>>>I admit I am not a fine connoisseur of coffee but I have never liked any cup of coffee from Starbucks.
Because they burn their beans.
Turkish coffee made over a bunsen burner - now that's coffee.
STBX does not burn their beans. Most coffee is roasted to one pop STBX roasts till two, Pete’s till three. If you had ever had a cup made with actual burned beans you would know the difference.
Personally I think most Americans don’t know how to brew a good cup of coffee, they use to few beans in ratio to water.
I like Starbucks coffee for the most part.
I don’t think they burn their beans, but they definitely prefer the more full (almost french) roast. It does give that stronger, bolder flavor.
The bad thing about it is that the lighter roasts tend to showcase the different flavors of the different beans. That’s why I generally roast my own beans. The best supplier of green beans on the internet, imho, is sweetmarias.com. I have zero interest in them and live across the nation from them.
>>>I admit I am not a fine connoisseur of coffee but I have never liked any cup of coffee from Starbucks.
Because they burn their beans.
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“Charbucks” as someone cruelly branded them. They burn their beans because they have compromised the quality of their coffee. Very dark roasts hide a mediocre coffee’s weakness because it adds a rich toasted flavor without really losing anything. A coffee buyer and cupper I know described their coffee as ‘high end mediocre’, which is a fairly objective summary.
When Starbuck’s started out they really did offer top notch specialty coffees, as do many independent roasters and coffee shops. This is usually defined as the top 3% or so of coffees, for distinctive, complex and pleasantly flavorful profiles. When they became the mass market McDonald’s of coffee shops however, sheer volume combined with the corporate obsession with consistency meant they -had- to move their coffee towards a more average, more generic blend. No way around it, really, and they’ve done what they could, but their decision was for quantity over quality.
For a truly outstanding cup of specialty coffee, go to a small scale independent shop, preferably a roaster - and do indeed get a French press or other single cup style of preparation of a single origin coffee, *IF* you like coffee. Most people want sugared confections that simulate cocoa rather than a really good cup of black coffee, which is another way to hide second tier (or worse) coffees.
Don’t be surprised to pay over $3 - 5 for a cup or press pot of good stuff. Average prices only pay for average coffees. Its just that simple.
No doubt, which also destroys most of the caffene. Lighter roasts have more actual flavor, and pack a better punch. I've never understood the allure of espresso, as it has almost all the good things in coffee burned out of it, and it tastes like crap.