling you….DON’T MESS WITH THE COFFEE MAFIA. All it takes is for one of them to have missed their cup this morning and BLAMMO!!!
@snoop-blog: Actually, I like it iced with a splash of Half & Half to make it cloudy.
It goes down quicker.
@MercuryPDX: well i do love me some moolates, but is that even considered a coffee drink? what about a frappachino or however they spell it.
I tried a free sample at my Starbuck$ and I think it tasted like burnt wood.
Sbux don’t break what wasn’t broken.
@Neecy: How can you stand it?? I’m a proud Canadian, but it tastes watered-down, generic, and weak. It’s truly the McDonald’s of coffee. To each their own, though.
I went yesterday to try a cup of their new brew in Vancouver BC, and the store I went to didn’t have it. What they did have new in stock, however, are Top Pot Doughnuts, which are quite possibly the best doughnuts in the NW. $2 for a pastry is steep, but so damn good, and they alone will force me to go to a Starbucks with more regularity than my usual once every few months.
@trujunglist: Yikes. Small chip on the shoulder?
It isn’t snobbery to take pleasure in the delicate flavors of foods you love, or to have high standards of consumption. I myself don’t really care for coffee, but I have deep love for chocolate and red wine.
My diet doesn’t allow me to eat much chocolate — so you can bet that when I do indulge, I want it to count! Similarly, I won’t drink inferior wine. It’s not because I have money to burn (I don’t); it’s because I drink wine for the flavors, not to get drunk. I buy the good stuff. I just buy it very rarely.
I’ve always thought that, as a country, our consumption habits are so strange. We’ve always focused on quantity over quality, even in areas (such as chocolate and coffee) where quantity isn’t the problem. We’ll overstuff ourselves on huge portions of mediocre food from chain restaurants – even though a reasonble portion of better food would cost the same.
On top of it, there’s often this knee-jerk aversion to anything perceived to be “gourmet.” A friend once told me, “I’d never eat anything so pretentious that it has truffles in it.” It seems odd to turn a plate of food into such a statement of identity. (I later served the friend some pasta with black truffle. He said it was incredible, of course. “What’s in it?” “Oh, just tasty mushrooms.”)
Countries like France and Italy have many flaws. But, I do believe they’re ahead of us on their attitudes toward consumption.
@boss_lady:
You DARE compare Timmy’s to McD’s? BLASPHEMY, I say!!!!
On a more serious note, you are right, of course, that when you get down to it, its a matter of personal taste. I did a stint at McD’s in my teens, and many loved their coffee. My own Mother prefers the anemic brew they make at the local 7-11.
Starbucks obviously has enough of a loyal following, even if I don’t care for their product. With so many individual preferences when it comes to coffee, its no wonder there’s a coffee-shop on every corner (and sometimes in-between.)
One word: Stumptown
I had it, it was OK, not that much different, except it did -feel- like it had more caffeine. Both I and a co worker said it made us a bit jumpy.
Second word: Stumptown or Batdorf & Bronsons
@snoop-blog: Coffee is the only thing that keeps me from throttling my fellow humans each morning. I don’t want to experience a sudden loss of coffee nationwide.
I will dare to say it. Dunkin Donut coffee sucks. I know it’s super cool to love DD coffee for some reason. But honestly. It’s gross. And if this new Starbucks blend tastes like DD coffee I will cry.
@Kristinap815: Truly some of the best I’ve ever had.
@backbroken: “It’s coffee. Get over it.”
I’m sorry you’ve never had a good coffee in your life
@modenastradale: That post is golden. And all too true.
@trujunglist: Don’t hate on people who appreciate quality; that just means there’s more crappy food for guys like you.
I like Starbucks well enough, but I agree with the general opinion that their beans are overly-roasted. I much prefer the 3 lb bag of Costco organic that we grind and brew at home. We use a Burr grinder, filtered water, and a gold-plated filter drip brewer. Rich and smooth.
@snoop-blog: I’m not talking to fancy slushie kind or even Iced Americano… just regular old Iced Coffee with no “classic”.
