starbucks new instant coffee

I worked as a barista for 9 good years. I drink a latte daily, often at Starbuck's – thing is I will try pretty much anything they bring out – as long as it doesn't have fake coloring added.

Why? I like their products – their taste reflects mine. And sure, their ads might be odd….but ya know….that is fine with me.

It is definitely a PNW thing in many ways. Yeah, I liked the VIA. Better than any other instant out there!

Then again the last thing I get going on a trip is a latte, the first thing after a trip is a latte. I know where every espresso hut is located in Washington near trails ;-)

I am 36 – I grew up in the coffee culture here. My first real job I enjoyed was pulling shots. I never had any shame in saying "I make coffee for a living". Every female I know in my age group has been a barista at some point out here :-D

Pretty much spot on how instant coffee is made. Watched it and don't see how it is getting anyone's undies in a bunch?

They get their point across to their target auidence.

I see no reason to change from my cowboy coffee. Instant can never be as good as freshly ground and freshly brewed good quality coffee, AND it's cheaper.

"I find the idea that some people might be swayed by that depressing."

As H. L Mencken once observed: "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the American Public"+

That's the most BS ad I've seen in a while. The bean goes behind the magic curtain and suddenly you should buy it?

TV is bad for your I.Q.

Whatever you're drinking, if you want to make an effort at a leave no trace-type ethic, it should be Fair Trade and shade grown.

Wow.
Fair Trade is even bigger bs than that commercial!

If it tastes like the Starbucks espresso before they did the mass retraining of all the their baristas awhile ago… I'll pass. I always get burnt shots from them or 2nd rate tasting coffee, maybe instant would be better… The java juice has worked fine for me as a quick pick me up that and i have a ton of it left. Maybe I'll try the Starbucks stuff if I come across it for real cheap, but otherwise i stay away from Starbucks…

I just had some this weekend and it was very good….much better than any other instants I've tried

Definitely going to get some more.

Jared, the quality of SB's shots have vastly improved. I have not had a bad shot since the overhaul.

I go to SB's most often for my lattes due to that.

I had to live on Starbucks when I was in Arizona… The next decent coffee shop was hundreds of miles away from there (or at least one that wasn't operated by the local cult)… For 4 years I had to survive on their randomly burned shots… When I got back to Washington I vowed to shop there as little as possible and support the little guys. But as my pay is being cut I'll start trying Starbucks again for their fresh doubleshot drinks. $2.69 for a grande, I can swing from time to time. That and the "cheap" espresso stand at my college changed baristas, who now burns coffee and they doubled the prices to match Starbucks… Go figure…

I might give the instant stuff a try this summer, but I'm going to have to do a lot of hiking, car camping and riding trips to deplete my java juice rations! lol… I bought in bulk with my trapper mug.

Starbucks can't compare to the great coffee shops in Seattle! (If that's where you are in WA)…remember Bau Haus in particular as being good. I just don't like the Starbucks shots much at all, really. Their ice coffee is terrible and their iced lattes are so lack luster. most big cities have multiple better options….find a place that foams the milk for an ice latte AND pours the shots in after the milk and ice are all set? Then you're in heaven. mmmmm

Now if I could find one in Tacoma near TCC, that'd be great. If i get accepted to the UW, I'll be looking in Seattle for coffee. I mainly buy my coffee from Vinaccio's when I'm in sultan, or Marysville (they supported me by sending me bags of Washington roasted coffee while I was in Iraq! they roast in the shop and the owner mike is awesome!) Along with another choice shop in north Marysville near the commissary. In Gig Harbor and Purdy area (where i'm located) I'm still looking for the better shop… The coffee place adjacent to the chevron in gig harbor is good though…

"I had to live on Starbucks when I was in Arizona… The next decent coffee shop was hundreds of miles away from there"

that's a poor choice of excuses. apparently you never went to Old Bisbee Roasters, or Human Bean, or even the Coffee Plantation. oh wait.. then there's the Willow House

give it up for seth: http://www.oldbisbeeroasters.com/
and give up fourbucks

In Yuma Arizona near the Marine Corp base?? There was 3 main coffee shops by the time I left, one ran by the local "cult" which was never good coffee and always burnt shots, one local drive up stand that was never open when i was out in town, and by the time i left there was 3 Starbucks coffee shops. There was a larger diversity of drive-thru liquor stores that I found in yuma than there was coffee shops. Towards, mesa, Peoria, phoenix and the bigger cities that were 2.5 hours away there was a better variety, but still it does not compare to the variety on every corner in the NW (it's like the taco stand varieties in Yuma, which i really miss). I found one really good one in flagstaff, and another in peoria within a few miles of cabelas (my buddy lived there and knew nearly every coffee shop in peoria/ scottsdale area), but i wasn't going to drive 2 to 4 hours specifically for coffee… I'd need another by the time i got back…

you didnt say Yuma in original post. Yuma sucks for just about anything, so hell with their ghetto coffee.
there is a coffee plantation across the street from cabela's, about 1/2 mile away. maybe that's the one.
well, at least Old Bisbee does shipping for free.
what you said earlier just perked up my ears. hundreds of miles from Arizona. ?

I always forget to mention the yuma part… it's the only active duty marine corp base in arizona. the sad part is it's one of the better marine corp towns… they always pick the hole in the wall, no where towns other than camp pendleton and miramar which are near san diego and LA. the exceptions to the no name, nowhere towns.

An ice latte would not have steamed milk. That would be a customers preference rather than a standard drink.

Milk changes when it is steamed – the sugars convert.

Ran an independent for 8 years and the whole time was on a manual machine. Won awards the last 3 years I was there for the "best espresso shop" award the area ran. I was the opener for the commuter crowd. I knew every one by name and could make nearly anyone's drink from memory. Our shop was the cop hangout – never had any fear of being robbed due to that one ;-)

I first pulled shots when I was 18 at a friends stand (back in the day of outside carts). Read the barista bartender book and memorized it. Then I watched and learned from friends.

I'd make whatever was asked by a customer though – but not everything works. (Or is just gross – like the one cop who drank a grande breve made with liquid whipping cream instead of half and half daily. That is just unformed butter!)

So what does that have to do with anything? It is this: many independents are worse than Starbucks. There is no uniform way – especially if you put an 18 year old behind a auto machine who has never read a recipe book or can steam milk properly.

The one drink that separates real from wanna-be? A dry cappuccino…velvet smooth foam, no milk poured in. Make it a tall ;-) Or a perfect Dopio topped with a tiny amount of the velvet foam.

Starbucks has gotten better with their shots, the bitter burnt flavor is gone. They have gotten better at steaming milk – it is not over heated and scorched. They have learned to foam milk right. That is one thing I would beat into new hires: before you make espresso you learn to steam milk right. Take 1/3 steamer pitcher of milk and produce a full pitcher of velvet foam.

It isn't the shop, it is the employees that matter in coffee making in many ways.

Yet on the trail I couldn't care less. Give me instant coffee and cocoa mix. ;-)

I was curious about the caffeine in the new VIA coffee so I emailed Starbucks. They told me that it has 180 mg of caffeine per serving.

Now you have my attention….That sounds great.

Well, to explain what they do (this is Intelligentsia, in Chicago…the best coffee shop in the city)–they don't steam all the milk, like in a latte, they just dollop some foam on top of the ice and milk before pouring the shots in. It tastes fantastic, and whether it fits the definition or not, I (and everyone else in the neighborhood it always seemed) kept coming back for more.