Starbucks has announced that in June, you will soon be able to find flavored, pre-ground coffee in your local grocery store. The three flavors are vanilla, caramel, and cinnamon, and the new coffee offering is called “Starbucks Natural Fusions.”
I’m not one to usually put up a blog post based on just an annoucement without knowing a little more, but this is a hot topic. There is a lot to talk about. For years, Starbucks has said that they would never flavor their coffees. I have a half-way done blog post (which I’ve been working on for a week) and from it, I am pulling out this Howard Schultz quote:
We believe more strongly than ever that at the foundation of our continuing success lies the company’s two cornerstones: our coffee and our people. We have created our niche in the marketplace in which we compete through our fanatical commitment to quality – choosing the highest quality coffees and brewing them by highly-trained individuals. We have made it our goal to build value into everything we do. This begins with selecting the most exquisite beans, delivering an exacting roast and offering tremendous expertise in all things coffee.
^ That paragraph, verbatim, can be found in the Starbucks 1993 Annual Shareholders’ Report.
It forces me to ask myself if this new coffee will live up to that lofty standard of being a product of a premier coffee roaster. I know that I was initally skeptical of Via Ready Brew, but was persuaded it was a good idea: It was an SSC partner (an SSC partner is a partner who works at the Starbucks headquarters) who brought me some to try (one week before available anywhere at all) and I had a change of heart about it at that moment. I remember that day well because my supervisor walked in on us, and got to try it too, and raved about how good Via was upon tasting it. I decided that it was a good cup of coffee, and it could fulfill a niche.
This has me a little more nervous because it is so far removed from putting really amazing blends on the shelf, like the newest Starbucks creation, 3 Region Blend. I am left puzzled: Is this a coffee that gets cupped? How do we talk about the processing method? What is this? Would you ever make a French press of this flavored coffee?
Though I have a confession to make too. From 2001 to 2004, I lived in San Francisco. During that time, I stumbled upon, and fell in love with Ghirardelli chocolate flavored coffee. I was playing tourist at Ghirardelli Square, and found this coffee in the gift shop. I confess, I bought this many times between 2001 to 2004. It was so good; I couldn’t resist. However, Ghirardelli doesn’t have a brand image tied up in being the “premium purveyor of coffee.”
So as you can see, I have a lot of conflicted feelings and concerns about this new product launch. Mostly, it seems as though it is too far from the kind of image that Starbucks is trying to maintain.
The floor is now yours : What do you think of this new offering?
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As a partner, I’m furious. Really, really furious. What is the point of teaching customers about the subtleties of coffee, the natural flavours, the various processes if they can simply go to the store and pick up an adulterated bag of Starbucks coffee?
This goes against absolutely everything I was taught about coffee, all the reasons for the passport and coffee education. I can’t tell you how many people I was able to introduce to good, solid coffee because I could honestly say “we don’t do flavoured coffee.” With no other choice, they’d try one of our core blends. Now they come in every week for another pound or two, and love the fact that they can taste the subtle, natural flavours. That is what I love the most about my job- that is what made every other silly decision and illogical policy make sense. How am I supposed to educate customers now that we’re becoming like every other coffee company? What makes us special anymore? Certainly not our commitment to pure, straightforward coffee. This is a bad, bad move on Starbucks’ part.
What?! I’m a partner…really not sure how I feel about this!
It’s Howard the Coward at work again
I’m in the middle of reading ‘Pour Your Heart Into It’…that doesn’t seem like something I’ll be reading in an upcoming chapter.
