# Lowest of the low!



## xiuxiuejar (Jan 24, 2012)

Arrgghh. I ran out of coffee today and, scraping the bottom of the barrel, bought a pack of Starbucks Pike Arabica beans. It's drinkable, JUST, but when a bean has bean roasted to such an extent that drinking an espresso is just like smoking a cigarette, you know it's too much! Reminds me of those 'Italian Roast blends' which pop up everywhere . the ones where Italian roast basically means charred. Has anyone experienced anything similar?


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## SlowRoast (Sep 24, 2010)

I've only had one Starbucks coffee in my life. Ever. And I don't plan to change that. I should imagine most Starbucks beans are just char grilled seconds.

I did see an advert on YouTube for Starbucks blabbing on about their new incredible never heard of before "blonde" (or light) roast. It's like how the flat white book at Costa says that texturing milk is a completely new technique....

For this reason, if I'm scraping the barrel, it's Costa beans for me!

Edit: Ooh, look I found them! Advert: 




Chargrilling in action: 



 "It's the pinnacle of the speciality coffee industry" "Nobody is doing what we do" I think I choked on my coffee from laughing...


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## xiuxiuejar (Jan 24, 2012)

Unfortunately, where I live I'm lucky there is a Starbucks in walking distance or ot would have been supermarket stuff (vomit comes to my mouth)


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## SlowRoast (Sep 24, 2010)

It should be a new law for everyone to have an independent coffee shop 10 minutes down the road from them. Apparently another one just opened up in my town, locally roasted coffee. I need to inspect them.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

The Italian roasts I had in Rome weren't too roasty. Quite drinkable. The Italian roasts I've had in the UK are boggin. It's just poor form to toast beans and then say "it's intentional... it's Italian".


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## SlowRoast (Sep 24, 2010)

That's quite surprising actually, if burnt beans are considered "Italian" here, Costa must be doing something else. It's more of a medium roast I think.

Drury's Unique Espresso which is used at The Store in Rothwell is a very high roast.


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

In the UK, 'Italian' can sometimes be a code-word for packed full of Robusta and cheap Brazilian filler coffee, then roasted dark so at least it has some sort of flavour . All the more so if the vendor tries to tell you the blend is a 'closely guarded secret'.

I think I've only been into Starbucks a couple of times. Mostly in east Asia and probably because they had aircon


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## SlowRoast (Sep 24, 2010)

> All the more so if the vendor tries to tell you the blend is a 'closely guarded secret'.


Hahahaha! Love it. Must be why Costa is known for having the highest caffeine amounts in the cup. All that Robusta.


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## RoloD (Oct 13, 2010)

MikeHag said:


> The Italian roasts I had in Rome weren't too roasty. Quite drinkable. The Italian roasts I've had in the UK are boggin. It's just poor form to toast beans and then say "it's intentional... it's Italian".


 There's a big difference between North and South Italy - in simple terms, the further south you go, the darker the roast.

But it seems that different roasters have different ideas of what 'dark' means. A Union "extra dark" roast is still deep brown, not like the black and shiny "continental" beans you get from some of the old-style roasters.


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## xiuxiuejar (Jan 24, 2012)

I put 'Italian roast' in quotes because I meant that perceived style. Go to Italy and a decent espresso is fantastic (there's a lot of rubbish too though). I mean the Anglo/US view of espresso, dark burnt brown syrup. I have to say that there are a lot of good espresso blends, toasted to perfection, just not from Starbucks it seems! Unfortunately this is not like the UK and I have to wait for tomorrow to go to the only decent roastery in Barcelona (Cafes el Magnifico) . also my Hasbean and Coffeebeanshop orders should get here tomorrow! I'm going to be like a kid in a sweetshop! HAPPY DAYS ARE COMING )


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## xiuxiuejar (Jan 24, 2012)

To my absolute horror, reading about the Pike Place Roast (of which I have now drunk about 130 grams), it is supposedly 'MEDIUM ROAST'. All those black charred coffee beans (and I'm not overexaggerating) are supposedly 'medium'. I'd hate to imagine the dark roast.


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## RolandG (Jul 25, 2010)

xiuxiuejar said:


> Unfortunately this is not like the UK and I have to wait for tomorrow to go to the only decent roastery in Barcelona (Cafes el Magnifico)










we visited them whilst we were on holiday in Barcelona last summer - lovely people and tasty coffee. Amid the heat wave, a shakerato was just the thing!


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## xiuxiuejar (Jan 24, 2012)

Gotta say I don't know what I'd do without them and Sans and Sans Tea Shop opposite. They have a completely different take on coffee than most Spanish people and shops. I've said it many a time, I think Spain is the worst place in the world for coffee but Cafes El Magnifico have the same outlook as UK roasters such as Has Bean. They source their own coffees and have their own deals with fincas and plantations and bring fabulous quality products to us. I'm happy someone in the UK has heard of them and I recommend a visit to their shop to anyone who visits Barcelona. It's in the Borne which is a lovely area for a stroll as well.


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