@modenastradale: I know you didn’t reply to me, but I wanted to respond because I think you hit on the disconnect going on here, even if you misinterpretted trujunglist’s reference to the chocolate post from earlier today.
I totally agree with most of what you wrote. I absolutely don’t think that it is pretentious to drink gourmet coffee. I probably feel the same way about beer that others in here feel about coffee.
However, describing coffee as:
“…light fruity and nutty aroma, a smooth feel on the tongue but nice body and no wimpy finish. This lighter roast (clearly a response to widespread complaints about Starbucks’s penchant for over-roasting) allows a broader spectrum of flavors and aromatics to emerge…”
is absolutely pretentious and its kind of funny to some of us that some people (Sherryness for example) take coffee so seriously that they are offended when it is pointed out.
In San Francisco, I get my daily Dunkin Donuts fix right at home. I subscribe to DunkinDonuts.com for a scheduled delivery. I buy about six weeks worth so even with the cost of shipping, I’m paying less than $10.00 a pound.
@ManPurse: I drink my coffee black, and I wholeheartedly agree. Dunkin Donuts is awful. All the blends are far too bitter, and even if you do load it up with sugar and cream, there’s ALWAYS an unpleasant aftertaste.
I’m no snob, but I know what’s good, and DD isn’t.
Starbucks has the worst coffee I have ever tasted. I have no idea what draws people to pay upwards to $4 a cup for that horrid concoction. When in law school I used to occasionally choke it down when I needed something to get me through my late night classes; unfortunately it was it was the only coffee shop open late. I tried to mask the taste (usually to no avail) by loading it up with cream and sugar. It always had a strong bitter taste and often would upset my stomach.
No matter which Starbucks I go to it is always the same nasty taste. I try to avoid their coffee like the plague but to their credit, they do have a strong foothold in most establishments.
I have yet to try Dunkin Donuts coffee though I know people rave about it.
@backbroken: [This description] is absolutely pretentious and its kind of funny to some of us that some people (Sherryness for example) take coffee so seriously that they are offended when it is pointed out.
You have a light fruity and nutty aroma.
Coffee is serious business. Why can’t we take coffee seriously without being accused of pretentiousness? Maybe you’ll understand after studying your SCAA Flavor Dynamics Taste Training Kit again.
Or do you have a hobby? Sports perhaps? OK, let’s say it’s sports. I have news for you: when you talk about RBIs or FTM-A, you sound pretentious. (Please do elaborate on your hobby if it’s not sports.)
@backbroken: Besides, if you think Monica Eng’s review of coffee is pretentious, consider her review of water:
But seriously, people who review food for a living at a reputable newspaper like the Chicago Tribune didn’t walk in off the street and start making shit up like you contend.
If Starbucks’ business was based on producing a quality cup of coffee (and not based on people who are too lazy to make their own/want the status symbol of one of their cups), they’d have been out of business ages ago. As it is, even if PP blend is just as shit as the others, it won’t make a bit of difference to the average consumer.
I suggest you all start drinking some premium loose leaf teas…then you don’t have to deal with Starbucks or its many permutations.
I am a coffee snob, I admit it. For me it’s DD or nothing. So if fourbucks is bridging that gap between DD and burnt coffee I’m all for it. I have been know to visit a SB in areas that don’t have any Dunkins.
I have access to DD coffee at $5 a pound and at that price I have turned some of my far away friends into coffee snobs as well.
Kudos to Starbucks for recognizing the undrinkability of their blends.
@Neecy: My dad is one of the McD’s people that grabs coffee and a muffin for $1.50 every morning- he can’t miss it. He’s not fussy about coffee, though, so long as it’s not too weak. I’m not even a Starbucks groupie myself, except for fall time when the Pumpkin Spice Lattees are around. I prefer going to the little locally-owned shop for organic, fair-trade roasts that are delicious!
i got free sample tuesday evening, thought it was ok. tasted good at first but didn’t finish well. I could taste a bit of cocoa in the first few sip, but started tasting bitter. the fact that i didn’t hear a grinder whirring and they used a paper filter to brew the coffee shows they are making progress but still lack the skills.