How to Get a Good Cup of Coffee From Starbucks

April 12th, 2012 | Coffee

starbucksbeans

Wagner’s music is better than it sounds. ~ Edgar Wilson Nye

People tend to love Starbucks despite it tasting like it was brewed for three weeks in the center of the sun.

Most mask this reality by ordering a coffee beverage instead of coffee, or by disguising the taste with biblical levels of additives. But anyone who prepares Starbucks beans at home knows that the coffee itself isn’t the problem–it’s the brewing and serving that’s the issue.

Happily, there’s a little-known solution: ask for a pour-over.

The pour-over method is a technique normally employed by much higher-end coffee shops, and it yields you a custom cup of coffee that isn’t scalded from hours of overbrewing.

It takes longer (approximately five minutes), but the result is a remarkably good cup of coffee from Starbucks. As a bonus, doing this also allows you to try beans other than whatever they have brewed at the time, and it doesn’t even cost more than a regular pour.

Give it a go next time you’re in. It’ll be nice to add “coffee” to the list of things Starbucks does well.

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  • Michael

    Thanks for the tip.  I had no idea Starbucks was doing this.  I have been preparing pour over coffee at home using a mario v60 and mario pot that Marisol bought for me.  I find that the pour over method excels at bringing out the subtle notes in good coffee.

  • Iris

    I am not a huge Starbucks fan but, I am always curious about why so many people HATE them… What is about them?  Is it because they are not a small neighbor coffee house?  Same thing goes to Wholefoods Market..  Can someone explain this to me?

    • Daniel

      I think you have two basic answers here. One group of people tends to hate Starbucks because they are a large chain with some questionable practices and because they have hurt many small neighborhood coffee shops.

      But another group of people, including me, does not like them because most of the coffee they sell is not prepared well. Mediocrity should not win, and you should not need a “hack” to get a good cup of coffee.

      • Megan

        I agree. I find that bodega and cart coffee (I live in NYC) are brewed significantly better than Starbucks coffee. Which is too bad. Also, I honestly don’t think Starbucks is that evil. (Dunkin Donuts is more evil in my book) They recently opened a Starbucks cafe in my neighborhood in the Bronx and deliberately trained and hired kids from the immediate neighborhood. Plus they are always promoting cool new music with free downloads and, finally, in a neighborhood like mine, they serve as a much-needed indoor meeting place that is not a retail store. Or a McDonalds. Also, employees can work part time and receive health benefits and, finally, they cover same-sex domestic partners! But the coffee is gross. 

  • Anon

    They must charge extra for such a service? Just imagine the chaos during the morning rush if a couple looney customers asked for even more special specialty coffee!

    • Your friendly barista

      Nah, it cost the same.

    • barista

      I work at starbucks and if it is during morning rush, we typically won’t do any pour overs because it is a lot of extra hassle. If you go at night, though, usually that’s the only way they prepare coffee.

  • http://twitter.com/zaleary Zack O’Leary

    As great an idea as it is, my first assumption was that employees wouldn’t be a fan. And I’d hope we’ve all learned not to mess with the people who handle our consumables, eh? See http://www.ihatestarbucks.com/bb/topic.php?id=2043 for an idea of how they feel.

    • http://twitter.com/thebestbower The Best Bower

      While amusing at times, and certainly able to capture the wide variety of issues many baristas have with their customers in a moment of stress, it should not be seen as a “go to guide” on what NOT to do (or, if you’re like me, what TO do) when you go to Starbucks.

      For the most part, we’re normal people with a healthy sense of dry humor. Next time you’re in, talk to us! Chances are we won’t bite your head off, and we’ll try to remember your drink next time.

      It only gets better.

      And as a side-note: I actually enjoy doing the pour-overs. It can be worth the wait, it can just be tough to get out “it’ll only be five minutes” while trying to explain what it is, while simultaneously guaranteeing no loss in quality from your standard drip. Not to mention taking the money, and beginning the pour-over process.

      • http://twitter.com/zaleary Zack O’Leary

        Fair shout. I’d only order a pour-over out of curiosity at this point, since I’m more keen on Americanos, but I just imagine that there’s a bit more honesty with anonymity in this case. I’ll broach the subject next time I’m in my local, see what the consensus is on ordering. I will be a bit shocked if the reply I get is anything other than ‘we’ll do it, it’s not a problem,’ regardless of actual opinion, though. That seems to be the ‘normal people’ reply in any sort of customer service.

  • Alixabeth

    Try the new clover brew if your local starbucks has the machine. 

  • Your friendly barista

    I work at a Starbucks, and I love the taste of pour over coffee. However, you’re going to have a bit of a wait if you order a venti pour over, especially during a busy time. It seems like it takes three times as long as a tall because you have to wait forever for that last inch of coffee to drip through. 

    • http://danielmiessler.com/ Daniel Miessler

      Thanks for the comment. Good to know.

  • http://danielmiessler.com/ Daniel Miessler

    Note that you can also get a French Press brew for around $3.

  • http://imrich.net/ Dan

    Thanks for the tip–I’ll see whether Starbucks offers pour overs outside of the US as well. By the way: I expected that little Twitter button just above the image to work like Twitter’s “Share link” button instead of just linking to your profile.

  • Junkcafe

    Starbucks defined a particular taste that people came to expect from coffee; and from my vantage point, their brewing seriously over-extracts the beans. If Starbucks coffee isn’t cut in half by dairy, it’s brutal on the taste buds. A decent cup of coffee should have a pleasant (at least tolerable) flavor even after it’s cooled off.

    I’d guess this method would make a decent cup. But I’d want to grind the beans course.

  • Hawesd

    I am definitely not a Starbucks fan whether or not they shout out their own version of what you order.  A small cup of coffee is a small cup of coffee no matter what they think you should call it.  If they feel free to shout at customers, they should expect to be yelled at in return.  Fortunately most of the Starbucks in my neighborhood are shutting down and are being replaced with individually owned businesses.  Much better tasting , you can have it the way you want it, and you don`t have to be “trained” by their staff.

  • Kristine

    The Wagner quote is by Mark Twain.

  • Pingback: How To Get A Better Cup Of Coffee At Starbucks « FoodGek

  • Paul Philpott

    I discovered this about a year ago. I travel for a living, and have given up on finding local, independent coffeehouses that aren’t actually WORSE than Starbucks. Almost zero percent of Starbucks baristas even know that a pour over request is an option; usually an appeal to a manager is in order.

    Once your request for an on-demand pour over receives approval, next you really must request a “single origin” coffee, which again will confuse your dear barista. When you explain that this means a single country of origin, you will have further explain that Italy and France are not nations of origin, they simply indicate indistinguishable over-cooking of beans blended from unknown origins. Once she comes to understand that she is looking for a bag named for a country that grows coffee, she will almost always need to go out to the shelves and get an unopened bag, since 99.23% of Starbucks patrons do not want coffee, they want a milkshake, and any old blended, cutely named, over cooked coffee will do. The authentic coffees are meant only for display purposes, but they make for a cup that is better than no coffee at all.

    Aim for a single origin not marked, “Dark Roast”, which is Starbucks parlance for super burned. Your day will start well enough, soon enough.

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