Starbucks Via Ready Brew

Some of you may have heard that Starbucks Coffee has launched a new product, which they call the very first innovation for 'instant coffee' in 20 years. As someone who absolutely despises instant coffee, it's safe to say I was skeptical at first. But being open to things is always good, so I was willing to give Via a shot.

A quick search on the web will show that Starbucks is pretty forward about letting people know that Via isn't just any instant coffee. Starbucks claims its a completely new category, "not instant, Instant!". Well that's all fine and dandy, but the average consumer will want to know how is it actually different? Starbucks hasn't been silent there either, even if all appearances seem to say its the same thing. For example. let's take a look at the instructions for enjoying a pack of Via.

Wait a second, that sure does look like instant coffee to me, and I expect it'll look that way for most Americans too. Which is probably what Starbucks was aiming for. Starbucks wants to appeal to people who may be afraid of Triple Venti Soy Caramel Macchiatos, overzealous teenage Baristas, and fast-paced Starbucks stores. Their research has shown that these non-Starbuckians get their fix at home, and usually through instant coffee brands such as Folgers or Maxwell House. For these people, the only message Starbucks needs to convey is: "Hey, drink this. It's instant and it tastes good." (And with taste challenge samplings about to start at Starbucks locations across the country, they're ready to deliver that message to a big audience.)

But things get more complicated for Starbucks when they try and pitch this idea to the experienced coffee drinker: Coffee lovers like you and me.

I imagine that most people reading a blog on coffee prefer quality coffee, and therefore they know that quality coffee demands good beans. This is absolutely not the case for most instant coffee, which is often freeze-dried blends of crude quality 'robusta' beans. Come to think of it, I don't know of a single unprocessed Arabica bean in the entire instant coffee market. That is, until Via Ready Brew.

Which is what brings us to the 'innovation' Starbucks is advertising. Via Ready Brew isn't made of freeze-dried coffee crystals or whatever you might find in the coffee flavored dust of generic instant. Via (which is Italian for 'road' or 'way') claims to be real micro ground arabica coffee beans. .What this means is that they're ground so fine the coffee dissolves instantly upon contact with water. Anyone who has tried Turkish Coffee will be familiar with this concept (even though Turkish coffee is a very viscous and thick while Via is more like drip-coffee.)

I imagine many of you are either still skeptical or curious as to what I think of Via. As a Starbucks Barista, I got to try Via at a meeting before pretty much anyone on the outside. All I can say is it's not what I expected (up to you to figure out if that's good or bad.)

I'll save my official review for a later post on thiscoffeekid.com, where we'll see how Via performs in the cup, where it counts.