
When I say I am a casual coffee drinker, I mean I only drink it once a day. And I love Starbucks. But my drink of choice from Starbucks is a latte....I never, and I mean, NEVER get regular coffee. So what makes me think my review of the new Starbucks "ready brew" coffee worth anything? Well, when I'm at home, I drink instant coffee. I have had Folgers, Tasters Choice and Nescafe, and I really don't like any of it. I don't particularly like straight coffee. If I drink it, it's with cream, and sometimes sugar or flavored syrup, never black. And as most coffee drinkers know, instant coffee does not taste like regular coffee. It's convenient and inexpensive, but not necessarily tasty.
So you can imagine my excitement when I heard Starbucks was coming out with an instant coffee! Maybe, I thought, there will finally be something for me to drink at home that doesn't taste like dirty dishwater. I picked some up today at the Starbucks near my office, and had my first cup of it this afternoon. I added milk but no sugar. The verdict? I like it!! It tastes pretty close to a cup of coffee to me. I paid $9.95 for 12 servings which makes each cup cost about $.83. Not bad! Certainly cheaper than my usual latte. I will admit that part of the appeal of a latte is going to my local Starbucks, picking out my breakfast for the day (today it was a cinnamon scone), and savoring my tasty latte. But the new Starbucks Via will definitely be a good fallback and will certainly be my choice of instant coffee at home.