Starbucks' Pike Place Roast is just OK, says Consumer Reports

Jim Romenesko's Starbucks Gossip blog today linked to a Consumer Reports story about the new Pike Place Roast blend, which tasters say is "a smooth cup of coffee with some bitterness, but not particularly complex." Because it is so mild, they recommend drinking it black, so one may appreciate "the subtle floral notes."

A 1976 drawing of the first Starbucks store at the corner of Pike Place and Virginia Street in Seattle. (Copyright © by Celia Bowker)

A 1976 drawing of the first Starbucks store at the corner of Pike Place and Virginia Street in Seattle. (Copyright © by Celia Bowker)

Jim Romenesko's Starbucks Gossip blog today linked to a Consumer Reports story about the new Pike Place Roast blend, which tasters say is "a smooth cup of coffee with some bitterness, but not particularly complex." Because it is so mild, they recommend drinking it black, so one may appreciate "the subtle floral notes."

Notably, the tasters at Consumer Reports say the roast is named after "Starbucks' first store, which opened in 1971 in the Pike Place Market in Seattle." As Crosscut writer Daniel Jack Chasan has explained, the real story is a bit more complicated:

The location was at the corner of Virginia and Pike Place, where this first-ever Starbucks was in business until January of 1977, when it moved to its current "original" store one block south.

About the Author

Lisa Brunette is former deputy editor of Crosscut and a freelancer who published under her former name, Lisa Albers. Now she writes full-time for a Seattle video-game studio and for Crosscut and other venues when she can. Her Web site is lisa-albers.com, at least until she changes that, too.

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