There will be a KlawChat today at 1 pm EDT.
When Starbucks first introduced their “Light Note” blends a few years ago, my father-in-law – who, like me, prefers coffee that threatens to dissolve your spoon – referred to them as “coffee for people who don’t like coffee.”
Having tasted Starbucks’ new Pike Place Roast, I wish he had saved the quip, because I don’t know if I’ve ever had a cup of coffee that tasted less like coffee than this crap.
Starbucks apparently decided that they were losing too much coffee business to Dunkin Donuts (which I believe is now the nation’s #1 purveyor of coffee) and McDonald’s (which makes a surprisingly drinkable if anonymous cup of joe), so they decided the best thing to do was to piss off all of the people who went to Starbucks for a stronger, more distinctive brew and offer a dull, flavorless, inoffensive coffee instead. Go to any Starbucks after 11 am or so and you’ll only have Pike Place as an option; they won’t brew a fresh pot of their “bold” coffee after 11 am or noon, depending on the store.
I’m not the biggest Starbucks partisan around, mind you. I think the “Charbucks” nickname is earned, as they overroast their beans, and their espresso is totally undrinkable. They brag about the roasting dates for their coffees, but those dates are usually ten to fourteen days in the past, which makes the coffee stale in my book and unusable for espresso. But I’ll take a cup of slightly burned Sumatra or Kenya, both of which have distinctive flavors unique to their growing regions, over the bland, slightly muddy taste of Pike Place. In the meantime, there’s a Peet’s not too far from my house if I’m desperate and don’t want to brew my own, although it’s more likely that I’ll just stick to my Nilgiri tea in the morning instead.
TIME‘s James Poniewozik more or less agrees with me. Consumer Reports didn’t hate it or love it; they agree that it lacks complexity but complimented its “smooth” character. If I want smooth, I drink tea.
Hey Keith.
Off-topic but I wonder what you think about J.P’s comments about Adam Dunn?
So can we take your Fremp reference to possibly signify your agreement with the name of a certain other unnamed blog?
I for one disagree, he is just too damn funny.
Does anyone on this blog live in Central NJ? I only go to dunkin for coffee because I can’t find a good cup anywhere else. Suggestions?
Am I the only person in America who truly likes the Pike Roast?
Am I the only person in America who truly likes the Pike Roast?
You are. But apparently you truly don’t like coffee!
For a mass-produced and mass-marketed product, Starbucks coffee is actually pretty good, in my opinion.
Sure, there are local shops and smaller chains with much better coffee, but it’s awfully nice to be able to go just about anywhere in the world and know that, at the very least, you have a backup plan.
Keith, thanks for the extra-long chat today. They help get through the boring days at work.
You may be right Keith. It’s not that I like bad coffee, it more matter of liking convenient coffee. There are several places were I live (Los Angeles) that roast coffee on site but given the choice between driving across town or walking the two blocks to Starbucks I usually take the walk.
That just hammered the last nail in the coffin of my desire to ever go to Starbucks again.
It already seemed every time I went into one they only had “House Blend” (gross) and one of their “Smooth” roasts like Verona.
I want some French Roast that will take the enamel off my teeth, dammit.
And this during the day light blend only thing especially offends me, a person who drinks coffee all day long. Ugh.
On a lighter note, I’ve never seen a Peet’s in real life, but their prepackaged beans are the best you can get at the grocery store. In my opinion.
Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald has recommended a Midwest chain called Dunn Brothers. Apparently they roast their beans on the day they serve them. That is absolutely ideal.
Dutch Brothers opened a stand in Tempe next to ASU (Rural & Lemon), and their coffee is pretty good, but I am not well versed in coffee…
Keith – Tried the Pike Place Roast, and agree with your assessment. I’m curious as to how long they can continue to rely on the brand name while selling poor product.
Ever hear of the Coffee Fool? http://www.coffeefool.com. I have ordered coffee from them and it’s very fresh. So much so that you find you can’t drink anything else.
I highly recommend it. And no, I am not affiliated with the company at all.
