When the peeps from Starbucks contacted me about giving their new VIA Ready Brew (their version of instant coffee) a try, I said sure (snickering under my breath because I didn’t think they had any idea what kind of negative review shit storm they might be brewing up by offering me a sample of their new product). 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not necessarily anti-Starbucks.  I sincerely hate seeing a mom-n-pop shut its doors only for Starbucks and other corporate big boys to take its place. But, hey who am I to argue with market forces? Starbucks is an efficiently run business and offers products that lots of people adore the living hell out of.  Personally, I don’t get it. Their coffee’s okay, I suppose, but I think it tastes slightly burnt.

What I appreciate about Starbucks is that in summer it’s easy to get a simple black coffee on ice – no production, no puzzled looks, just a cup of cold black coffee with ice. Sadly, this isn’t such an easy beverage to find in London.  I also greatly appreciate the multitude of clean toilets that a preponderance of Starbucks outlets offers any urban landscape. In particular, the one on Great Russell has come in handy a number of times in the past couple of years.  While I’m listing the pros, I must admit that I really enjoy people watching from big tinted windows at the Starbucks near Kings Cross on Pentonville Road.

As for instant coffee, I hate the very concept of it. I think Nescafé is some of the nastiest shit I’ve ever tasted. I expected as much from Starbucks’ new “ready brew”. However (and to be honest), it was pretty good.  Not nearly as good as the organic Kona coffee I order from Hawaii (some of the best in the world I reckon) but good enough that I’ve had a few agreeable cups since my first taste.  I’ve sampled VIA’s Colombia Medium Roast and the “extra bold” Italian Roast.  I like the Colombia but not so much the Italian; it’s just too Starbuck-y in flavour for my tastes.  And I have to admit, I was really glad to have the VIA Ready Brew in the flat one recent and ungodly early morning when I had to catch a wee hours flight. 

Would I purchase it? Maybe. I think it would be perfect for camping or backpacking. Not that I’ve camped or backpacked at all in a pathetically long time. I forget exactly how much the VIA stuff costs, but it’s cheap.  A box of 12 little packets (each equalling a cup of coffee) costs about the same price as that venti mocha-choka-jamba-wamba-cuppa-whatever-you-order-at-Starbucks. It’s certainly better than other instant coffee choices and sadly much better than a lot of alleged cups of coffee served regularly in this town.