As some of you may know, I'm a coffee addict and when I went into Starbucks this morning to get my daily, tall, regular coffee, I was suprised to see the new cup my drink was being served in.

Very minimalistic in design (two colors, a dark brown on white), the cup came with a smoother tasting coffee. Perhaps the simplicity of the cup's design represents the back-to-basics taste approach that Starbucks is experimenting with their latest daily brew, the Pike Place Roast.

I must admit, the design of the cup also has a very vintage feel to it. The side of the cup reads (yup, no more of the same quote about some guy and his inspiration and how you can hear his song on XM radio... who even listens to XM radio??): 

"This is what we know to be true: We opened our very first store in Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington, in 1971. We still roast our coffee ourselves. Less than 3% of the coffee in the world is good enough for Starbucks. We served the best cup of coffee 37 years ago, and we still do today. Introducing our new daily brew: Starbucks Pike Place Roast." <insert blaring trumpets> 

Oh, and you can say bye to the green mermaid that used to sit on the face of the cup. We are now accompanied by a Hawaiian-esque type of mermaid that you would situate on the dashboard of your car. Actually, I think this new (old) logo is the original logo seen on the signage at the Starbucks in Pike Place Market, Seattle... maybe?

Anyways, after drinking Starbucks for several years now, I've become accustomed to that harsh, bitter taste (totally subjective) that I dilute with tons of sugar and half n half. In this new brew, that bitterness has finally escaped my morning pick-me-up and I'm quite content.

Good job.

Want to find out more about this new roast?

• Starbucks' Press Release on the new roast
• People share their emotions about the new roast along with their dislike for fancy shmancy coffee /tear 

2008-04-15 22:57:27 Steve Skladany Pike Place = Water Yea, I tried it. Give me the bitter brew. Yea, it WAS too bitter, but at least it tastes like coffee and not the coffee equivalent of bud light. (I actually, sadly, prefer panerhell's offerings.) BTW, that you've hit everything on the head. That's the old design... I'm surprised you didn't hear or read about it, as it's been talked about all over the news. Although, the original mermaid's hair wasn't so er, strategically placed.

2008-04-16 00:48:45 Gene Re: Pike Place = H20 Panera coffee? If the new Pike's Place is the Bud Light of coffee, I would think Panera would fall to the likes of Natty Ice. Honestly, I still prefer the instant stuff than all this overpriced mumbo jumbo, although I do admit the buzz you get from a tall fourbuck's coffee is quite ... interesting, especially on an empty stomache. As for the design and stuff, I haven't read up on it. Been buried with deadlines, etc. It was just sort of obvious how that cup was designed, which I guess can be considered 'good' design since I was able to interpret it correctly... Anyone else figure out the design without prior knowledge?

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.