All I can say for sure, unless things have changed in the last four years is that STBX does not add caffeine to their coffee.
I very well could be wrong about the pops (crack), what I learned that in general most coffee houses use one pop. STBX two and Pete’s three.
I don’t care for Pete’s, way to smoky for my palate.
STBX (again unless changed the last four years) uses only the highest quality beans (one of their “leftest” deals, pays higher, sustainable farms.....yada ydda yada - I guess)
Anyway, like wine coffee is personal taste. I really favor high altitude, shade grown coffee from Columbia.
I do not care for African coffees at all, way to earthy.
Asian coffees are ok, but given a choice I choose South American beans.
Oh, well.........
I like the quality Colombians. My 4 primary coffees are from Colombian, Sumatra, Guatemala and Brazil.
Brazil has a reputation for bad coffee because they are the largest producer and lot is machine picked, low altitude garbage; however, they also have some really fine hand picked high altitude stuff.
Those are my main coffees because of my blend for Espresso. I sell it and I sell those 4 as single origins and blends. I do like Ethiopian Yirgacheffe - it is unusual. When I am in the mood for mild coffees, I love the Island coffees - Puerto Rican, real Kona, and real Jamaican Blue.
My roasts typically are pre-second crack ~432 to post second crack ~450. I do roast under and over when requested. My little Ambex is computer controlled so I have great control and as much consistency as can be hoped for. :-)