Reviews for Starbucks Coffee
A fresh citrusy sharpness complicates the dark-roast bittersweetness. The bitter tones intensify in finish, but never completely master the sweetness, which persists pleasantly through aftertaste.
Rich Kenya wine tones dominate, buoyed by shimmers of citrus and berry. A complex sweetness blooms as the cup cools and the dry wine tones soften. A fine coffee, although I missed the echoing dimension of the very best Kenyas.
Under the taste of the darkish roast style earthy, but not a sweet or inviting earth. A bit hard (no pun), without depth, bounce or resonance. A tobaccoey, salty tickle in the finish.
Another decaf-ravaged Sumatra: Here the aroma is as subdued as the cup. A touch of carbon from the roast and a bit of sweet tobacco from the Sumatra, but not much else: clean, low-toned, empty.
A wonderful nose, full of bittersweet chocolate and deep vanilla tones, but disappointing in the cup: a clean, dry, but rather hard pungency bullies nuance into submission. A hint of carbon, little sweetness.
A clean, direct dark-roast profile. The dominant pungency is free of carbon and dances rather lightly on the palate, with some spicy overtones and space for them to echo.
Liveliest and most resonant of the dark-roast samples in the cupping: Less overbearingly pungent, sweeter, with a touch of vanilla in cup as well as aroma. The entire profile deepens, smooths, and balances in the finish.
A rather complex dark-roast cup. Clear carbon, but the roast was conducted with enough deliberation to preserve some richness and a touch of sweetness. The most engaging complication was in the dry center of the profile: a pruny, complex pungency that read as chocolate in the aroma. The carbon reasserted itself in the aftertaste.
The elements of the dark-roast complex -- sweetness, pungency and carbon -- all work together smoothly here until the aftertaste, when carbon tones linger past any memory of sweetness. Until that moment, this coffee achieves an unassuming dark-roast completeness.
The acidity is powerful yet subdued, slightly (and properly, given the origin) winy. Not much depth or resonance, but a nutty sweetness emerges in the finish that surprises, given the origin. The roast contributes some slight carbon tones.
Extends from a deep, rich bottom to acidy, wine-elevated notes at the top. The usual Starbucks carbon tones are pleasantly lost in the expansive complexity of the coffee until the aftertaste, when they surface after the rest of the profile has passed into memory.
This rich, deeply dimensioned, complex version of the great Guatemala profile happily combines clear, wine-toned acidity with satisfying dark-roast pungency. I even detected a hint of the famous Antigua smokiness smoldering somewhere inside the pungency.
The rest of the taste profile plays peek-a-boo around dominating carbon tones in this very dark roasted coffee. Nevertheless, the pungent sweetness that constitutes the upside of darker roasts prevails, particularly in the cup.
