04.08.08
You might’ve heard, you might not have, but Starbucks officially started brewing their Pike Place Roast today. They had a “come get some for free” tasting today, but if you missed it, go buy yourself a cup. I wouldn’t normally suggest anyone go buy coffee from Starbucks, but Pike Place is a fine brew and more importantly, is easy on the wallet.
See, Starbucks is having a little trouble due to the dwindling economy and due to a case of over saturating the world with Starbucks locations, but they’re attempting to reinvent the cup of coffee, the same way they did back in 1971. A bit retro and a bit competitive (McDonald’s & Dunkin Donuts are becoming their top competition) Starbucks is bringing things back to basics, literally. Not only are they launching a new cup o’ joe, but they’re cup branding has reverted to their original logo. Gone is the green and black logo that everyone knows, and back is the brown and white logo with the old fashion mermaid. See for yourself on the Pike Place website or at a store near you.
I, in no way, am a proponent of the $5 cup of coffee, but I had two cups (one was on the house) of Pike Place today and it’s a damn good cup of coffee, especially at the competitive price of just about $1.50. If you’re really nice to barrista or just ask politely for a taste, you’ll probably be able to score a small cup on the house.
There’s a chance I’m just buying into the hype of this, but I honestly enjoyed the cup of coffee. Comment and leave your thoughts after you try some for yourself.
written by Adam Lorber | tags: Pike Place Roast, Starbucks
April 8th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
I actually had some today while I was in the recording studio. I was surprised at how good it was as well. It is still too damned expensive if you ask me. I think the new logo thing is kind of confusing too. We all got our cups and were all looking at each other like, ‘What the hell is this? Is this Starbucks?’ I think they had a lot of equity in their logo and the colors, to change it, even if they somehow think it is justifiable because of competition seems like a bad move. I mean I work in advertising and if it confused me, it is bound to confuse the average consumer.
April 9th, 2008 at 7:06 am
it’s good to hear starbucks is trying to do this. Ever since they went so automated in their coffee production they’ve lost something. I, for one, have moved on to Peet’s (http://www.peets.com/). They usually have some of the best coffee I’ve ever had, and it’s a little cheaper as well.
But I guess I’ll have to go try out this coffee now if it’s so great.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
It’s good to see Howard Schultz, the guy who started Starbucks, back at the helm and doing what made Starbucks great —selling good coffee. Not CDs. Boardgames. Or the Oprah book of the month.
With that being said, their drip coffee is still a close second to Peet’s.