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.]

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."