Starbucks is just not good Coffee. IMHO

[AimlessWanderer]

At home I might drink coffee maybe three or four times per week. Either from pre-ground or instant. No need for pseudo laboratories here, as my tastes are quite simple. A cafetiere, an electric kettle and a spoon is the full extent of my brew kit. More enthusiastic coffee drinkers have told me I make a decent brew though.

If I want a hot drink out and about, I'll get a tea. It's safer.

Too often has the vile sludge I that was served at coffee places, been utterly undrinkable. Maybe I order the wrong thing. I don't speak the coffee shop lingo. Maybe if they offered coffee with English names, in English speaking places, that might help. I have tried several of the indecipherable (to me) words, and they all seem to be a derivative of the same sludge.

In fact the only time I might risk ordering coffee somewhere, is when the menu simply says "coffee", and not something I need translating.

 

[beginish]

If you tried to put milk and sugar in your espresso anywhere in Europe it would be frowned upon, if you tried it in Italy they'd imprison you

That’s getting off light.

 

[luvmysuper]

Cappucinochocomochacaramel Latte isn't coffee, it's a softdrink.
I don't go to Starbucks.
Having said that, I use Starbucks Sumatra in ground and Kcup form and it's my preferred coffee.
I like it.
I don't want "coffee" that tastes like hot water with a brown crayon dipped in it.
I've always preferred dark roasts, and Starbucks Sumatra nails it.
The wife and I both drink it black, no sugar.

When I posted this, it didn't even click that this thread was in The Cafe.
So - knowing the intricate details that folks in different areas of this site are willing to drill down to in order to extract the infinitesimal detail, myself included, I see where you're coming from.
I'm not THAT kind of a coffee guy, but if you're THAT kind of coffee guy, I understand your perspective.

 

[hairless wonder]

I've always preferred tea over coffee, personally. However, in my student days and early in my career, I did drink lots of coffee. Starbucks was utterly undrinkable unless it was diluted with massive amounts of milk and sugar. Even then, it was just barely potable. I also tried their blonde pour overs. While they were better than the standard Starbucks charred coffee, that's not saying much. All in all, I avoided Starbucks, if at all possible.

As I've gotten older, however, I've found I can no longer stomach (quite literally) hot brewed coffee. Instead, if I want to drink coffee without developing acid reflux, it needs to be cold brewed. Fortunately, there is a local chain that serves cold brewed coffees so I can get it when I want. Otherwise, I'll use a French press to cold brew some coffee and have it the following day.

 

[Goatrope]

My first coffee experience as a 19-year-old kid was with Army coffee (Vietnam era). You know, the kind of stuff you had to chew up before you could swallow it. One of those free benefits of serving in the military.

I like my coffee black and strong, but not like Starbucks (burnt/bitter). Never got into the fancy stuff like latte, cappuccino, etc. I'm already sweet enough and don't need any extra help.

It's good to hear others with similar opinions of Starbucks Coffee. I never understood the logic behind paying top dollar for Army-like coffee or something loaded with sugar & calories. I thought maybe everyone else knew something I didn't. I guess you can't argue with their business model though since they are so successful. Maybe I should buy stock.

Lately, I've noticed other drive-through coffee shops cropping everywhere: Scooters, Dutch Bros, 7-Blend, etc

 

[njpaddy]

My wife and I have been black coffee drinkers since we started dating in the 60s. Being retired, our morning coffee is Starbucks French Roast ground made in a Ninja programmable on "Rich" setting. If we're out, Wawa or Tim Horton are preferred. Starbucks if it's the only option on a trip. My wife likes a cup or two during the day or evening, so we also have a Keurig, using Starbucks French Roast pods. Our daughter and her partner drove north and stayed with us for a few days last week. He likes Death Wish coffee, so we bought a bag of ground at Costco and some pods. My wife and I didn't think it was as strong or good as (our) Starbucks French Roast brew, but he liked it so they took it with them when they left.

Other thoughts:
For years we made our coffee in a Cuisinart. It made a decent coffee, but it has a sealed water reservoir. Never had a problem with well water at our house, but it got a pink mold after we moved to city water. The Ninja has a removable water reservoir you can wash, and no filters to buy.

In the 80s, 90s and early 00s, Dunkin' Donuts had good coffee and donuts. For the last 20 years, their coffee's been weak and undrinkable and their donuts soggy and nasty. Tim Horton donuts are the best, if no Krispy Kreme are available.

In the 90s, I worked evenings and Saturdays as a shift leader at a gas station that began selling coffee. I wouldn't even drink it. I don't think the pot was ever cleaned and no one ever washed their hands before making it.

