Starbuck is all over the place but I’ve never been a big fan of it’s coffee. I get plain coffee with a little cream and sugar in it. Starbucks coffee always tasted kind of harsh/bitter and didn’t have the same kind of aroma and presence as the good coffee I get from some of the smaller coffee shops that have come up in the last few years. It’s drinkable, but I’m not thinking “Yay coffee” the same way I do with my favorite coffee places.
I know Starbucks is hugely popular so someone likes their coffee. Is Starbucks coffee objectively considered “good” coffee?
Personally, I think it’s perfectly fine coffee. That said, it is not generally considered to be great coffee or anything like that, but I don’t think it’s anywhere near as bad as some people make it out to be. I used to work in an independent coffee shop and was somewhat snobby in my younger days about coffee, but, today, I think Starbuck’s puts out a decent product. At least this blind taste-testing barista seems to agree with me, among the big Peets/Caribou/Starbucks/Seattle’sBest/Lavazza group of mass market coffeeshops.
Exactly. The problem isn’t that it’s burnt, but that people are getting the light roast (Pikes). Instead, they usually have a good dark roast if you go there before noon, and they’ll brew an individual cup after that, if you ask. Light roast is flavorless no matter where you go.
It’s definitely over roasted but that’s pretty much their trademark. Since the majority of their customers load their coffee with so much crap, it probably doesn’t matter much.
Myself, I prefer a medium roast (currently Sumatra Mandheling) from my local roaster. I drink my coffee black so I prefer it to taste good.
second this, and I like my coffee at a temp I can drink without scalding my mouth, which is another problem with most of the other franchise coffee shops as well.
I can’t figure out why coffee is their “thing” and yet they do it so poorly. Yes, people doctor it. But it’s not like coffee is that hard. I can make a drinkable cup of coffee at home with a $30 Mr Coffee.
I also dislike McDonalds coffee, which I find both watery and over bitter at the same time.
Addiction is characterised by “narrowing”. Caffine is, in the old sense of the word, addictive. The more addicted you are to caffine, the more sterotyped your behaviour becomes, and, as part of that, the narrower your range of “acceptable” coffee that you use to feed your addiction.
Their coffee is OK, but not great. I will go there only if I need a caffeine hit, or I am meeting someone, etc. I only drink black coffee, but I can see why people go there to get their syrupy treats with all that crap they put in the coffee to mask the lack of flavor, etc. I prefer to just brew mine at home - it’s far cheaper and much better.
I think Starbucks is where people go when they like the idea of liking coffee, or there is no other option since they are all over the place.
