Starbucks – Pike Place Roast
By: Chase
Coffee: Pike Place Roast
Company: Starbucks
Brewing Method: Coffeepot
Origin: ?
Description: “With a smoother finish and subtle flavors of cocoa and toasted nuts, this coffee can be enjoyed fresh all day, every day.”
This is the every day Starbucks "House" blend. It is their coffee that they serve in house every day. If you go into a store, ask for their house coffee, they will give you this blend. Pike Place Market is in Seattle and is also where the first store was opened up. The original store on Pike Place street apparently is no longer there, but they moved it down the way and call the new store the 'original' store. Go figure. There are about 15,000 Starbucks stores - give or take a few. Each store, at the very least, serves 1 5lb bag of Pike Place Roast. Odds are most do 2+. Lets just say 1, though. That means about 75,000 pounds of Pike Place Roast is ground up and served daily at the very least.
How does it taste, though? It isn't that bad. Starbucks gets a bad rep for having over roasted and bad coffee. Considering they have to have about 27,375,000 pounds a year of this bean roasted up - it isn't that bad. The thing a lot of people forget is when you are a smaller coffee roaster you have the ability to take a small batch of incredible coffee and make something really unique with it. Starbucks can't afford that option, even their small batch coffees have to be incredibly large, and so they make a decent cup of coffee out of a massively produced amount of beans. The taste is mellow, with a hint of fruit and a nutty finish.
This coffee was made for cream and sugar - but that is okay. Thats what most of us enjoy, and what most of us drink. Nothing is too overpowering or strong about this coffee, it is mellow - almost weak - but it does what it sets out to do.