I have to agree with Emma. I worked for Starbucks for 2 years and during that time was won over by the entire concept of a coffee passport. I came to appreciate the aromas and subtle differences in body and it became apparent to me that coffee from any other venue had a hard time meeting my high standards. I’ve ALWAYS disliked flavored coffees because it always corrupted the flavor of the bean. I’ve never been a fan, and I think this new product launch will be a giant fail.
the first thing i wish to mention is, i never buy starbucks coffee at the grocery store. i can get it at least somewhat fresher in an actual starbucks, and if for some reason i wanted flavoured coffee at home, i could just buy a bottle of syrup that will last me for ages, and taste better, anyway.
if i want a flavoured coffee, i will go with a brand that has been doing flavour longer, and will choose a more exotic flavour. for example, i have creme brulee pods on my refrigerator, from godiva (whom i don’t buy chocolates from, oddly enough).
i think this is a product that will attract folks who do not know as much about coffee as we do here. it is for busy people who want a bargain (do we know the price point yet?) and who do not normally set foot in starbucks as regularly as we do. it really is a very targeted product, meant for your average harried/hurried/bargain-hunting consumer, and not necessarily the coffee shop crowd. it’s an attempt to reach *more* people, and not the *same* customer starbucks already sees every day.
so, sorry for the ramble. in short, i won’t buy it. you guys won’t buy it. someone out there will, and howard hopes to snag that newb, hook line and sinker. but he might be too late on this one, and too little, with just three flavours.
i guess we’ll see how it goes. for all we know, it could be kiboshed in july 😛
i will probably try one but i really just love the Sumatra, which i pick up @ starbucks anyway not the grocery store. ya know?
This sounds alot like the tune that Howard the Coward was singing when he was saying that we are getting back to the coffee core with vivanno smoothies
I am surprised and not really happy about this.
I can understand the company, perhaps using another brand, expanding their supermarket / direct to consumer / less coffee addicted products in this way – but to put a Starbucks label on it?
Coffee and tea are HUGE markets, most of which is non-store based, so I can get behind them trying to capture more of this market.
As good as via is, and i do like it, i think it dilutes the brand. I think this also dilutes the brand and makes it harder to try and educate people to good quality coffee.
By the way…major dislike! Flavored coffee = yuck!
I can now understand why there is so much grumbling in the coffee department. After all with Pike’s Place and now flavored coffee…
First that SBC logo (have you seen their new web page? Ouch – painfully red!). Now this.
Maybe they should have introduced flavored coffees under the Seattle’s Best brand?
I don’t think that this is a great move, but understandable at the same time. There is a market for this-but why not use the Seattles best branding for it? I also confess to enjoying the occasional flavored coffee (I can’t remember the brand we used, but the coffee shop I used to work at brewed a chocolate caramel that was to die for…I like having a little flavor w/ out it being sugar. And yes I mean flavor apart from cocoa notes lol)
I’d prefer starbucks educated on the true natural flavors in coffee-I never had a clue!
@Emma, you nailed it.
This is somewhat surprising…I had always thought that Starbucks used the Seattle’s Best venue to sell flavored coffee. Didn’t ever expect to see flavored coffee being pushed under the Starbucks brand name. But it really isn’t that surprising, considering that many of the syrups used in Starbucks espresso-milk drinks completely obscure the coffee flavor (see Cinnamon Dolche). Also consider that the new Frapuccino has markedly reduced the coffee presence of the drink, bringing it more in line with McDonald’s Frappe offerings. Still, I can’t imagine this will go over well; flavored coffee drinkers are just not Starbucks’ base. Let’s just hope this stays in the grocery section and never moves into Starbucks stores.
I worked two whole years for that black apron. I took great pride in it, going through the coffee master program multiple times because I enjoyed refreshing myself on coffee knowledge and going through the guided tastings. The name Darth Sidamo comes from a customer. She refers to the Black Apron as a Sith Apron in epic Star Wars fashon. Sidamo being my favorite coffee.
Ive doubted our commitment to coffee many times, but it was my commitment that kept me going forward. VIA has made many partners stop loving their job. It once made me doubt the value of a coffee master. It all seemed like a joke was being played on us.
This was the straw that broke the camels back. My apron is forever retired. I will not french press, i will not sample, I will not describe coffee with the same passion that I do things I love most. Howard, you profit hungry sell out, have placed profit ahead of many core values and now youve killed the most important core value. Coffee. This is Joey Ramone selling out and doing an I-pod commercial. This is Eddie Vedder when he cut his hair and became political. Youve stooped to the level of Dunkin Donuts. You make me ashamed of my black apron.
