April 18, 2012
The Sumatran region of Indonesia is famous for some of the dark roast coffees it produces and depending on how they're blended, the final results can be anywhere from earthy & herbal to sour & intense. We decided to see which route Starbucks decided to take and continue our Starbucks K-Cup reviews today with their Starbucks Sumatra K-Cups.
Brewing these K-Cups resulted in aforementioned earthy notes with subtle hints of herbal and even floral notes in background. Once again, cocoa is present but oddly enough, the smoky hickory notes seem subdued. Seeing as how this is a dark roast, we were expecting the exact opposite. Hmm... strange.
Continue reading: "Review: Starbucks Sumatra K-Cups"
April 16, 2012
Starbucks got their start back in 1971 in Seattle, Washington. Their first store opened on Western Ave. and was later relocated to Pike Place in 1976 where it remains to this day. Despite being the 2nd store to bear the name, many still consider this to be the 1st and longest-operating Starbucks location in the World. Today we continue our Starbucks K-Cups review series with a K-Cup which was named after this historic location: Starbucks Pike Place Roast K-Cups.
Something we've noticed with the Starbucks K-Cups is that the aroma during brewing seems fairly consistent with only intensity & some subtle nuances being the key differences. Such is the same here as brewing these K-Cups resulted in the signature Starbucks aroma filling the room once again. A closer inspection of the final brewed cup revealed smoky notes of hickory in the foreground with scents of cocoa underneath. We also detected a slight oily characteristic present in the aroma at times.
Continue reading: "Review: Starbucks Pike Place Roast K-Cups"
April 12, 2012
We continue our Starbucks K-Cup reviews today with their Starbucks House Blend K-Cups.
Brewing these K-Cups resulted once again in the signature Starbucks aroma filling the room (we've been seriously considering installing a neon Starbucks logo sign in the Single Serve test kitchens lately). A closer look at the final cup reveals woodsy notes with faint hints of cocoa & hickory hiding underneath.
Continue reading: "Review: Starbucks House Blend K-Cups"
April 5, 2012
The Economic Times has an interesting take on Starbucks' Verismo single serve coffee maker launching this fall - it's going to kill Nespresso's momentum here in the US and maybe even abroad. Since Verismo is coming out this Fall - it's hard to say based on a drink to drink comparison, but the one thing Starbucks has over Nespresso is distribution.
Continue reading: "Will Starbucks Take the Wind Out of Nespresso's Sails?"
March 22, 2012
Starbucks Coffee Company and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. have announced the expansion of their strategic relationship for the manufacturing, marketing, distribution and sale of Starbucks-branded Vue packs for use in GMCR's recently introduced Keurig Vue Brewer (you can read our review here of the new VUE V700 System).
Starbucks and GMCR expect GMCR to distribute Starbucks Vue packs initially in specialty, department store, and mass retailers in the U.S. as well as on GMCR's consumer direct websites by fall 2012.
Full release after the jump.
Continue reading: "Starbucks Coffee and Tazo Tea for Keurig Vue Brewer"
March 9, 2012
Verismo a super-convenient, single-cup machine for making espresso-based beverages at home from Starbucks is coming in late 2012. Verismo will make cafe style espresso based drinks, and will feature milk pods that contain 100% shelf stable milk.
What's the reason for Starbucks creating their own single serve coffee maker when they are making K-Cups and VIA single serve coffees? Espresso Based beverages are missing in their new 3 pronged strategy for the single serve coffee market. They feel the new Verismo machine will compliment their two other offerings.
Here's is their 3 pronged strategy:
- Brewed single serve coffee with Green Mountain Coffee produced Starbucks K-Cups
- VIA for people who don't want to purchase a single serve coffee maker
- Verismo - Starbucks like quality - ability to make milk based beverages
Regarding the new VUE packs from Green Mountain - they are "looking into it." We don't expect Starbucks VUE packs now given Verismo, but they will continue to make K-Cups. We would like to state given we thought the chances of a Starbucks single serve coffee maker very likely - we find it refreshing they'll offer their coffees across many single serve coffee options - not just their new brewer.
