Taste test: The little joes take on Starbucks
Posted by TheShot on 27 Mar 2006 | Tagged as: Consumer Trends, Starbucks
Somehow the editors of today’s USA TODAY let this article slip by without a pie chart: USATODAY.com - Taste test: The little joes take on Starbucks. Somebody is getting a pink slip.
But in this article, USA TODAY food and wine critic Jerry Shriver takes a very CoffeeRatings.com-like approach to reviewing the “premium” drip coffee at some of the major chains. Over a period of 10 days, he visited Manhattan outlets of McDonald’s, 7-Eleven, Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks to review their coffee.
His findings? He noted that all the coffee he tasted was pretty good — with noticeable improvements in bean quality and flavor at these less “elitist” coffee shops. However, he felt consistency remains a problem for some of them.
Compare my ratings for various area Starbucks and you’ll see just how much a coffee chain can provide consistent branding far more readily than it can provide consistently good coffee.
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