@Brendon @TreeOrb @Emma @Kristin –
@Brendon – Agree on some of your points but I worry this could eventually find its way into the stores given enough time. I was surprised to recently find PRE GROUND flavorlock bags of coffee at your local company-operated Starbucks. I mean, if you need coffee ground, there is some joy in just asking a barista to do it for you so you get to smell all that aroma. And pre-ground coffee is losing its flavor way faster than whole bean. Given it a year or two, and I think this could make its way into the stores. They’re not listening to us!
@Emma – You did nail it.
@TreeOrb – If you like Sumatra, that’s awesome. It’s a wonderful coffee. There are so many great Starbucks coffees, especially if you can get your hands on some of the “small batch” coffee offerings. Welcome to the site!
@Kristin – The only part of me that sometimes thinks this might be okay is the part that has indulged in flavored coffee before. But I’m like 90% against this, and think it should have been done under the SBC brand, to go with their new logo.
The SBC logo looks like a smiling face or something else…
@Melody – Really? Pre-ground in stores?! Hard to believe. The old mission statement of “Establishing Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while
maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow” may need to be modified. It’s funny that while previous executives were blamed for loss of coffee romance, under Howard Schultz there really has been very little in the way of effort to catch up on or improve the quality of coffee. Most of what has been done (such as reducing hold times) was only in response to competitors’ initiatives (Seven-eleven).
This is from the article on Yahoo (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Starbucks-to-launch-flavored-apf-779908733.html?x=0&.v=5)
“Unlike flavored coffee where scents are traditionally sprayed onto beans, Starbucks’ roasters ground botanicals in with the arabica beans to create by subtle flavors that don’t overwhelm the coffee taste.”
This claim seems dubious…as to my recollections there is no such thing as a botanical that is name or tastes similar to caramel. We’ll see what’s in the bag, but I have my doubts about the nature (and origin) of these “natural infusions”.
Seriously, I never thought I’d walk into a Starbucks and smell that “hazelnut” smell. Is that next? I always thought “flavored coffees” were the litmus for a good coffee place. You won’t find that at Peets. (But you may find me there.)
Well, I hope they can keep their brewers separate because there’s a bagel place by me that mixes up it’s hazelnut brewer with the Columbian one every so often, and it is just gross. You just can’t get the smell/flavor out of the metal, apparently. I agree with CaBarista — if they wanted to do this, why not use the Seattle’s Best brand?
So many great coffees out there — come on, Starbucks. Serve ’em.
Mel my heart is breaking. Uncle Howard I trusted you when you said of VIA “the proofs in the cup” but this just feels wrong. Corporate cash grab of a market we don’t need to give a second glance to. I feel like we’ve sold our soul, finally that were big enough do sweep our ‘finest pervaour of coffee and tea’ roots under the rug because theirs a market with a few hundred million dollars of untapped revenue streams…. I’m jst saying is all. 🙁
Melody, Katie, & CaBarista, thanks for the agreement. Great minds and all that. 🙂
Darth- bravo. Well said, my fellow coffee brewer, well said.
Brendan, they did modify the mission statement, to much dismay. I wondered why they changed the core statements of their beliefs, but I’m beginning to understand now.
Pam, the day that they make us brew flavoured coffee is the day I will sadly hang up my apron.
I wasn’t a huge coffee fan when I came to work for Starbucks. I didn’t drink it much, and when I did it was a splash of coffee in a sea of Irish Creamer. I chose to work at my regular ‘bux; I wanted to work for the company, I love customer service and good quality products. My love of coffee came about because of my training coach- a black apron truly passionate about coffee. She insisted that I do tastings before every training shift, and after a few sessions insisted that I run the tasting and include the shifts and baristas on the floor.
The result was that our store developed a pure passion for coffee- even those who don’t drink it off shift. I guess that just really hate seeing Starbucks dilute their brand in this manner. It makes me very, very sad.
if i need flavored coffee and make do with it ill go to dunkin donuts. i prefer starbucks though but i guess competition calls for this? hmm the caramel one sounds like it has potential though!
