Did you know Starbucks sells instant coffee? I didn’t either, not until I visited Seattle at least. It’s a relatively new product only available in Seattle, Chicago and London (you can also order online here).
Being from NY, the concept did not make sense to me. Why would I use instant coffee, there is a coffee place (most likely Starbucks) open right across the street! Then I read the back of the package…”It took more than 35 years, but we’ve created a way to bring you the bold taste of Starbucks coffee in any cup.” Ohhh!!!!!! I get it! They’re just trying to make sure I never drink any coffee besides Starbucks ever again! Case Closed.
Ok, Ok, back to the review. The package comes with three individual servings of instant coffee. So if you’re away from home, you can bring them with you to have coffee on demand (provided there is hot water, milk and sugar around). I did notice a big difference between traditional instant coffee (top) and the starbucks (bottom). The granules themselves are MUCH smaller, a factor Starbucks claims comes from their top-secret process for making the instant coffee taste better.
If you watch the videos Starbucks has online (especially the London one), people keep saying the coffee is smooth. I suppose they’re right. I would say this cup of coffee reminds me of one of those Keurig or Flavia machines. The coffee is better Folgers and almost satifsying. It just isn’t strong enough for a serious coffee drinker.
My biggest peeve is that the directions tell you to add 8 fl oz of hot water to the packet. The smallest coffee at Starbucks is 12 fl oz and I constantly see people ordering the larger sizes. Therefore, one would need at least two of these instants in the morning to fill their normal brew size. Since the packets aren’t strong enough to replace the traditional cup, you might as well throw in the last packet that comes in the $2.95 package. Wow. My hat is off to you Starbucks, you’ve figured out how to get people to spend even more money on coffee…Genius.
