Curse you, Via!

Posted by Ted on October 2, 2009 in | 2 comments

I know I shouldn’t take this personally, but failing the Starbucks Via taste test this morning truly unnerved me. Actually, pissed me off is more like it.

They handed me my samples and asked, which is the fresh-brewed coffee? I thought, and sipped, and thought some more, and then pointed right to one of the two little cups. Which, sadly, turned out to be the new instant brand.

An hour after failing the test, I think I know why this experience rattled me. Sure, it’s a complete validation of Starbucks’s new instant coffee. It tastes delicious, I admit. But what bugs me is that there’s just something inherently wrong about a human being not being able to differentiate between freshly made coffee and artificial, freeze-dried, packaged stuff.

What’s next? Splenda being indistinguishable from sugar? Soy milk tasting the same as regular? Turkey bacon assuming the taste, texture, and shape of regular bacon?

Maybe I’ve been reading too much Michael Pollen, but, well, it just seems like it’s not healthy for us to live in a world where we can’t distinguish fresh from artificial.

That said, at $1 per packet, this new Via instant is hella cheap. It may be a sinister ploy, but I’ll get off my soapbox now since I’ll no doubt be buying the stuff in bulk before too long.