“Starbucks Natural Fusions.”
I want that.
I am anxious about supply of Starbucks. They must do enough supply to grocery stores. When Starbucks released MSNBC morning Joe edition, I looked for grocery stores of the State of Washington for one month.
Starbucks should sell “Starbucks Natural Fusions” in Japan. 😀
@Emma
I can really resonate with what you just said. I thought I liked coffee before I started. But, I realized with time that I was drowning the taste of it right out! I had NO Idea about flavor notes, body, acidity, pairing. I had no idea that that first tasting (Komodo Dragon and shade grown mexico) , where I couldn’t find much of anything was going to change how I looked at all those walls of beans.
Now there is a younger partner I LOVE to help with tastings with. I love sharing my knowledge with customers and helping them find the perfect beans, and trying each new blend that comes along.
Customers sometimes think I’m nuts when I suggest a pairing for them and explain why-but the few who take me up on it and tell me how great it was are worth it.
I’m ruined forever.
oh, and that younger partner, she doesn’t like coffee. But she wants to do her job better. And she can now find characteristics and has found one she likes. It’s so cool!
Puh-leeze. “Starbucks would never flavor it’s coffee?” Hah. Funny how BIG PROFIT MARGINS change people’s priorities. Good ol’ Schultz, returning us to our roots.
I started with the company after ‘Howard’s Triumphant Return To Redeem Us All’®, so all I know of the company are neurotic business plans and out-of-left-field “offerings. It makes good business sense, that I won’t deny, and bless us all that we don’t have to peddle the stuff in store… I just wonder if/how much this hurts the brand image and what other sacred cows Schultz will slaughter in his quest to make Starbucks the new Sonic or McDonald’s. /jaded
tl;dr – Figures.
First: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELODY!!!!! and so many good wishes!
Now, this coffee thing: ARE YOU KIDDING????? See, many of us WERE right all along, as soon as PPR started….. McDonalds is trying to become Sbux and Sbux > McD.
I can really hardly believe they’re doing this. Seriously, makes me sick. ok, disheartened.
Yesterday I was in my regular store getting a # of beans, and I guess I wasn’t exagerating before when I mentioned 4 or 5 to choose from. I saw no Italian Roast, which is what I wanted…they did have some in the back. But otherwise, very few coffees; I noticed a basket of Sumatra, one of Verona, PPR, and the 3-regions bag is all over the store. So then on the beans shelves: Yukon, Peru, French, (one bag), House, the orange bag (Mexican?)…..I don’t even think RED was there. Anyway, really a far cry from not so long ago.
I didn’t even read all the above comments on this yet, I was so stunned I wanted to comment. and remember, there’s the ‘for ice VIA’ and vanilla VIA coming soon. too much. too many directions. so sad.
I too thought this would never happen– I specifically recall reading and hearing it said that SBUX would never do this. However, times are tough, and tough people do tough things to survive in tough times. As much as I dislike this, I do think it will fulfill a niche in the grocery market with consumers who do not have the refined taste palate of some of us more die-hard Starbucks fans. Only time will tell…
Like many of you … this decision is disappointing. Goes counter to “true school” SBUX dogma.
If you research the SBUX dogma about flavored coffee from HS’s book, you’ll notice the words were carefully chosen. On pg. 165, HS talks about a few areas SBUX refuses to budge. On area is flavored coffee. HOWEVER, notice the wording, “Another was artificially flavored coffee beans: We would not pollute our high-quality beans with chemicals.”
Starbucks Natural Fusions use “natural flavors” and not chemically-produced flavors. That’s bound to be the company’s rationale for how they can still sell flavored coffee while continuing to “establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffees in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles as we grow.”
The internal sell with SBUX partners is going to be more difficult than the external sell with customers. As we are hearing here and elsewhere, internal SBUX partner voices feel betrayed. Can’t blame them. I’m an ex-SBUX partner and I feel betrayed.
