Posted Sun Apr 20, 2008, 6:10am Subject: Re: I HATE the new Starbucks Pikes Place blend
I have not neen frequenting Starbucks much .. stopped in for my wife's Frapp .. so I asked for a free sample of the new Pike blend.. after hearing the comments hear I figured it would be good to try some .. and become educated.
It was not as horrid as some reviews here have said ... it was not politicaly correct as McDonald's coffee ( brown rice paddy water ) and not sour and burnt like Dunkin Donuts ( which is awful coffee ).
Interestingly as the cup cooled it did take on a "sour" not reminiscent of Dunkin Donuts coffee .. it starts off as a light dark roast and ends up closer to a lighter roast .. maybe not a bad compramise blend and if their goal was to make something that would attract lighter coffee drinkers with out abandoning the dark roast all together .. I think they did a good job.
I never really like their House Blend anyway .. nevertheless i roast at home and in recessionary times stay away from the coffee shops.
Lady_Croft Senior Member Joined: 27 Jan 2008 Posts: 63 Location: Michigan Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Fri Apr 25, 2008, 7:25pm Subject: Re: I HATE the new Starbucks Pikes Place blend
Well I tried it one morning, because I didn't have time to go anywhere else, and it was..... not memorable, to say the least. What the heck does it matter if they switch coffees?? they all have one predominant taste - CHAR. I can barely drink Starbucks coffee anymore, because I've come to realize they lack actual flavor. Sure they're rich, and brewed very strong, but all that does is accentuate the ash and char flavors of their over-roasted beans, followed by an unpleasent, almost stinging aftertaste that lingers in the back of my throat. sometimes the colombia is good, as long as the beans are fresh, as was mentioned in a previous post. Oh well, I'm sure they'll re-introduce the House blend. See, that way, the House blend will suddenly be something new and special that they can market again ! That's how Starbucks works. i'm callin' it :)
I have tried the Pike from two Starbucks places and the result.... My first cup of the Pike Place tasted like it was burned.. for some reason which is weird. So It wasn't memorable until last week when my wife bought the Flapp then without "fear", tried the second cup. It turned out to be better than the first one. Ok, It think it is strong and I am sure that it's their way of roasting the bean anyway. In my opinion, It has less flavor than the house blend.
I am not a Starbucks fan, I love to brew it myself using the pressed pot.
christophermolloy Senior Member Joined: 13 Sep 2005 Posts: 8 Location: Brooklyn, NY Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: Krups Novo 3000 Grinder: Solis Maestro Plus Vac Pot: Bodum Santos Drip: Starbucks Barista
Posted Sun May 4, 2008, 12:41pm Subject: Re: I HATE the new Starbucks Pikes Place blend
I was given given a Starbucks promotional card for a free cup of "Pike Place" every Wednesday, so for the past few Wednesdays I've re-sampled this coffee, and I still stand by my original statement; it's dumbed down and not that much different than other donut shop or fast-food shop coffees; it is that bad.
hauschildt Senior Member Joined: 29 Oct 2007 Posts: 12 Location: austin, tx Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sun May 4, 2008, 4:10pm Subject: Re: I HATE the new Starbucks Pikes Place blend
they were giving out samples at a street fair yesterday so i tried some. "meh..." sums up my thoughts on the matter. "dumbed-down" is a good description too.
Posted Tue May 13, 2008, 5:02am Subject: Re: I HATE the new Starbucks Pikes Place blend
Folks...Lighten up !!
Personally, I didn't find Pike Place..... bland, bitter, weak, or whatever. Compared to the usual straight coffee drawn at most Starbucks (with the exception of Gold Coast Blend), Pike Place is quite pleasant...not burned like most of their other drip coffees. I bought a half pound and took it home for press pot brewing. Results were really pretty decent. Certainly not my favorite, but OK.
Most of us do not have the luxury of excellent local suppliers/roasters. We either pay the freight from online sales or pick up truly good stuff when travelling. I'm fortunate in that my daughter & son-in-law live in Chicago and trips up there yield a fairly consistent supply of Intelligentsia coffees. The BEST cup of over the counter drip coffee I ever had was at their Broadway store in Lincoln Park. A combination of great beans, roasting, and exacting staff technique.
Starbucks is up against some powerful media competition from McD's and the Doughnut folks. Whatever their respective blends may taste like, can you really say that you'd look forward to enjoying a cup served in styrofoam, while sitting on a kiddie-sized, hard plastic semi-swivel chair with a potpourri backdrop of beef/fries? At least the Dunkin' cup is ripe for fantasy. With considerable imagination you could conjure up an image of a postmodernist version of Hopper's "Nighthawks". But it only lasts a nannosecond.
Straight coffee (and for that matter, nicely prepared and served espresso) occupies a back seat at Starbucks, behind all the party drinks and Starbucks' ordering vernacluar........a nightmarish image of an international Valley Girl convention.
I guess Starbucks really doesn't have to "dumb down" Pike Place...........there's already enough of that in the store culture. To their credit, Starbucks at least takes some steps to adapt.
Aside from quagmired wars, the deconstruction of the planet, a simian administration in D. C., and super-greedy oi8l speculators, there are things other than Starbucks that derserve attention and wrath...."Top Chef" in particular.
christophermolloy Senior Member Joined: 13 Sep 2005 Posts: 8 Location: Brooklyn, NY Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: Krups Novo 3000 Grinder: Solis Maestro Plus Vac Pot: Bodum Santos Drip: Starbucks Barista
Posted Tue May 13, 2008, 6:30am Subject: Re: I HATE the new Starbucks Pikes Place blend
Yeah, "Lighten up", we're just being silly posting our opinions here about coffee, after all, this is "coffeegeek.com", and we should be concerned with carbon credits & Halliburton, right?
Please, can we keep on topic here; must every forum on the net be co-opted by an aspiring fill-in host for Keith Olbermann?
Alee601 Senior Member Joined: 15 Mar 2008 Posts: 13 Location: Bowling Green, Ohio Expertise: I live coffee
Vac Pot: Bodum, Aeorpress
Posted Wed May 14, 2008, 5:10am Subject: Re: I HATE the new Starbucks Pikes Place blend
Sorry Christopher, I have to disagree with you,if you were replying to the poster before you-I thought his post on topic and not "Keith Olberman-ish" at all. Just my opinion, however. As to the OP itself-i agree with the majority. I had a sample and tasted the usual Char. As I posted in another forum, because I'm genuinely curious-with all the criticism of the too dark roasts, why, with it's ability to buy great beans, does *$ not have some lighter roasts?? Is this some sort of Seattle culture thing? (Not to offend Seattleites at all, it's just, my own preference is for a city roast)....
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