Coffee Confession Number One

Before we talk about coffee, I need to make sure we are on the same page.  As a general rule of thumb, when I say “coffee” I am referring to brewed coffee.  Espresso and all of its cousins fall in their own categories.

True, coffee beans are at the heart of all these beverages.  But I have decided to focus the majority of my attention on the preparation of these drinks and not the cultivation and roasting of the beans.  This is primarily because most coffee sellers do not roast their own beans, and instead just brew beans procured from a central source.

That said, I think Starbucks coffee is vastly underrated.

In general I am no fan of Starbucks.  I think they have committed irrevocable crimes against espresso.  In some ways I think they are their own worst enemy when it comes to consumer perceptions of their brewed coffee.

Some perceptions may be true, like that their coffee tastes burnt.  It does.  But that seems to be their house roasting style, and not about how they make the coffee.  I’m not saying their coffee is perfect.  But living in the northeast I have a growing appreciation for it.

Out here, the dominant brewed coffee seller is Dunkin’ Donuts.  As far as I can tell, DD specializes in a business model that excels in selling things that are both awful and expensive.  I have no idea how they do that, but clearly they are geniuses.

That’s not true.  I do know how they do that.  Marketing.  They position themselves as “coffee for the rest of us.”

The problem is that regardless of the flaws in Starbucks coffee, Dunkin’s is far worse.  It’s thin, acidic and bitter.  To make it palatable, most people load it up with cream and sugar.  And when I say cream and sugar, I mean a ton of cream and an unholy amount of sugar.  Which I imagine makes a large coffee the fat and caloric equivalent of two of their never-fresh donuts.

There is also a surprising amount of coffee sold from multi-burner coffee pots in the region.  You know, the ones you probably have at work, or see at gas stations that haven’t moved to press pots.  The problem, of course, is that coffee that sits in glass carafes on burner plates scalds.  That’s what gives it that nasty gas-station-coffee taste.

I have also found coffee at a lot of the independent shops to be surprisingly light, as if they are not using sufficient grounds for the quantity of coffee being brewed.  Maybe those places are trying to produce a drink closer to what DD is serving.  This time, I truly just don’t know.

At the very least the coffee at Starbucks is freshly brewed, full bodied, stays hot without being scalded, and actually tastes like coffee.  Did I mention that it is cheaper than Dunkin’ Donuts too?

Espresso drinks at Starbucks are silly expensive for what you get.  Which is what gives people the impression that everything there is pricey.  And that is just not true.  Plus the clerks behind the counter don’t make you order coffee in their ridiculous sizes.  You can order by ounces, if you like.  Or do what I do, “I’d like the largest cup of your bold roast, no room.”

Is Starbucks the best brewed coffee you can buy? No.
But in some places it is the best you can get.