I fully expected to hate Starbucks VIA, after all I hated other instant coffees like SANKA and TASTER’S CHOICE. But as soon as I poured the VIA into a hot cup of water, I saw a difference. SANKA gives you an oil slick reminiscent of the EXXON VALDEZ disaster. TASTER’S CHOICE chunks up in hot water and refuses to dissolve fully. A moment after I poured the VIA in, it actually looked like real coffee. I cautiously tasted the VIA. It tasted like Colombian coffee. I still prefer real coffee, but it a pinch, VIA is an acceptable substitute. GRADE: B
A dollar a packet though. In another category than the cost of regular instant coffee which must be pennies.
You’re right about the cost, Patti. I’m hoping Sam’s Club has them at a discounted price. In a pinch, they’re worth it if you’re a hopeless coffee addict like me.
Exactly, Patti!
We did the “taste test” and it was easy to tell the difference. (and we got two free cups of ‘real’ coffee!)
But who will pay $1 a cup for this?
The same people who pay $5 for a low-fat Frappachino with cream, Jeff.
I do the math: ten of these little packets or a pound of beans – the real thing – of my favorite blend (Gold Coast) cost the same. The beans make about 20 full pots of coffee in my Krupp coffee maker, 56 oz. per pot. That’s 5 1/2 (10-oz.) cups x 20 = 110 cups, or 11 cents a cup. Beans are the way to go, plus keeping them in the freezer and grinding them fresh each morning smells good and makes terrific coffee.
If I’m not home I try to find a Styarbicks, SBC, Peets, or another good coffee seller. I suppose the VIA might do in an emergency.
I don’t know if VIA will be viable (pun intended) once the novelty wears off, Rick
By the way, – off topic alert – it’s raining here. That may not sound like a big deal, but it’s the first rain since April. Sure glad I picked today to make several appointments and errands.
Watch out for the mud slides, Rick!