Starbucks instant coffee unveiled

CNNMoney.com ^ | September 29, 2009 | Ben Rooney

[RayChuang88]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Starbucks unveiled a brand of instant coffee Tuesday that the high-end chain says "will change the way people drink coffee."

The Seattle-based company will begin selling a "ready brew" coffee called Via at all of its U.S. locations in a move designed to tap a growing market for instant coffee.

"With a $21 billion global instant coffee business, and instant coffee representing 40% of overall global coffee sales, we believe Starbucks is uniquely positioned to capture a significant share of this market," said Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz, in a statement.

[RayChuang88]

In my opinion, this is a TERRIBLE idea for two resaons:

1) Starbucks will experience trouble taking on the originator (and still gigantic world market leader) in instant coffee, Nestlé, who introduced instant coffee in 1938 under the Nescafé brand, today one of the world's most recognizable brand names. You know Nestlé won't take this competition lying down, and in fact has already put up an informational website defending the Nescafé brand.

2) The cost of Starbucks' new instant coffee is just exorbitant at US$9.95 for 12 servings. I can at least 64 servings from an 8-ounce package of Nescafé Taster's Choice instant coffee for US$7.14 at Wal-Mart.

[rdl6989]

Starbucks is overpriced??? I’m stuned, just stuned I tell you.

[diamond6]

Starbucks donates huge amounts to Planned Parenthood. There is a christian based coffee distributor that makes DELICIOUS coffee called “Esthers Coffee”. Google Overus.

[diamond6]

The site is http://www.overus.org/

[RayChuang88]

Pricey for an espresso or cappuccino at Starbucks is one thing, but US$9.95 for 12 servings of instant coffee is just ridiculous. The Taster's Choice example I mentioned is actually considered expensive by instant coffee standards; I can get Folger's or Maxwell House instant coffee for just over US$5 for an eight-ounce package.

[Pharmboy]

My lady (who is a Starbuck's lover) excitedly told me today about sampling it at a local store. She said "You will love it...it's strong!"

She didn't like it...too strong for her.

[BigBlueJon]

Starbucks Instant, uh...no. For me, there is only one true instant coffee, and it's G7, baby.

http://www.trung-nguyen-online.com/g7-gourmet-instant-coffee.php

[RayChuang88]

Except I don't like strong instant coffee. Why do think I have an 8-ounce package of Taster's Choice instant coffee now sitting inside my refrigerator?

[doc1019]

To me instant coffee has a distinct and awful taste and noticeable after taste. I experience the same thing with diet soft drinks. No matter how the manufacturers try to cover this taste and after taste it is still there. To expect me to pay outrageous prices for this, I think not.

[La Lydia]

Not gonna buy it. Their ad makes fun of the town hall meeting participants.

[DemforBush]

Great! Now I have one more reason not to go to Starbucks!

(I don’t like coffee at all).

[JRandomFreeper]

Instant coffee is neither. It is an affront to G-d and all right-thinking humans. I've had GIs gladly drink cowboy coffee made in a 20 gallon pot and filtered through a clean sheet before they would touch the little packets of 'instant coffee' in MREs.

/johnny

[Pharmboy]

Well, I do...I will give it a try.

[justkate]

Great news for those of us who travel incessantly & have to either:

Order coffee from room service or

Hold yer nose & gulp down the acid bath instant provided by
Courtyard & it's clones or

Scare the pants off other guests as we march thru the lobby in wrinkled tees & yoga pants, ready to kill or be killed until we have our caffeine addiction under control.

[devolve]

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Starbux png

[WellyP]

Dunkin’ Donuts is my style! Starbucks can STUFF IT!

[potlatch]

Thanx

Might be better than regular instant coffee.

[Red_Devil 232]

Hey doc I am with you! No instant coffee or diet soft drinks allowed in my house! Nasty Nasty stuff! Actually we do not drink a lot of soft drinks. Now coffee must be ground fresh just before brewing and for the price you can’t beat Eight O’Clock whole bean!

[RayChuang88]

The problem with most instant coffees is that they don't taste that great, especially with the strangely bitter taste some brands have (I really don't like Maxwell House instant coffee).

There's only two instant coffees I like: Nescafé Taster's Choice and Eagle Family Foods' Kava. Both are not cheap, but their price is still WAY under what Starbucks wants for their instant coffee.

[aruanan]

The Seattle-based company will begin selling a "ready brew" coffee called Via at all of its U.S. locations in a move designed to tap a growing market for instant coffee.

This is an old, old, old story. I've been drinking Via for a long time. I kept it for emergencies. It tastes great, but I need to use two of them for my normal size coffee quantity. That makes it about as expensive as just getting a venti size coffee. The quality, though, is very good. And it's way, WAY better than Nescafe.

[aruanan]

To me instant coffee has a distinct and awful taste and noticeable after taste.

The Starbucks version is not coffee that has been brewed and then freeze-dried or otherwise dried out. It consists of roasted coffee beans that have been ground so fine that they make instant coffee when mixed with very hot water.

[RayChuang88]

And it's way, WAY better than Nescafe.

If you're talking regular Nescafé brand instant coffee, I agree. Taster's Choice is another matter--it's a far smoother-tasting instant coffee than what you normally get from cheaper brands.