Wait…if you trash a coffee, and Matt J. goes and buys one…then aren’t you indirectly giving free advertisment for Starbucks? It worked on him!
Anyone know how much of Starbucks’ business is actually straight coffee, as opposed to other specialty drinks? I despise their coffee, but I’ll go there for the chai. Perhaps those can keep the stores afloat?
I agree about McDonalds, very drinkable and I like rich coffee, always black. But one item that is way overlooked in this business. Cup quality. McDonalds has, by far, the best coffee cups and lids of any retailer that sells coffee. One, the cup is firm, even rigid; it does not give much, if any at all. The cup keeps hot, hot (despite preposterous lawsuit years ago), thus no need for idiotic cardboard insulating sleeve. Also, lid is one piece; this minimizes dripping, if you know what I am talking about.
How is it that Starbucks has some of the worst cups/lids in the business? DD also has better cups/lids than charbucks. This subject is never discussed. Let me throw it out there.
Nate, I read about a year ago, in the WSJ that Starbucks sells more milk than coffee. I nearly fell out of my chair. (I drink black coffee 80% of time, straight espresso 15% and some mixed drink 5%) I was ignorant of the popularity of these blended dairy drinks. After reflection, it made sense to me. Yet, I have only seen this in one source.
I think I meant, “buys” more milk, not “sells”.
Keith, I have had Dunn Brothers, I lived in Minneapolis, it is rather popular there. It is a good product. I also must suggest Alterra of Milwaukee, another place I lived, very rich, bold coffee. I would not be surprised if both Dunn Bros and Alterra kept growing, they are both very good at what they do. I am highly choosy and difficult to impress. Alterra gets a slightly higher grade from me, they really make a rich product.
http://alterracoffeepro.com/
i stick to my normal nyc bodega $1 (now $1.25 because of higher gas prices!)… usually does the job. ill go to a local coffee shop if i want some taste to the coffee, and ill go to starbucks for their coffee frap, since i like iced coffee but cant stand waiting for the sugar to dissolve (i detest artificial sweeteners… i musta had a bad experience with it as a kid or something).
Strabucks is bringing back their bolder burnt coffee
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121392012139190357.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
BeanoCook:
The Starbucks lids are the worst! Every time I drink a coffee from there I spill coffee on myself because the seal is so damn bad.
sheesh. you’d think they could sell coffee that won’t ruin your shirt for the day.
I stopped drinking coffee at Starbucks after tasting the Pike’s and understanding that they wouldn’t make any other coffee.
Which forced me to find another spot and I ended up finding a good local place.
The idea of forcing loyal patrons to “drink it and like it” without another choice was idiotic at best.
But it was good for my local establishment which has earned my money.
I am a fan of Seattle’s Best Coffee. I work in the Back Bay (Boston) and the place in Borders makes a pretty good cup.
I am with you though, Starbucks is terrible. They sell an image.
McDonalds uses S&D Coffee I believe, which is what a lot of gas stations sell. Either Gas stations are raising their game or McD’s coffee was so bad before that S&D is a step in the right direction.
One thing I do not get is how people call Starbucks over roasted and then happily talk about Peets being “so much better”. Peets is a longer roasted coffee than Starbucks! Alfred Peet used to complain that Starbucks Coffee lacked character due to the under-roast.
Dutch Bros is my mom-in-laws fav and they do a good job. They are franchised which is a little scary for any company to do however from my understanding, they are very particular on how they allow their franchisee to run the place. Coffee has always been okay.
As for cup quality, interesting. A HUGE industry issue now is sustainability. Good cups (DD and Styrofoam) often are really bad for the mother earth while crappy cups (anything with the words PLA on them) are great for mother earth but suck as a cup. (The PLA if left on a desk will leak after a few hours, something meant to break down will break down, even if you’re not through with your drink). The real innovative race out there is container which holds coffee well and is sustainable. Examine coffee cups from a company and that will tell you more about that companies “green” standing than anything else. As of right now, not a great answer regarding cup sustainability and quality. It is really an either/or.