I've been drinking coffee somewhat consistently since my high school days. But ever since I started traveling outside the US, I started to realize something. The coffee I was drinking in other countries just tasted better. Why is this? America is a coffee-loving country right? Americans likes nice and good things right? Starbucks is the most successful coffee brand in the world right?
from Pixabay.com
I haven't liked Starbucks for a long time for multiple reasons. But one of the reasons is you almost HAVE TO add the 3 pumps of syrup and steamed milk to make it taste acceptable. But Starbucks is unfortunately something like a standard for coffee. The more countries I traveled to and sampled their coffee, the more I realized how ignorant I (and the vast majority of Americans) was about their favorite caffeinated beverage.
This video does fairly well to explain things:
Though, many of the commenters disagree on how well it explains things, haha, probably put off by the snobbery.
So there is good quality coffee, but most of what we drink is bad quality. This quote from one of the coffee experts I think sums the whole argument up, "...they are not focusing on those components of the coffee. They're focusing on whether or not they can actually drink the cup of coffee. And so what they do is they add milk... sugar... all these other things to make it taste like what they believe coffee should taste like."
I think the taste test that they did only proved that people who aren't coffee experts have different pallets and tastes when it comes to it. (if i'm being honest, I think the taste testers are not at all used to drinking plain black coffee)
So the quality may be objective but the taste preference is subjective. Some people love the bad quality coffee their consuming whether they know it's bad or not. Better quality does not necessarily mean better flavor.
I have sampled coffee all around the world. From Europe to Australia to Southeast Asia to far East Asia to North Africa. In my subjective opinion, overall, they almost all taste better than the coffee I get in America. Even the ones I make at home. Whether that be because it's made and prepared differently or because they are better quality... I don't know. What I do know is that it is hard to drink coffee in America after coming home from Southeast Asia.
There is a a series of CNBC videos about why Starbucks has struggled in places like Vietnam, South Africa... here's one for Australia:
The video doesn't really mention flavor except for the fact that Australians have different tastes in coffee than Americans. But the commenters sure have their say. Here's a classic: "I love how the whole video they never mentioned the real reason Starbucks failed, they make bad coffee!"
I believe Americans generally choose convenience over quality. I know there have been many times for me where I'm driving and need a pick-me-up from the gas station I stopped at where the coffee tastes like burnt fishtank water filtered through a dirty sock. But it's really cheap and convenient and I can't be bothered to find a specialty coffee shop off the highway so I load it up with sugar and fake milk and choke it down for the caffeine benefits.
Convenience over quality. The American way. I'll end this blog with a short story: I was in the Singapore Int'l Airport preparing for a flight. I was a bit tired from getting up early so I decided to grab a coffee before I got to my boarding gate. I found a couple of coffee stands within 20 feet of each other. One was Starbucks selling their normal menu, the other was a more local coffee chain selling a Singaporean/Malaysian menu which is basically black coffee, coffee w/ sugar, coffee w/ sweetened condensed milk, or coffee w/ evaporated milk and sugar. Hot or iced. I just wanted a small black coffee so I compared the prices of that at Starbucks and the local shop. Starbucks had it for about $3, the local stand had it for less than $1.50 so of course I go for that option. What I got was a coffee with a flavor 10 times better than any black coffee or americano that I've ever gotten at Starbucks. And all for less than half the price too.
I'm no coffee expert but maybe this makes me sound like a coffee snob, lol. Does it?
What are your thoughts? What's your go-to coffee if you drink it? Do you go for what's convenient? Does what's convenient also taste the best for you?
Talk coffee to me in the comments.
I've never been a fan of Starbucks. Coffee at convenience stores/gas stations is terrible also, only there to keep truck drivers and travelers like me awake :D I very rarely drink anything in my coffee and prefer black. I think what most American coffee makers don't appreciate is the benefits of having FRESHLY roasted coffee then ground to each cup. The stuff you find in bulk at most coffee stands was roasted, bagged and shipped across country. There is a definite advantage to fresh roasted. In fact, I would challenge you to buy a roaster, small stove, find some un-roasted green coffee beans, and roast your own (yes it can be done). You might be surprised how fantastic coffee at home can taste ;)
Roasting my own does sound pretty great. I haven't reached that level of coffee snob yet, haha. maybe someday.
Life is too short for bad coffee .
Years ago , after lunch I would sit down for an espresso at an authentic Italian bakery in what used to be the Italian neighborhood of a small USA city . mmmm , so good .
A few years ago I tried cold brew . yum . My daughter bought us a jar and screen so we can make cold brew at home and keep it in a glass pitcher in the fridge . A little goes a long way .
We bought a moka pot . We use it to make fake espresso . Tastes pretty good .
On our trips to Oregon and Utah , my daughter and I enjoyed getting coffee from independent or very small chain coffee shacks . I live in a second-rate state where people drink third-rate coffee that reminds me of American yellow lite beer . No coffee shack culture here . So sad .
I like my hot coffee very hot . Lukewarm coffee is yuk . If I'm on the road and cannot resist the urge to buy coffee at a national chain , my tactic is to order an Americano to avoid the disappointment of stale burnt luke warm coffee .
Awesome. You go the extra mile for good coffee.