[doc1019]

Worth the price?

[nagdt]

Instant coffee: EWWWW. Insert spoon, stir, sip, gag, puke.

[RDTF]

I’m going to love this. There isn;t a Starbucks near work so now I can bring it to work and drink it all the time.

[goseminoles]

My question is why would anyone get in their car and drive to Starbucks for a cup of instant? Am I missing something here?

[devolve]

.

Expensive per cup

I can just put a gold filter in the top of a plain container container with just enough for one cuppa hazelnut Chockfulla and pour very hot water through it from my Mr. Cranky

Quick and aromatic and tasty

[B.Lyle]

I’m pretty sure the decline of Western Civilisation can be traced back to the invention of instant coffee in 1938. Chart the popularity of instant coffee on the same graph as the numbers for violent crime and hard drug use and you’ll see the obvious connection.

[CheneyChick]

I bought these online a couple of months ago, specifically for a trip overseas where I couldn’t bring a coffee maker and coffee wasn’t available. It was a lifesaver.

It is also perfect for soldiers. Have you ever tried that instant stuff they put in MRE’s??

[CheneyChick]

LOL - I’m with you.

[Excellence]

They are giving out free samples right now. It is really awful stuff.

[ThePatriotsFlag]

I agree ... today, Town hall meetings are something you don't make fun of if you want MY business My Thoughts

[mysterio]

I do Starbucks every once in a while when I have enough spare cash. Their home brew, though; there's just something strange about it. No matter how weak you make it, it still tastes really strong. I find that to be true of their in-store coffee as well.

Since my machine broke, I mostly do instant now. Nescafe is good; Maxwell House isn't bad. Might give the Starbucks instant a try for variety.

[Freedom4US]

They use Tasters Choice packets now, or did. Some might say it’s an improvement, I dunno. I was partial to Type II, style 7 (or whatever it was called). It was awful, but it did contain caffiene which was the point. Oncet, I was nodding off on a long convoy at o-dark thirty. No prob, cept I was driving. I was outta coffee so I just swigged alternating sips of water from canteen and the freeze-dried coffee packet. In a couple minutes I was decently awake.
When I went hiking and was still dumb enough to drink freeze-dried, I found something called M’daglia Dora or something like that. Lots of people around the world drink freeze dried, but they cream and sugar the heck out of it. It’s not really coffee per se.

Folgers sells “tea-bags” full of finely ground coffee/freeze-dried. If you double or triple the dosage to taste they are pretty handy in the bush. Sure, cowboy coffee simmered for hours is best, but sometimes ya just gotta feed the monster, and pronto.

[aruanan]

Worth the price?

I like regular Starbucks and this tastes just like that.

Taster's Choice is another matter--it's a far smoother-tasting instant coffee than what you normally get from cheaper brands.

Yes, I've enjoyed Taster's Choice. The best instant I've EVER had was Faemino instant expresso. It was an import from Italy that I used to get in New York back in the late 1970's.

[potlatch]

I know how you like that Chockfulla nuts, lol.

[devolve]

I cannot get the real hazelnut blend Chockfulla or the real sugarless hazelnut coffee syrup close by.

Some makers use a fakeroo "hazelnut flavor" and it is a poor effort to mislead the buyers.

Best to buy several 3 pound cans hazelnut coffee and 2-3 bottles of good hazelnut syrup and stock up.

I used to use a 50-50 mix of Chockfulla coffee and Medaglia D'Oro expresso for make my morning coffee - some cream and sugar and the Rush Hour Grand Prix was fast and the day went well.

I have to use a paper filter inside my gold mesh filter basket - a no-no says Alton Brown of "Good Eats" on the Food Channel - he says a paper filter steals some of the flavor and aroma - but I do not care for the fine coffee powder that sneaks through a gold mesh filter and sits there in the bottom of your favorite big pre-heated coffee mug.

[potlatch]

WOW, you posted a real golden oldie gif! I recall that one needed cleaning up to be posted over anything.

I cannot drink hazelnut flavored things, prefer French Vanilla or a chocolate flavored coffee.

Yeah, I gave up the metal filter baskets and use paper filters in my coffee pot now. Using the metal filter over a large mug is a neat idea.

[devolve]

.

Your old animated Chockfulla .gif

I slip a pleated paper filter inside a gold mesh filter.

It makes cleanup quicker and easier and works better in my big Mr. Cranky than just the paper filter in the basket.

A spritz of water on the coffee grounds will keep the them in place as the hot water hits them.

Yes - By placing the gold mesh filter in the top a big mug or a simple tall plastic storage container - brewing just one good cup of coffee is easy and fast.

French Vanilla and Chocolate are great too.

Maybe a bit of Southern Comfort and whipped cream added to sooth the tonsils.....

I’d like to see Alton Brown do a show on flavored coffees.

[potlatch]

[Your old animated Chockfulla .gif]

Lol, I made that for you, long ago.
Funny story; I've been buying Folgers Classic coffee for years. When I went to Rockport I bought a small can of Maxwell House Arabica coffee.

The girls were raving about the wonderful aroma in the mornings, much more intense.

I used to buy small bags of different flavors and add just a bit to the other coffee.