by Nigel Ong
Starbucks is famous for its hand-made coffee but also makes instant coffee. There are the Premium Instant coffees and also the Starbucks Via. Starbucks Via focuses on reproducing instant versions of its famous roasts. The Premium Instant is blended separately.
One of the most popular Starbucks Via instant coffee is the Veranda. It is created to reproduce the taste of an actual Veranda Blend Roast. The question is, how close to it did Starbucks get? I got myself a pack of the Starbucks Via Veranda Blend to try.
In this post, I will review the Starbucks Via Veranda Instant Coffee. I will sample the coffee black and also with popular flavorings. I will also compare it against the Veranda Roast and see how similar they taste.
About Starbucks Via Veranda Instant Coffee
Starbucks was selling like gangbusters by the late 2000s. As a result, they started looking into other ways to sell more of their coffee. The answer? Home.
Starbucks noticed not all its customers have the time to brew the beans at home or go to its stores to purchase coffee. They decided that instant coffee would be the best option here. It is cheap and easy to make at home.
In 2009, Starbucks first introduced the Starbucks Via. It is a line of premium instant coffee made to taste, similar to some of its most popular roasts and blends.
Starbucks Via consists of soluble coffee granules and small micro-ground coffee beans. The soluble coffee granules are made using a proprietary method, which Starbucks fiercely protects.
Aside from the Veranda Blend, many popular Starbucks roasts are also in the Via lineup. This includes the Pike Place Blend, Verona Blend, and more. Starbucks Via Veranda Blend remains one of the most popular instant coffee.
My pack of Starbucks Veranda Blend here is slightly off-color because I accidentally spilled some coffee on it. But the coffee granules are well protected.
How Does Starbucks Via Veranda Instant Coffee Taste?
First Impression
My Starbucks Via Veranda Blend pack has 12 sticks inside, enough to make 12 cups of coffee. I pulled out mine, and the sticks looked very well packaged. It gave the instant coffee a premium feel.
I tore the stick and poured its contents into my cup. The insides are in powder form, not granules like most instant coffee I have reviewed.
Starbucks claims that the content is made from freeze-dried and micro-ground coffee. Unlike Lavazza Prontissimo or Starbucks Premium Instant, the packaging here does not mention freeze-dried coffee and micro grounds ratio.
Black
I poured 8oz (about 237ml) of hot, off-boiling water into a Starbucks Via Veranda Blend stick for black coffee. The freeze-dried coffee dissolves easily without me even needing to stir it.
Before I sip the coffee, I take in the aroma. It does not have a strong instant coffee smell and smells like a proper coffee brew. However, the aroma has less depth than an actual brewed coffee, which tells you it may be instant coffee.
Once I took a sip, I was actually quite pleased with it. The Starbucks Via Veranda Blend does not taste like instant coffee. To untrained palates, they may even think this is a brewed coffee.
The Starbucks Via Veranda Blend also delivers a comfortable package. It is a mild cup of coffee with little smoke. The bitterness is not intense but more of bittersweet-ish, gentle taps on your palate.
While sipping the coffee, I picked up a bit of cocoa and some floral-like notes. The coffee also triggers me to want to bite into something with it, like biscuits or a bowl of oats. This is an excellent breakfast coffee.
With Sweetener
Next, I tried instant coffee with sweeteners. I made two cups of the Starbucks Via Veranda Blend and then added a stick of brown sugar to one cup. I also added a drop of Equal artificial sweetener on the other.
Sugar sweetens the coffee and does a little bit more to me. The coffee is already smooth, so sugar makes the coffee even nicer to sip. To my palate, I think the sugar helps to bring out more of the cocoa notes, too.
Equal is made of Aspartame, which means it would have a slightly different sweetness profile. The sweetness seems to come later after I have sipped the coffee. This means I get to sample some bitterness before the sweetness comes in. Nice.
I, however, prefer the sugar version. This is because the Aspartame tends to leave a long, sweet finish on my palate, which feels unnatural to me.
With Milk
With milk, I poured a shot (about 30 ml or 1 oz) of milk into my cup of coffee. The milk I use here is fresh UHT cow’s milk.
The milk makes the already smooth and easy coffee even easier to drink. The milk makes the coffee rich and very decadent to enjoy.
The lactose in milk helps to sweeten the coffee very slightly, which makes the whole sweetness very natural to me. It also adds creaminess, which helps to turn the cocoa notes in the Starbucks Via Veranda Blend into chocolate-ish.
