Friday, February 13, 2009

Starbucks to sell instant coffee — $1 a cup

Starbucks to sell instant coffee? You have got to be kidding? According to an article in MSNBC business, Starbucks, after 20 years of research and development, has come out with Via which "replicates the taste of Starbucks coffee in instant form" and will be available next week on Tuesday.

When I used to drink instant coffee, my friends looked down their noses at me and said that I was uncultured for drinking instant coffee. My parents had drank instant coffee for most of their lives and I picked it up. Now, after years of brewing my own coffee and only drinking freshly brewed when I go out, Starbucks brings out an instant coffee. I wonder what my friends will be saying now.

Don't get me wrong. I'm open to new things and can't wait to try it out. If the coffee is as good as the company says, I will be buying it for work. When I was employed, I spent $3.36 a day (1 large in the morning and one large in the afternoon). If the price is about $1 per cup and they can make it taste great to boot, I'm all for it.

The other side of me thinks about the smokeless cigarette that R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company tried to market, the Premier cigarette. I don't smoke, but I do remember the marketing campaign. The cigarette cost the company $1 billion in research and development. After everything was said and done, it failed miserably due to the taste. If you light it with a match, you "enjoyed" a nice charcoal flavor and that's putting it kindly. If you have read the book, Barbarians at the Gate, or saw the HBO movie by the same name, you will recall a very funny scene about the cigarette.

I hope that Via doesn't have the same problems with taste and smell like the Premier cigarette. As soon as I get some of the coffee, I'll try it out on my friends and let you know what we think. Or, if you happen to try it first, you can add comments to this entry. I'm sure the readers of this blog would enjoy reading your comments.

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