Continue reading: "Verismo Single Serve Coffee Machine from Starbucks Coming Late 2012"
November 10, 2011
Starbucks K-Cup portion packs for Keurig brewers are showing up all over the US. We've got lots of reader write ins and a picture after the jump of Starbucks K-Cups on the shelves at a Belk store. Sound off in the comments if you've seen them in your region, and we'd also like to know what you think of the various coffee and tea flavors.
Continue reading: "Starbucks K-Cup Portion Packs Appearing on Store Shelves"
September 2, 2011
That's right the news is official, starting this November Starbucks will be offering it's coffees and teas (okay a small subset) in K-Cup portion pack format for the Keurig single serve coffee brewer. The retail giant will offer coffee in K cups across food, drug, mass, special and department stores in the U.S. Management has also revealed that the K cups will be available in retail outlets like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp.
This is very different than the current Dunkin' Donuts strategy which only allows for distribution of Dunkin' K-Cups in their Dunkin' Donuts coffee shops. We think Starbucks is going to really get the K-Cup given the wide availability.
Continue reading: "Starbucks K-Cups Coming November 2011"
March 10, 2011
The wait is finally over in the single serve coffee K-Cup world - Starbucks and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. today announced a strategic relationship for the manufacturing, marketing, distribution and sale of Starbucks and Tazo tea branded K-Cup portion packs for use in GMCR's Keurig Single-Cup brewing system. The new relationship will provide owners of Keurig Single-Cup Brewers with the additional choice afforded by having Starbucks branded super-premium coffees available for their brewers, and furthers Starbucks stated goals of expanding its presence in premium single-cup coffee, making its premium coffees conveniently available to consumers whenever, wherever and however they want it.
Starbucks is the exclusive, licensed super-premium coffee brand produced by GMCR for the Keurig Single-Cup brewing system. Starbucks and GMCR plan to make Starbucks K-Cup portion packs available through food, drug, mass, club, specialty and department store retailers throughout the U.S. and Canada beginning in the fall of 2011. The companies expect to expand Starbucks K-Cup portion pack and Keurig Single-Cup Brewing system distribution to Starbucks stores and to make Starbucks K-Cup portion packs available through GMCR's consumer-direct websites: www.greenmountaincoffee.com and www.keurig.com, and Starbucks consumer-direct website: www.starbucks.com beginning in 2012.
We'll let you know as soon as we can get some of these new K-Cups coming out this Fall to review. Congrats to all involved and here's to a Starbucks K-Cup single serve coffee filled future.
Continue reading: "Starbucks and Green Mountain to Make Starbucks K-Cup Coffees"
February 15, 2011
Starbucks Corp on Sunday said it plans to announce a new product for the single-serve market "in the near future." We've long expected Starbucks, which also sells Via instant coffee packets, to make a more aggressive move into the small, but fast-growing single-cup brewing segment.
Why now? Starbucks and Kraft are breaking up on March 1, with a termination of an agreement by which it provides coffee discs for Kraft Foods Inc's Tassimo one-cup home brewer. We think Starbucks will begin providing coffee for the Keurig system, but you never know. Could they be creating their own new single serve coffee format that isn't VIA? We think that's unlikely given they won't want to cannibalize their own sales of VIA which has been doing better in recent months.
And what's the opportunity for Starbucks? Most Starbucks customers do not now have a single-serve machine and the company intends to transform the market the way Apple Inc's iPhone rocked the cell phone business. We hope that means a single serve coffee machine sold through Starbucks stores, and many options for coffee flavors or "coffee apps" to choose from. Whatever they do they better do it fast before they're left behind the single serve coffee future.
Via msnbc.com
Review: Starbucks Sumatra K-Cups
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