 

[Sideburns]

My first coffee experience as a 19-year-old kid was with Army coffee (Vietnam era).

I don't know about Army coffee, but the Navy coffee was always at least drinkable, sometimes better. As As Samuel Eliot Morison wrote, "...although the United States Navy might win a war without coffee, it hopes never to be forced to make the experiment.”

 

[Lightcs1776]

My first coffee experience as a 19-year-old kid was with Army coffee (Vietnam era). You know, the kind of stuff you had to chew up before you could swallow it. One of those free benefits of serving in the military.

I like my coffee black and strong, but not like Starbucks (burnt/bitter). Never got into the fancy stuff like latte, cappuccino, etc. I'm already sweet enough and don't need any extra help.

It's good to hear others with similar opinions of Starbucks Coffee. I never understood the logic behind paying top dollar for Army-like coffee or something loaded with sugar & calories. I thought maybe everyone else knew something I didn't. I guess you can't argue with their business model though since they are so successful. Maybe I should buy stock.

Lately, I've noticed other drive-through coffee shops cropping everywhere: Scooters, Dutch Bros, 7-Blend, etc

I very much appreciate you. My first NCOs were Vietnam Vets and they taught me well.

 

[House Boy]

If you're in Wisconsin try Kwik Trip. I gave up starbuck Americanos and now get Kwik Trips Americanos so much better and no stupid messages written on my cup. Also their corn dogs are pretty yummy.

 

[Ad Astra]

The line of cars wraps around the building and into the street, as they wait 20 minutes - during rush hour - for a $7 cup of burned coffee ...

AA

 

[Old Hippie]

My first coffee experience as a 19-year-old kid was with Army coffee (Vietnam era).

Just a couple years later we were still living on leftover stocks of combat ration. Good technique was to dump the packet of instant coffee (fortified with vitamin C!), the packet of sugar and the packet of whitener all into a cup and add some hot water. It wouldn't do at all in a civilized setting, but sitting on a log in the rain with mud squelching in your boots tends not to feel overly civilized.

This from a guy whose usual response to "Cream or sugar?" is to point out that if it needs that stuff I ain't drinkin' it.

O.H.

 

[Mike M]

I like my coffee black and strong, but not like Starbucks (burnt/bitter). Never got into the fancy stuff like latte, cappuccino, etc. I'm already sweet enough and don't need any extra help.

 

[Tirvine]

I don't know about Army coffee, but the Navy coffee was always at least drinkable, sometimes better. As As Samuel Eliot Morison wrote, "...although the United States Navy might win a war without coffee, it hopes never to be forced to make the experiment.”

My first coffee was on a November dependents' cruise on the USS Canberra, CAG-2. We were off Norfolk, it was grey, windy, and in the forties. I was hanging out on the signal bridge. That cup of black coffee was love at first taste. I have loved hot black coffee ever since, just not the way they make it at Starbucks. I can make a decent pot from their beans. They can't. With 80 years of the USN between me, my father, and my grandfather, we have always had a love affair with black coffee.

 

[PintoPlain]

If I'm trying a new coffee place, I always get an espresso first. Just to see the acidity, roast and origin of the beans. If I like the coffee, I will either have further espressos, Americanos, or perhaps a cappuccino or cafe latte.

One thing I have found consistently is that Starbucks is mediocre at best. This is the case in every country I tried it. They seem to specialise in flavoured, syrup sugary drinks so target that market. They don't seem interested in customers who want coffee to taste like coffee. I no longer bother going to Starbucks.

 

[Keyvan]

Great post for generating some controversy!

I have never had SB's coffee without getting a stomach ache. IMO the best coffee is bitter to the taste, but it does not have a lingering bitter after taste.

SBs burns their beans. This is true of their light roast as well as their dark roast. My guess is that the quality of their beans is questionable and I am certain that their processing is not very good. Nevertheless, I know people who love SBs. That is a testament to the power of marketing

 

[steveclarkus]

Amazes me people are still doing start buck a 5-8 bucks a drink. Say drink as it is not real coffee, it is coffee bace with flavoring and additives. Friend had Coffee Gift Shop he could duplicate the Bucks drink for 1/2 the price, and still make a profit.

One think her did not do is duplicate their black coffee, that is alway over roasted, and bitter from burning. I love just BLACK Coffee, then goodness I have few place I can sniff for BEST PRICE FREE.

Who else loves just good black coffee?

Agree!

 

[DrStrange]

View attachment 1823796

Is that another way of saying diabetes?