CEO of Starbucks says 'best cup of coffee known to mankind' is made with a simple French press

Mail Online ^ | 17 April 2012 | JILL REILLY

[seton89]

The chairman and CEO of Starbucks, has controversially admitted that the best way to make a cup of coffee - is not his brand's way. Howard Schultz says he uses a Bodum French press - a coffee presser brand - which results in 'the best cup of coffee known to mankind.'

[randita]

Yes, Kona coffee is great.

I do like French press coffee. Modern day drip coffee makers just do not get the water hot enough to extract flavor from the coffee, IMO.

I’ve heard the best method is running steam through the coffee but those coffee makers are very expensive.

Keurig is not so great, but people like the convenience.

[svcw]

Really? A 20 oz cup at STBX is $1.90 -$2.10 depending on what part of the country you are in. The condiment bar had all the super, cream you want as well as coco powder, nutmeg, vanilla, and cinnamon. A refill is 50-75 cents for that same 20 oz cup.

[Tijeras_Slim]

And I tell them about the fabled McDonald’s deep-fried apple pie of yesteryear.

Show 'em the burn scars on the roof of your mouth! ;)

[WellyP]

French Roast beans from San Francisco roasters (Costco) and my Italian expresso pot is hard to beat AND it costs only 10% of what stupid people are willing to pay at $tarbuckS!

[Sherman Logan]

My brother lives in the Dominican Republic. He sends me coffee from their mountains. IMO better than Kona.

[McGruff]

You can duplicate Starbuck’s coffee by letting regular coffee sit for 24 hrs with the burner on. That's what it tastes like.

[Maceman]

I absolutely agree about the French press being the best method.

[Keith in Iowa]

Please... STBX over-roasts. I get my coffee from a local, mom & pop type place that roasts on-site - the difference between STBX crap and what I get is like night and day. I know the difference between good and bad. STBX is B A D bad.

[PUGACHEV]

I once bought a coffee roaster at Zabars and learned how to roast green beans. It was a huge mess and produced so much smoke I thought the neighbors would cal 911, but when quenched and put into a French press, those fresh-roasted beans would make the best coffee ever. It only took a day or two before the roasted beans lost their edge, and even a hour or so after roasting some of the delicate flavors were gone, but nothing since has even come close to truly fresh-roasted coffee.

[Maceman]

I still love the anti-Starbucks rant by The Kid from Brooklyn.

(Caution: Language warning.)

[Dr. Sivana]

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm a coffee snob. A French press will make the best coffee and the best coffee is 100% Kona.

Ditto on the French Press. One thing I'll say about Kona, is that at least you know that certain minimum standards are met in the harvesting that I wouldn't necessarily expect from Papua New Guinea or Indonesia.

That said, thare is no best coffee, just as there is no best wine. Kona is smooth, but with certain pastries a good Kenyan will best it. (No Obama Kenyan/Hawaiian jokes please) For something with a stronger bite Jamaican Blue or even a good Sumatra might be called for. There's a reason why superior coffee houses carry dozens of different (unflavored) coffees.

I would like to pass a law stating that anyone selling Kona "blend" must make the word "blend" 50% larger than the word Kona, and that the percentage of Kona be listed immediately after in the same same size typeface as the word Kona.

[xzins]

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.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Conservatives dumping all over Starbucks to me is a little bit like liberals dumping all over Walmart. Both companies probably read the negative reviews and cry all the way to the bank.

Starbucks is obviously doing something right - call it marketing - call it stupid people - call it anything you want - but if you believe in free markets then obviously there are millions of people every day who spend their dollars at starbucks that could have gone elsewhere but didn’t.

[svcw]

I’ll repeat, most coffee roasters roast to one pop, STBX roast till two, Pete’s three.
STBX does not over roast, you just apparently like less roasted coffee beans.

[MasterGunner01]

Starbucks coffee sucketh. It has a very high acid taste. Its flavored “coffees” are high priced gunk loaded with sugar.

[Dr. Sivana]

It only took a day or two before the roasted beans lost their edge, and even a hour or so after roasting some of the delicate flavors were gone, but nothing since has even come close to truly fresh-roasted coffee.

I envy you.

[READINABLUESTATE]

organic mexican beans, Full city roast, medium grind, strongly brewed, priceless! IMHO

[SMARTY]

You’re right. It is way too strong (I think that’s why it tastes burned to me) and it is overpriced.

My brother drank some and in a couple hours was in the emergency room with chest pain.

The Dr. said Starbucks was a No No.

[bboop]

A dear old lady at church grew up in Panama on a finca. She told me she never combed her own hair until she married and left home. They roasted coffee beans every morning on a metal plate over the fire, and THAT, she said, was coffee.

[FreeAtlanta]

The Aerobie Aeoropress is the best;

It came out a couple of years ago. It is easy to use, cleaner than a French Press, Brings out better flavors than a French press and it uses small filters that just pop into the trash. It is supper cool!