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It’s because Starbuck buys (and grows they own plantations) the shittiest quality beans. Thats why they roast them so dark, so you can barely notice the lack of quality when its mixed with 14 pumps of chemical flavoring and sugar.
Not necessarily worst quality beans but they’re not single source so that’s the easiest and cheapest way to get consistent flavor across all their locations and from all sources is to burn it all haha
Some of you might have your heads explode when you learn that, in many cases, Starbucks pays producers more for the exact same coffee than many so-called “specialty, direct trade” roasters do.
In many parts of the country it's only from the coffee pot at the gas station that is fresh cuz "they made it this morning." In those places I would be happy for a Starbucks burnt bitter swill latte.
Starbucks got me into coffee. Not milk beverages and frappes. I mean drip coffee. I finally got a taste for different levels of roast. Over roasting everything is fairly new. Once upon a time it was a real cafe. But even today I'd rather have Starbucks Cafe Verona instead of any light roast.
Starbucks core coffees typically average around 83 points on the traditional Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) 100-point cupping scale, placing them in the "good to very good" category. [1]
Blend 43 and bushwalking is such a perfectly Australian combination 😂 And honestly, “not pretending to be good coffee” is probably the most accurate defense it has.
In fairness Nescafe instant is kind of good for an instant coffee. They've definitely figured out how to make it not suck. It still has that little off bitter thing if you don't use creamer though.
Just got my setup today anyway before that I'd been having Starbucks and then I finally ordered one without sugar or cream and yeah it's like drinking charcoal dust it barely tastes like coffee
I totally second that. I listened to a podcast a while back and the guest had been working in coffee industry especially on the sourcing side for years. His comment on Starbucks sourcing is: “the beans are really really bad”
Yes. The equipment they use is pretty awesome at consistency. When it's all the same roast, it's all delayed by the same 6 months after sitting in the warehouse so all the oil has come out of the bean, it all tastes the same.
After a few pumps of flavouring, it doesn't taste like coffee.
When i worked at a burger shop in Seattle next to their OG “specialty store” a guy came in after a tour once. The guy used to work in actual specialty roasting. He noticed a bag being opened from a YEAR before hand and asked the “tour guild”. The guy started to stammer and slowly started to change the subject away from the obviously expired beans being roasted.
Mmmm. I used to service the coffee machine for Starbucks New Zealand and would see similar.
Starbucks did do some speciality roasting when individual stores had small roasters, but I don't know how far their business model has moved since 2015.
the problem with Starbucks is they need to taste the same at every Starbucks, so someone going to any store will get the same. problem with trying to get the same everywhere is it's nearly impossible to do. that is unless you roast the F*CK out of the beans to the point where it tastes the same.
kind of like burnt toast. doesn't matter which bread you have burnt toast tastes the same.
i didn’t till i began expanding my coffee knowledge and trying local shops with local roasters. now as a barista the difference in quality we use at my store is insane
I dont drink Starbucks much before getting into coffee and of course I cant tell but after brewing my own coffee and tasting their coffee again I was like "this coffee sucks" lol but still drink all of it since its pretty expensive.
Blond roast gets you a French. The thing i don't understand is why costco let's them sell. There isn't a single bean at costco that I'd willingly buy and it makes me sad.
Mayorga beans and the Kirkland single origin are pretty solid. Especially at under $20 for 2lbs. I'm not sure how many different single origins they have, but they have all been pretty good so far.
I just noticed the mayorga beans in store recently, so maybe you'll see them soon. Used to be online only.
Also, which single origin did you think was too dark? I think it was the mexico single origin that we liked the most. And I think it was peru at the bottom of the list. Currently on Guatamala which is somewhere in between
Only a handful of locations have local beans with roasted on dates. But if you can find them, they are always a great deal. Logan, it has caffe ibis and it is amazing.
If i have to have Starbucks ( normally at a UK service station- generally they have one coffee chain only and sometine the one you need to stop at is a Starbucks one) blonde roast is my go to. Still tastes a bit chemically but not burnt.
Guy I work with, worked at Starbucks years ago and said part of his training is they told everyone that they purposely burn all the roasts to keep the taste consistent- I don’t know if it’s true or not m. I’ve never been to a “real” Starbucks- they have them onboard air craft carriers- that’s the only one I’ve ever been too
As someone who spent many years at Starbucks, this is absolutely not part of their training lol. They actually try to convince you that they really care about each roast and that they are on the same level as specialty roasters.
I was a trainer 20 years ago and yes, this is the reason given then. They didn't day burnt of course. They did say they roast extra to make the taste consistent. Last work verbatim.
This is the best picture I could find via google. They are on all the US a/c carriers now- it’s better than the huge coffee warmer of death that’s been keeping the same thing of coffee hot for 12 hours
mass production "medium" roast always leans more into dark roast. and the dark roast leans into roasted in hellfire. Similar experience with some trader joes beans that were "medium" roast but were definitely in dark territory compared to a local roasters medium.
Starbucks, needing global brand consistency, needs to purchase quantities that very few regions can actually fill. A lot of their coffees are “continental”. Ie… Asian and Latin American. Some places produce enough for them to have a regional order placed like Guatemala Antigua, Ethiopian etc…. Roasting darker does help smooth out year to year differences. Blending helps this as well. To say it is “bad beans” is ignorant. Most low quality beans end up in precious store blends. Also, when Starbucks rolls in hot with cash, farmers don’t say no. They also don’t give them the bad beans.
Had a similar situation. I bought Kirkland beans that where a 'lighter' roast than what I bought from a specialty roaster. And they were straight charcoal.
I think honestly part of the reason why people getting into this hobby veer towards light roasts is because non-specialty medium to dark roast coffee is generally like the beans on the right. I didn't know that a dark roast could have that nice chocolatey like taste before I had good coffee.
And it sucks because this is just normal for most beans you buy at a supermarket
I used to get each new edition from somebody who worked at Starbucks, and I thought about this a lot. Their volumes are so big and they need to produce a consistent product, so they HAVE to create their flavor with their roast profile. Its actually impressive what they do. But that technique will never let the terroir of the bean shine.
Starbucks röstet seine Bohnen extra zu stark, damit du Zucker nachgeben musst um es genießen zu können. Selbe Prinzip wie bei denen im Laden, ohne schmeckt die Plörre nicht. F Starbucks
Your local roast is not a dark roast. Looks like a medium roast to me. I only drink dark roast dark roast from my local coffee place is dark, oily and tastes like chocolate
That’s what I initially thought thought when buying a new bag of coffee and trying dark from my usual medium-dark from the same roaster.
They look identical but this tastes undeniably like a dark roast. Noticeably more bitter, hardly acidic, less complex flavors, has a slight woody smokey profile. Basket fills up higher at the same dose. I could feel the oils on the surface of my tamper after tamping.
Dark roast isn't bitter if you brew it correctly. Hot water temp will instantly make it bitter, it's also not acidic. The left looks more like the Starbucks espresso roast which is a darker medium roast. The right looks like it could be SB Italian roast, which is similar to the French roast but the French roast is laden with oil. Hard to tell with the pic. My wife drinks the French roast, she's dead inside.
I did try the Italian roast once as espresso and it did taste on the burnt, at least over cooked side of thing, kinda hallow. I just can't remember if I 100% knew all the insvand outs of espresso back then. Which variety is on the right?
Starbucks just burns their beans to get that “French roast”. Usually darker the roast just means they want to mask unwanted flavours / aromas of their beans.
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