I agree with GAStarbucksGirl and others, there will be a niche for this. As long as someone doesn’t come in and ask for a flavored coffee to be put through the Clover.
And again, Happy Birthday Melody!!
I don’t think I have much to add to the already solid conversation… A premium branded coffee label just shouldn’t do flavored coffee.
However, every company in America has to continually find ways to go up- or down-market to attract new customers and new revenue. Selling VIA in the grocery stores, for example, is one such way. For Starbucks to do this properly, however, they can’t market a new offering at the sacrifice of their core image, which is what they’re doing here. They should have created a new brand just for the flavored coffee rather than roll it under Starbucks, in my opinion.
I have mixed feeling about the new coffees. However, it is somewhat of a consolation that these flavored coffees won’t be available in actual Starbucks retail locations, but only in the grocery and CPG channels.
Will be interesting to see how these are accepted and what the consumer trends do.
Hi Mr. ClarkKent and John Moore – as always good to you two:
I don’t think there is any question about whether these flavored coffees will sell well. They will and they will bring in all kinds of money. The only question becomes if your business really has “no sacred cows” then you’re sorting missing any internal constitution. They open themselves up to wide criticism from the smaller, and also premium, coffee roasters.
With Via, they reached out to some customers, letting them (some selected from the MSI pool – I wasn’t alone in trying it) try it first. In this case, it was just a press announcement, as far as I know. Did they have zero hope that a targeted connection with pre-selected customers would be helpful?
note:
1. sbc does sell flavoured coffees, both in grocery stores, and (i believe) in their cafes.
2. many many consumers still somehow do not realize starbucks owns sbc, and thus view them as separate brands.
thus, starbucks’ grocery shopping fans will view this as an entirely new, directed-at-them product.
it’s silly, but that’s what is going on. again, i can’t say i’m happy with this idea, and as someone else pointed out, what botanical tastes like freaking caramel?? i will likely never buy it, but someone out there probably will.
also, happy birthday melody 🙂
HAPPY BIRTHDAY STARBUCKSMELODY!
Melody… I’m doing my best to stay optimistic about this and think about it with the hindsight of VIA as a guide. When that came out, we were all skeptical, and like you most of us have warmed to it. Perfect example: I went camping recently for a long weekend, and lacking equipment to brew a good cup of coffee in the wilderness I took several packs of VIA. Would I have rather had a press of something delicious? Sure, but it was what it was. Having a high quality instant on hand made my mornings much more pleasant. I even won a few converts who had been drinking Tasters Choice!
So that in mind, with this flavored I’m open to the idea. I don’t drink flavored, and I can’t think of an occasion where I would, but I have friends who do. It’s what they like, and taste being a subjective thing I don’t hold it against them. They come into our stores and add syrup or powdered cinnamon to their coffee, but at home they drink stuff where the flavors are added by spraying a chemical onto the beans. If this new lineup can do for them what VIA did for me while camping… Make a better quality of coffee available than had ever previously been an option for them… Isn’t that a good thing? Aren’t we elevating the coffee experience for those customers?
I like to think of Starbucks as “the best you can get, regardless of how you choose to drink your coffee”… Even if we don’t always quite stack up. Hopefully the new flavored coffees will allow us to be that for another previously deprived segment of the coffee drinking world.
WOW! Talk about a fire storm. This has stirred up the pot as much as SB1070 (immigration law in Arizona). Lots of great comments here though. So, here are my thoughts (without tasting, or REALLY putting a lot of thought into it.)
1) Starbucks has always been about quality & consistency. When both dropped (ie La Marzocco), constantly okay took over with Verisimo.
2) Starbucks & Howard do not have a stance of “Never Say Never”. While we have always thought that to be just the opposite, it is just not true. Howard learned that when he said that Starbucks will never use nonfat milk in lattes/cappuccinos. After stores were sneaking it in under his nose, to meet customer demand, he caved. Starbucks is a “living breathing entity” and it is constantly evolving. Howard has said one “Never” only, and that is “Starbucks will never pull health insurance away from its partners” (or something like that).
