Starbucks’s coffee tastes burnt because it is burnt. They intentionally roast their coffee longer. Burning their coffee masks the inconsistencies of the shitty beans they buy. This enurses that their coffee tastes the same at every Starbucks location. Over-roasting coffee also increases shelf life, and it encourages people to add syrups to their drinks thus spending more money. In my opinion, people that go to Starbucks don’t like coffee. Starbucks has done a great job tricking people that don’t like their product to buy their product by making it worse. It’s fascinating.
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Whew. Then it isn’t just me. This appeals to my cynical side …
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I agree that it’s burnt to ****, but I don’t think covering inconsistencies is the original goal; I think it comes down to house style and second wave espresso preferences. If you visit Italy you’ll find that the coffee is much the same there: Strong, burnt, and anonymous tasting. People actually claim to like it that way…but in Italy one primary underlying goal is cheap, and Starbucks has convinced the US market that expensive is a better option. Sigh.
Anyway, further anecdotal evidence: A long time ago Starbucks acquired a high end single-cup brewing company called Clover, and put the machines in some of its stores as a very marked up option, with a menu of very expensive single-origin beans that you could have them make you a cup of. I decided to have a go, and spent, as I recall, something like $15 for a “tall” cup made with some beans described as having bing cherry notes with chocolate undertones and black tea aromas and some other flowery lingo…and I had to add milk because it tasted just like the normal Starbucks coffee that I could have had for less than $2 at the time. That was my first and last time trying a Clover coffee and they disappeared from Starbucks stores not long after. I have never understood why it acquired that company.
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Or making your own salad or sandwich at home and taking it with you. All nice and natural.
First wave coffee was darker than second wave coffee. Starbucks is still roasting in first wave fashion for a reason.
