“It tastes like instant coffee. Good, but definitely instant coffee.” That was my sister’s verdict this morning on the Colombia blend of Starbucks VIA Ready Brew instant coffee (the company calls it “Soluble and Microground Coffee” that has a “Smooth, nutty flavor any place, any time”). I agreed with her although I was also thinking the slightly bitter and slightly burnt taste left no doubt it was definitely a Starbucks product. So how do you conduct a long-distance taste test?
First some background. My sister is a Starbucks fan. I’m more impressed by their growth, marketing, and ability to serve drip coffee that doesn’t taste like coffee you can get anywhere else. To me it’s good, but more important, it’s unique. Detailing how much work they do to achieve the perfect cup of coffee is best left to coffee experts and their web site. I also feel a sense of pride at their local origin. Why not brag a bit when a Seattle company achieves worldwide recognition?
A distant family member, K.D., works for Starbucks as a regional manager overseeing the efforts of 10 stores to meet goals for quality, customer service, growth, and sales. I saw him a week ago at a wedding, and we got to talking about Starbucks (no surprise there). When we finished, he handed me three complimentary packets of their instant coffee and asked me to let him know what I thought. To spread the responsibility I quickly mailed one to my sister. I also did some quick research and found out that the “Ready Brew” product (as Starbucks calls it) was released in February.
We thought about using instant messaging or texting as the proper medium for our joint Starbucks taste test. Something to honor their high-tech image. In the end I called my sister as the water started boiling, and we both put our cell phones on speaker mode. This so we could chat while carefully following the illustrated instructions on the package: pour coffee into cup, add 8 oz. boiling water, stir. To repeat our findings given above, Starbucks instant is good but nothing to rave about. At $9.95 for 12 servings on the Starbucks Store web site, it’s pricey compared to other instant coffee. It didn’t make me decide to start backpacking again (a camping trip was probably the last time I drank instant coffee). But thanks to K.D. our taste test was free and a nice shared experience on a Sunday morning.
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I gave it to Dad to try and his response was it’s fine. No surprise there its his response to a lot of things and not necessarily an endorsement. The only instant we sometimes use is decaffinated to make a cup for Dad in the late afternoon of a grey day. Perhaps this winter we will give it another try.