3) Both the instant, and flavored coffee markets were basically untouched until now. VIA has been a huge success. And over the years, seeing several people a week asking for “flavored coffee”, I’m sure this will be too. This is a whole new customer, a whole new business, and after all, YES, Starbucks is a business. They have a duty to their partners, share holders, etc.
4) SBC does sell flavored coffees, and until now, that has been the only thing they offered that Starbucks didn’t. So now what happens?
**SPECULATION – I KNOW NOTHING! This is pure SPECULATION! With the new logo (atop the ssc, positioned next to the siren), New relationships in fast food (Burger King, Subway, etc), and the other advances the Seattle’s Best Coffee brand has made, I think now would be a good time to sell it off, and make a nice little profit. Lots of people out there would like to get there hands on a med sized coffee chain with established clients, wholesale distribution, long lasting name, etc. Again, this is just me talking. I am not privy to any information about this that the rest of the world hasn’t seen. /SPECULATION**
5) As Howard Behar said, and Schultz has repeated: “Starbucks is not in the coffee business serving people, We are in the People business serving coffee.” Starbucks CORE is not it’s coffee. Starbucks core is its people, both partners and customers. So, if it is what the people want (by telling Starbucks personally, or by making non-Starbucks purchasing decisions), than that is the direction Starbucks will be heading.
The one thing I do admire about Starbucks is it’s willingness to try new things, and even fail. Anybody remember the Starbucks Chocolates from just a couple years ago? If you wanna hit a Homerun, you gotta swing pretty dang hard. Sometimes, you might miss, maybe even strike out. However, Starbucks in not in a losing game right now.
I personally, am not excited about this. As a share holder, I am really hoping this is a success. However, Starbucks does need to really control the dissent among the rank & file store partners. This could very easily lower moral, thus effecting the core customer experience.
…just my 2 beans
WO
@WOnet
I’m shocked. Not that Starbucks is offering flavored coffees at supermarkets, but that they would announce it at this time of the year. These coffees are the sort of thing you buy in December when putting together a gift basket – premium name, attractive packaging, and hey, who wouldn’t like vanilla coffee?
(I mean, other than anyone who reads Melody’s blog?)
@perrik, WO, adoubleshotofclarity, ALN and everyone:
First off, I want to say how incredibly wonderful it is how very sober these comments are in this thread. You guys really know how to have conversation cycling around the MERITS of a topic, rather than personality.
@Perrik – I defintely want to comment on something you said: That would have been a very sharp idea to launch this product in Winter, coinciding with gift baskets in the CPG stream of commerce. It would have been a much more gentle launch of this to tie it with gift baskets: Then it could have been promoted as a seasonal item and either easily discontinued if it didn’t do well (though I don’t believe that is the issue) or continued if the success was there for it.
I guess I do somewhat object to how this was announced. I don’t get that it was a mundane Sunday afternoon press release, like as if no one would notice something as drastic as this. Maybe it would have been nice to do pre-release customer tasting events?
@WO – Somewhere in Pour Your Heart Into It, Howard really does say that Starbucks will “never” do flavored coffee. The reason for this is obvious: Flavored coffee is seen as down market, not something a coffee purist would do, and actually does give fuel to the fire for those smaller roasters who scream and cry that Starbucks is the bottom rung of coffee, like McDonalds represents bottom rung hamburgers. It’s about brand image, and not whether Starbucks can really do it well.
It is obvious that this is about money. At some fundamental level though it feels like if they’ll sell this _despite the brand image impact _ then they’ll sell anything. Perhaps that is the real discomfort that I feel.
