Appendix E-J

Once the official blog camera was off, the gloves came off also…except there was still a camera going and Dave doesn’t seem to care. At least he’s honest.

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Oh, it’s on.

A while back, I posted concerning Starbucks’ announcement that they were preparing the launch of an instant coffee line dubbed VIA. I began to look for said soluable beverage, only to see that it was available in select stores in Seattle and Chicago. I wasn’t willing to pay shipping to get it to me, so I had to exercise some patience.

Luckily, good man Steve Griffin made a trip to Chicago to get some things squared away at a foreign embassy. He searched the south side of Chi-Town for a Starbucks carrying the Ready Brew and was able to secure two varieties. He returned to Ft. Collins with the stuff and we met early on a Wednesday morning at Everyday Joe’s (for reals…6 a.m.) to sit down and try it and film the trying of it.

The music is by an artist who is currently a volunteer favorite, James Pants.

Enjoy.

FURTHER:

• Starbucks VIA official site
• James Pants Official MySpace
  

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We receive a lot of samples at Everyday Joe’s. Some are surprisingly good and some are good as expected and some are what you’d expect from a sample.

The most recent sample to arrive on our desk: the instant latte. We decided to give it a go, stacked next to a latte made in-house. Watch the results below.

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So, this is some interesting news.

I have no qualms with Starbucks. The truth is they introduced specialty coffee to the masses, and shops like Everyday Joe’s need to give credit where credit is due and acknowledge the fact that…at least on some level…we wouldn’t be around without SBux. As our friend Darren would say, we shouldn’t lead with what we’re against. The first Starbucks I drank at is at the corner of Tejon & Bijou in Colorado Springs. I was 13. I had an iced mocha while skipping out on church.

As of late, I have heard rumblings on other blogs of an instant coffee coming down the Starbucks pipeline. Those rumblings gave me two thoughts:

1) For reals?

2) I hope for reals, because that equals content for the blog.

Today, it is being reported as for reals:

“Starbucks Corp, whose chief executive is trying to fight ‘misperceptions about affordability’ for the coffee chain’s brands, unveiled on Tuesday its new Via Ready Brew instant coffee that sells for less than $1 per cup.”

“The company, which recently announced another round of store closures and job cuts, will begin selling Via next month in select markets in the United States and in London. A trio of single-serve Via packets will sell for $2.95 in the U.S. and 12 packets will be priced at $9.95.”

Read the entire article here.

Hopefully, Colorado is one of those select markets. If it is, I will get my hands on some of those delicious(?) flavor crystals and we’ll try them for you, right here on the Appendix.

Further:

• Starbucks Unveils VIA Instant Coffee
• Starbucks Gossip (blog where I heard those rumblings)

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It’s time to start a new series of posts here on Appendix…a series exploring the various incantations of coffee. Some of those incantations may even qualify as “coffee.” We’ll see.

Have suggestions for adventures we could take? E-mail chris [at] everydayjoes [dot] org and let us know.

You can go ahead and watch the video now.

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