Starbucks Introduces New Instant Coffee

Starbucks unveiled this week, coffee aficionados hold your breath, their new line of instant coffee called Via. My roomie Kate Klonick did a little blind test with a focus group comparing it with other instant coffee brands for Smart Money.

Trying out Sanka, Maxwell House Instant Coffee, Folger's Classic Roast and Nestle's Taster's Choice, we all agreed the taste of the instant products was drastically different from fresh-brewed—dominated by bitterness in many cases, and lacking in complex flavor and aroma.

So when we finally had the opportunity to sample Starbucks' new Via instant, we were surprised: It actually tastes like coffee. With a more pronounced coffee flavor, that instant-cup bitterness receded. And while the aroma isn't quite up to par with brewed coffee, Via had more body and no chemical aftertaste. Bottom line: It was more flavorful than the other instants we had tried.

I wonder how it compares though to say Starbucks' (delicious) Pike Place roast.

Anyway, little does Kate know that I switched around the labels on her coffee samples late last night! [Insert evil laughter.]

Me. Every Morning.

This cartoon accurately depicts what I'm dealing with the first hour of every morning when I'm at work. Same shirt too.

[Via]

FYI: FREE ICED COFFEE AT DUNKIN DONUTS TODAY

Today, Thursday May 15 is free iced coffee day at Dunkin Donuts. Good thing there are approximately 13 DD locations in a 2 block radius of my office, including directly below in Penn Station.  The fantastic employees there are definitely going to know my name by the end of the day.

REVIEW: STARBUCKS

I tested out Starbucks's new coffee this morning. "Hi, can I have uhm, the new coffee?  Small."

"You mean the Pike Roast?  Tall?"

"Sure."

Verdict: Extremely and overwhelmingly UNIMPRESSED.  While it no longer has that burnt texture, the new brew does leave a very bitter aftertaste (I drink coffee black.).  In my pick of fast food chain coffee, Starbucks ranks third after Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds, respectively.  I am however a big fan of the usage of their new or rather OLD original logo, which obviously evokes the corner cafe sentiment as opposed to the branding think tank created image.

Although after our Starbucks run and as I was examining the logo on the elevator ride up to our office, my coworker asks rhetorically, "Why's she spreading them like that?  Nasty."

A CAFFEINATED KIND OF LOVE

Haha.

Oh, if it was only this easy.

MROD CRASHES PRIVATE PARTY. OOPS.

After hanging out with my friend Rachel this afternoon on the gilded area of Fifth Avenue in Midtown, I came home.  On my way to McDonalds to get coffee (don't mock: the coffee there is great, at least at this location), I noticed that a cafe that was being built appeared to be open.  People were inside mingling and employees stationed behind the counter.  I walked in and something seemed off.  I must have looked very confused.  A woman behind the counter said nicely to me, "Hi.  We're having a private party." Apparently friends and family were celebrating the soon-to-open cafe and the three co-owners.  She, one of the owners, offered me a glass of wine, I nibbled on some of the food, and was thoroughly impressed with the cafe.  Also, she pointed out that they also had Clover coffee machine, a $11,000 coffee maker, that the New York Times recently featured.  Anyway, if you live in Park Slope, check out 3B (I think that's how it's spelled) in a week or two on 4th Avenue and Carroll Street.