Arizona Coffee

The Pikes Place Roast Thing

April 8, 2008 Posted by Chris Tingom Filed under General

Burnt.

Over roasted.

Those are a few of the words that come to mind when people talk about the coffee at Starbucks. Those words also sound like a campfire ritual! When I was a kid I liked to put marshmellows in the fire and catch them on fire. Then I’d blow them out and eat. Kind of brings back memories.

There is a new blend at Starbucks intended to remedy this situation called Pikes Place Roast. Do you think it will work? Have you or will you try it? Is this a move in the right direction or just another PR stunt?

11 comments

10:38 am // April 8, 2008
Ryan says:

I still think Starbucks is missing the point and this is nothing more than an advertising campaign.

To me there roasting is not the issue at all but the amount of ground coffee they use to brew coffee. I use a french press at home and like a strong cup of coffee but the method Starbucks uses to brew their coffee is way to strong for me.

The average person who grew up using Folgers or any store bought ground coffee probably uses 2 teaspoons of ground coffee per 4-6oz of water whereas Starbucks most likely uses 2 tablespoons of ground coffee, if they follow their own brew advice on the back of the packaging.

Do yourself a favor, reject their advertising and go to your favorite independent coffee house

12:22 pm // April 8, 2008
hb says:

I agree with Ryan.
SB is just trying to build momentum with their PR moves. I support independent coffee houses and enjoy the way they brew they coffee.

I had SB coffee here at the office when people bring that traveler case, and people say how strong and burnt the coffee tasted.

1:09 pm // April 8, 2008
Ryan says:

The more I think about this new roast the more I realize it’s just adveritsing trickery. On their website there are 41 types of coffee beans that they sell in the stores. Are they telling us this new roast is lighter than 41 other types of roasts and even lighter than what they call the “Light Note - Mild roast” Who’s daring enough to go try this new brew and report back to us.

3:34 pm // April 8, 2008
Michael T says:

Let’s keep in mind that the Pike’s Place Roast is going to be more pervasive than the House Blend, Breakfast Blend, and Christmas Blend, which means that it’ll have to satisfy a much broader and diverse set of customers - including new ones. I think they’re going to put cocaine in it. Has that been done before?

I’ll try it, whenever it comes out. I don’t think it’s a move in the right direction, because it’s encouraging homogeneity. Although if SB pushes coffee tasting after they have a boring old blend ready for every standard cup, it might encourage some consumer awareness. Especially with the Clover One.

4:19 pm // April 8, 2008
isaacw says:

Through all the marketing stuff, they make Pike’s Place look new, but they’ve actually been selling it at the original sbux store for some time. My wife and I bought some on our honeymoon two years ago, but had forgotten what it tastes like.

I had some today, and thought it was alright, but not amazing. I am happy to see however, that they’re brewing every half hour now, instead of every one hour. Should negate some of the baristas carelessness when they let it sit too long.

4:59 pm // April 8, 2008
Mike says:

I’m curious-why all this talk about SB? I thought the purpose of this site was to spread the word about independent coffee houses-not the corporate wannabe’s. Let’s support those independent coffee houses with quality products. I don’t own or work for a coffee house-just an avid fan of their product.

5:43 pm // April 8, 2008
Chris Tingom says:

Mike, I felt like it was worth talking about because for the longest time Starbucks has had a super dark roast. Overroasting, burning, etc. I think the fact that they’ve made a tiny step in the other direction is worth noting.

8:56 am // April 9, 2008
Ron Cortez says:

Hello Guys. I have analyzed SB coffee for more than 10 years. The truth is that they want the roast to be what it is. When you roast coffee you loose moisture content, so the higher the roasting profile the more money they loose and they are into money. What they do know is that most of the people are going to mix that brew with milk and sugar and in an effort to “ultimate consistency” they manipulate smoke to make most of there coffee taste the same. Pretty few people will have the time to do a side by side of a coffee from different airpots, if that is done you will see that there is not much difference in between coffees. The lighter the roast the bitter it is (generally sugar develops at the end of the roasting cycle), so people’s perception of a milder roast being better is what they are looking for.

1:33 pm // April 9, 2008
isaacw says:

Correction: the Pike’s Place Roast is NOT the same as the Pike’s Place Blend that they’ve sold for the last 5 years at the original sbux. Makes sense now. Though I don’t remember its tastes, I thoroughly enjoyed the Blend, where as I thought the Roast was “meh”. I feel a little deceived to be honest…

4:48 pm // April 11, 2008
Michael T says:

So I tried it. My grossly out-of-practice palate says medium body, balanced blend with more high notes than low ones, but the roast manages to dull the high notes down. I remember being a bigger fan of the breakfast blend, and though I haven’t tried PPB with cream yet, I’m expecting it to deliver that Starbucks level of mediocrity that we’ve all come to love.