I tried some Starbucks Viennese blend today with the help of my Ikea French press (first time using it). The French press worked great and the coffee was also quite good.
The Viennese blend is a dark roast of course (as opposed to Starbucks’ other options: darker or darkest). All poking fun at the ‘Bux aside, it was actually quite enjoyable, especially after I let it cool down a few degrees. Very fully flavor, not abrasive as I might have expected. Balanced with barely a hint of chocolate. Overall a very pleasant cup of joe.
I tried buying the Viennese blend on a whim, since Fry’s (my local grocer) insists on printing out Starbucks coupons for me. This leads me suspect that Starbucks is doing a big push for consumer advertising at the retail, grocery store level.
I’m still developing my coffee taste buds and I had a question about one thing you wrote above. You mentioned that you let it cool down some, do you usually do that when tasting coffee? Does it allow you to get more accurate of a taste.
to be honest, Mike, my interest in coffee is more practical than connoisseuristic
i just think, practically speaking, my sense of taste going to work better at 120 degrees Fahrenheit than 205 degrees F.
Coffee tastes significantly different as it cools – heat tends to cover up a lot of the subtler flavors.