I tried a couple because my son likes to hang out at Starbucks as a place to sit and work on his laptop, and they were giving out test samples last week.
They are priced at a dollar a serving. Reasonable compared to buying a cup at Starbucks, but they cost 8 times more than other brands of coffee sticks (single serving slim packages of instant coffee). And 12 times more than regular instant in a jar.
I tried the taste test and it was okay. Then I gave him the real taste test, Starbucks instant vs. instant from a jar. He picked the jar half the time.
So, I wonder what that means. I can’t imagine that instant drinkers will pay so much extra when they don’t get a place to hang out with wifi. But then I didn’t think anyone would switch from their regular coffee shop for expensive Starbucks, but they did.
I was able to drink it without cream or sugar so it passed my test. I don’t think I’m ever going to buy it but if I was to buy instant coffee, it would be Via.
I think the improvement that the sticks introduce is they are filled with inert nitrogen, so they don’t lose flavor over time. But instants I’ve used have stayed good to the end of the jar anyway, the aroma is still strong. I guess once brewed and put in dry powder form that coffee is very stable.
I can’t stand most instant coffees. But I found the Starbucks Via to be tolerable. Now I keep a few in my briefcase for emergencies, when I can’t find real coffee anywhere.
My parents used instant coffee, and that stuff was seriously poopy. I saw Via at Starbucks last weekend and opined that someone must have improved the process since those days. So I bought a package to sample it and see if I couldn’t put up with it while traveling. I get up very early and I hate to wait for a Starbucks to open so I can get my fix. I haven’t tried it yet, but I will.
Unless they changed it from several months ago, when I first tried it, it still tasted like instant coffee to me, although slightly improved. I might consider it if it were significantly cheaper. At $1 a pop, though, it’s incredibly expensive for instant coffee, and I’d rather pay the extra buck to get a grande of brewed coffee.
I did the taste test against their normal Pike Place brewed. I could tell the difference. It probably would’ve been even more pronounced if I’d had a glass of water or something else to cleanse my palate with.
Bottom line: It was a hell of a lot better than any other instant coffee I’ve had. But I’d probably just have a different beverage if there wasn’t a Starbucks open/around/whatever.
My wife is a huge coffee fiend, not a fan of instant, and she said she likes the taste.
I’m not much for coffee – my father was a coffee roaster when I was a kid so I essentially grew up around coffee and its smell. I love the smell, but I don’t like drinking it so much. Explain that to me.
I tried it and though it was pretty good. I could tell the difference between it and the regular brewed coffee, but it was a matter of tasting two different types of coffee, not that one was hugely better than the other.
I think it’s $10 for a 12-pack, which is still a little steep for instant, but as someone who only uses instant coffee a couple times a year, I don’t mind paying a little bit more for something that tastes better.
I love, LOVE the smell of coffee, but just tolerate the taste, and only then when it’s full of sweetener, creamer, and sometimes instant cocoa. But I’ll walk into a Gloria Jean’s or other coffee house & just enjoy the aroma. So you’re not that odd.
My mother always loved the smell of coffee, but hated the taste; so much so that, every once in a while, she’d taste actual coffee to see if she “likes it yet”. She never did. Still loved the smell, though.
For me, the smell is just a reminder of the heavenly hot beverage that is awaiting me in the kitchen as soon as I can drag my sorry ass out of the bed.
As to the OP, I don’t use instant coffee, but if I saw a good sale/had a coupon/received some free, I’d try the new Starbucks stuff. OTOH, I’m not a big fan of Starbucks coffee in general, so, who knows?
I have a Cuisinart Grind and Brew. I put in decent quality fresh beans before I go to bed at night, set the timer, and get up to fresh ground/brewed coffee. Lacking my Cuisinart (like when I’m on the road), I’ll normally opt for 7-11 or Pilot (a truck stop). They don’t have great coffee, but they have pretty good coffee, for cheap, and they sell so much of it that it’s always fresh.
The same people pay $1 for a small cup of instant coffee as will pay $1 for a bottle of water.
I don’t understand either one. They seem normal in other ways, and will argue over splitting the lunch tab and want to stiff on the tip, but they have crossed the $1 for nothing threshold and will not reconsider it.
