There is no problem with Starbucks beans. Coffee is a matter of personal taste. Not all their beans are dark roasted. Their is a wide variety to choose from, depending on your taste. Ask passive Hank, he is an expert on coffee beans, the forum's Juan Valdez.
Staleness negates any variation in roast.
Do you know when your beans were roasted? Mine were roasted on December 7, 2005. And they will be gone less than 2 weeks after that.
Believe me, I have tried many different types of coffee. There is a huge difference in taste between different roast styles. Try some other ones out, or are you afraid you might like something else better?
"There is no problem with Starbucks beans."
Oh, yes there is. The biggest is I've yet to have a cup there that wasn't stale - once you've grown used to *fresh* beans, you cannot drink Starbucks. They store their beans at room temp, and that kills the taste, good coffee should be frozen until used. Of course, so many people load up their coffee with sugar and cream and flavoring, it hardly matters.
Their blends are also too bland, they cater to the broad majority, Starbucks has no personality to their blends whatsoever. Even Peet's has them beat there - while I don't like most of their blends, at least they have a character to them.
My daily brew is Safeway cappuchino blend, stored in the freezer, fresh brewed, one or two cups at home, the rest comes with me to work. A little half and half or heavy whipping cream: heaven. Safeway's beans are surprisingly good and affordable - yes, they're stored at room temp, but in sealed bags - if you freeze them as soon as you open the bag, they tend to keep just fine. It's a dark blend, but never bitter, very smooth, and very distinctive. It's even better in a cappuchino machine.
Freeze dried coffee is simply out. Can't and won't drink it. Yes, I'm a coffee snob. It's like tea - once you've had GOOD tea, you can't go back to Lipton's.
Shameless plug: http://www.kaladi.com, and http://silverhookcoffee.com/ (owned by my brother). Great stuff!