Starbucks Instant Coffee Review
Logo since 2011
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| Type |
Public |
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| Industry |
Coffee shop |
| Founded |
March 30, 1971 ( 1971-03-30 ) Pike Place Market , Elliott Bay , Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Founders | |
| Headquarters |
2401 Utah Avenue South,
Seattle, Washington
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Number of locations
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33,295 (2021) |
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Area served
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83 countries |
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Key people
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| Products |
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| Revenue |
 US$ 26.50 billion (2019) |
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US$4.07 billion (2019) |
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 US$3.59 billion (2019) |
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Total assets |
US$19.21 billion (2019) |
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Total equity |
US$1.16 billion (2018) |
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Number of employees
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349,000 (September 2020) |
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Subsidiaries |
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| Website |
Starbucks.com |
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Footnotes / references [1] [2] |
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Instant Coffees and Starbucks via: More Bad
Snobs can be people who are unable to make objective judgments. Brands for instance (Starbucks is awesome, Starbucks sucks), market ideologies (corporate espresso is bad, but small coffee stores with roasters in the back can be good) or based on untested assumptions. Coffee Review is anti-snob. We blindly taste coffees and report on the results. This includes any findings that are contrary to long-time coffee drinkers’ preferences or assumptions. Of course we could be wrong because there’s no god to certify cupping results. But, we try our best to be honest and transparent.
Starbucks’ VIA line was launched to challenge the notion that all instant coffees are bad. Coffee Review therefore decided to test the brands in a blind tasting. I was ready for surprises and prepared to be surprised by those who judge coffee according to categorical assumptions. I recall we awarded an 87 to a roast-and-ground canned 100% Colombia from a standard supermarket brand some years back, provoking outrage that simmered through the coffee aficionado blogosphere for some time.
There are worse things than bad
Alas, the instant coffees we tasted this month were not only bad, most were worse than bad. Most of the instant coffees we tried were worse than any snob could tolerate. Although a handful of them were considered drinkable and smooth by North American coffee-drinking standards (the Nescafe Taster’s Choice Colombia, 78, and Starbucks VIA Colombia, 77), others reached the point where they could not be regarded as acceptable. Please note that this is not a report based on some rose-in-the air preciousness. Honest. For example, try the Folgers Classic roast Instant. The lowest score a sample can receive in the Coffee Review System is 50. A rating of 50 can be thought of as the equivalent to a rating 0. These are the absolute worst month-end samples. Instants are known for having smooth and viscous bodies or pleasant mouthfeels. The body score was often higher for samples with very low aromatics, flavor or finish scores. However, considering how hard it was for me to taste, much less to swallow these products, I felt that they deserving a negative rating of minus 15. This could suggest that the manufacturer should make payment to the customer to allow them to return the product to their home.
We did not discard any of the samples. We worked very hard at tasting them systematically and identifying and rewarding whatever sensory positives could be detected, while at the same time describing negatives with as much precision as we could muster.
Much Too Cheap Vs. Considerably more Expensive
Our analysis of cost per serving dramatized two points. First, the average supermarket instant brands are quite cheap at around 9 to $15 cents per serve. The second reason is that they are likely too affordable. These coffees taste awful. It’s likely that their price is too low. The good stuff is extracted about 20% by ordinary brewing. The instant coffee extraction process extracts more. If I have understood my technical reference correctly, instant production can extract 30% to 40% of the coffee’s solubles. And the processes necessary to get the additional 10% to 20% solids out of the coffee do not sound pretty, and can’t have a particularly benign influence on flavor.
That’s just theoretical assumptions. Our preference is to taste and to report. Most instants on the North American marketplace today can be described as either barely drinkable or very bad. However, you get what your pay for. The top-rated Nescafe Taster’s Choice Colombian instant was only 30 cents per serve, compared to the average price of 12 cents for comparable instants.
The only exception is the Starbucks which sells for $1 per cup, eight to tenfold more than most other products and three times the price of the Nescafe Taster’s Choice Colombian 100% Colombian. This is not something I complain about. That price was not fair for Starbucks VIA instants. For us they flat out did not.
2011 The Coffee Review. All rights are reserved.
Our Verdict
Although it isn’t a coffeemaker by any means, most of these products are bulky enough to be used on long backpacking trips. Is there a better choice for the backpacker, or the big wall climber? The answer may be an instant coffee like Starbucks VIA. The instant “micro grinder” coffee packs are almost lightweight, yet still pack a great deal of coffee flavor. They can also be easily stored in small bags and transported for miles. For shorter trips where weight and space are precious, this is an ideal method. For longer trips where budget is a concern, not so much, as VIA averages to almost a dollar per cup, far greater than making your own coffee in a simple pour over cone.
We preferred the flavor of First Ascent, our Top Pick for Instant to the VIA however. It was created by a Colorado craft roaster, and it’s the most delicious instant that we have tried. For the budget-minded backpacker that can spare room for a bulkier setup and a few more ounces, the Melitta Pour Over, our Best Buy winner , is a great option. Although slightly heavier, it produces one of our best-tasting cups, the Hario V60 PET Dripper, Editors’ Choice Winner. Starbucks VIA, while not the best instant coffee on the market, can be quite delicious. Though we found First Ascent to be considerably better.
Starbucks VIA at work in a water bottle in the middle of a cold morning in the mountains.
Is The Starbucks Instant Coffee Good?
Starbucks claims VIA keeps a smooth, high-quality flavor despite its instant nature — but we proved that it’s not a fabrication. Although the flavor is not as good as freshly brewed coffee, it’s still excellent.
What’s the difference between Starbucks instant coffee and Starbucks Via?
Starbucks VIA(tm), Ready Brew, is a 100% natural roasted coffee made with high-quality coffee beans.
What Instant Coffee is Best?
- Kenco Smooth Insta: A premium instant coffee.
- Nescafe Azera Americano – The finest micro-ground coffee.
- Illy Classico: Premium instant coffee.
- Beanies Irish Cream: A great instant coffee.
- Moreish Intense Brew: The best coffee bags.May 25, 2021
Do Instant Coffees Taste Great?
Best Overall: Mount Hagen Instant Coffee Organic2, Fair Trade Certified3, and deliciously smooth, Mount Hagen could top a myriad of coffee categories, which is exactly why we chose it as our best overall brew.Sep 18, 2021
.Starbucks Instant Coffee Review