I really do understand that there has to be innovation: I loved Sorbetto and wished it had been a hit. I came around to Via, and I’m looking forward to Iced Via. I can understand why Starbucks is doing the new Frappuccinos, and even like them personally, though I feel sad for those customers who will be lost over the new Frappuccino: There will be a large number of lost customers (who will likely be replaced by those who want customization). But “flavored coffee” was one of those things that Howard said “never” to in his book. You may say there are no sacred cows, but if you have no corporate constitution (metaphorically) guiding your product decisions, then you cycle back to, “I guess we’ll sell anything if it makes wall street happy.” What Starbucks has to convince the diehard coffee purists is that they are still about “ selecting the most exquisite beans, delivering an exacting roast and offering tremendous expertise in all things coffee”
@ALN – Thank you for the birthday wishes!
@adoubleshotofclarity – What your saying heavily supports the argument that this is a great financial decision because of the untapped market. Probably true. It’s like saying, how can we make the net wider and wider to catch more Starbucks customers? The more the net widens, the more the focus is the experience of being all things to all people. There is a loss of magic in that. Makes me very sad.
I suppose at this point I should stop writing about it until I have the chance to actually try it. Anything more I say is just based on abstract theory and no real experience with this Starbucks Fusion product.
Again though – @Perrik – Your comment is sharp about gift baskets. Would have been great to see this starting out as a seasonal item!
@Melody. I too love that this is all about the topic. Thanks for that. B/c I really do care about stuff like this and find it interesting to read different ideas and thoughts. Thank you for your blog 🙂
I wonder what blend they have added the flavor to…any word on that?
Melody,
No wonder Howard doesn’t like you anymore. He can’t fire you if you disagree with him.
@Boston Starbucks Rebel – Starbucks can fire me. They know many ways to influence me. They just choose not to. It’s not really just me. Lots of people in the blogosphere can be influenced. They call it “blogger outreach” or a million other names. ((Or to be clear, there are definitely ways that a corporation can try to influence bloggers)).
Very strange and unexpected. I wouldn’t ever try flavored coffee… but I’ll probably try this to see what its like. I, too, am curious where the beans are from. What is the processing method?
This just feels wrong.
Anyone who knows me knows this is the bane of my existence. I hate the idea.
That being said, I’m loosening up to it. It actually is a matter of the difference between naturally and artificially flavored coffee. Artificially flavored coffee involves dumping a flavored syrup on coffee as it is roasting. This is a lot more like tea: I’m not upset that our rooibos tea has vanilla blossoms in it (though I do wish we had a straight rooibos tea). Really, what’s the difference? Granted, I think it will probably be overly flavored, or else the market that it’s aimed at will ignore it, but I don’t think it’s as bad as we think.
There is a big part of me that hates it. After all, we need to keep our body, acidity, notes, etc. But there’s a small part of me that’s ok with it: I’d rather drink chai than Awake.
@Melody Re: your french press question, it’s ground for a flat bottom paper filter, as is most pre-ground coffee.
Also, someone (I forget whom) above made a comment about cinnamon dolce. I like cinnamon dolce, and I think a pump of it in a bold, spicy coffee can really enhance the flavor much like a food pairing.
I should mention I’m not saying I favor this. But this just means I don’t hate it. It is one of the things that has discouraged me greatly about our company recently.
Oh, and does anyone else remember when the guy asked about chicory at the shareholder’s meeting this year? Howard told him that we believed in not flavoring our coffees, but instead in letting the natural flavors come out. Strange.
@JohnMoore/BrandAutopsy and @Jrmy:
@JohnMoore – Holy Moly. I went back just now and re-read page 165 of PYHII based upon your above post. Totally interesting. You’re right, his words were carefully crafted, and I never noticed it until now.
@JRMY – I get exactly how you feel. I am opposed to this. It feels fundamentally wrong. Yet I came around to Via, and blogged above about my good experiences with Ghirardelli chocolate-flavored coffee, despite the purist in me. There is a very very very small part of me that nags at me that I could be persuaded this will be okay, but I’m not there yet. And I would like to hear stronger assurances from Starbucks that this will NOT be sold in the stores. At least, not in my lifetime.
mmm…but I think there is a big difference between a couple of pumps to bring out natural notes and a straight up cinnamon dolce late. I don’t have anything against lattes, but I do see the point that they were making.