However, I want to mention that the coffee is quite mild, which means you want to be a little careful with the milk. If you add them too liberally, you risk drowning the coffee flavor away.
With Creamer
Not everyone likes milk; with lactose intolerance growing worldwide, more are switching to non-dairy creamer. I thought I’d try out the Starbucks Via Veranda Blend with some, too.
I added a stick of Coffee Mate creamer into my cup of Starbucks Via Veranda Blend and sipped some in. I like what I tasted.
Coffee Mate helps to soften the coffee even more, making it incredibly easy to sip. It also added cream to the coffee, making it richer and having more ‘body.’
However, I seem to prefer milk over cream here. The milk version tastes more natural and has a richer and fuller feel.
Iced
Finally, since the Starbucks Via Veranda Blend does not really taste like instant coffee, I wonder how it will behave iced up. I made a hot cup of Veranda Blend and poured it into a glass filled with ice.
The ice helps to elevate the bitterness of the coffee a little bit, which also brings out more of the cocoa note. I quite like this, although the bitterness is not strong enough for me.
The iced Starbucks Via Veranda Blend cannot match the deep, satisfying bitterness from properly brewed Iced Americano. However, it is a decent, serviceable option, which I think is all that the Starbucks Via Veranda Blend needs to be.
Starbucks Via Veranda vs. Starbucks Via Pike Place Roast
One of the first things I want to compare the Starbucks Via Veranda Blend to is another Starbucks Via instant coffee I have in hand, the Pike Place Roast.
Here, it is evident that both are formulated the same way. The content is equally powdery and dissolves easily in hot water. The differences, however, end here.
The aroma of the Veranda Blend is softer and milder compared to the Pike Place. The Pike Place is bolder and smokier. In fact, the smokiness can be a bit too much, as if you wonder if Starbucks is trying to cover something up.
I would sip the Starbucks Via Veranda Blend in the mornings and leave the Pike Place for later. I’ll perhaps drink it after lunch to beat the afternoon slump.
Starbucks Via Veranda vs. Veranda Roast Ground Coffee
The most important reason I reviewed the Starbucks Via Veranda Blend is to see how close it is compared to the actual Veranda Blend ground coffee. I brewed both coffees according to instructions and then sampled them together.
The Starbucks Via Veranda Blend tastes good on its own. But you will notice its shortcomings when you sip it side by side with the actual Veranda Blend.
It lacks the depth of flavor and may taste slightly more acidic than the brewed Veranda Blend. The floral note on the brewed Veranda Blend is also much stronger and noticeable compared to the Starbucks Via version.
I would also say that I tasted a stronger cocoa note on the brewed Veranda Blend compared to the Starbucks Via Version.
Perhaps it may be good to understand that by getting the convenience to enjoy your Starbucks at home, you will sacrifice a little bit of taste and flavor. However, it can be a good trade, depending on how you look at it.
Starbucks Via Veranda vs. Regular Brewed Coffee
Finally, I want to compare the Starbucks Via Veranda Blend with regular coffee. When I say regular coffee here, I mean those you can get for $1 at your local gas stations or convenience stores.
I want to see if the Starbucks Via Veranda Blend taste is good enough. You would rather spend time making it at home than buying these regular coffees.
I picked up a cup of 7-Eleven Americano and sipped it side-by-side with my Starbucks Via Veranda Blend cup.
My verdict is that they are quite close. In fact, I may actually prefer the Starbucks Via Veranda Blend, just very slightly.
My reason? The Starbucks Via Veranda Blend is a soft, gentle, and nice-to-sip cup of coffee. It may lack the depth in flavors compared to the 7-Eleven coffee, but it is more rounded. It gives you a more complete coffee experience.
The 7-Eleven coffee can taste a little flat, bitter, and watery. It is drinkable, and many would find no fault in its taste. I just think it delivers me slightly less satisfaction than the Starbucks Via Veranda Blend.
Should You Drink Starbucks Via Veranda Instant Coffee?
I have to say I am quite pleased with how the Starbucks Via Veranda Blend tasted. It is probably my favorite instant coffee right now, beating even the Illy Clasico. However, it is not a conventional instant coffee, so I may not want to compare them directly.
The Starbucks Via Veranda Blend aims to replicate the taste of the actual Veranda Blend. To me, it does a good enough job. You will get that taste profile.
However, you will notice the difference when you drink side by side with an actual brewed Veranda Blend. It lacks the depth and intensity of flavor compared to the actual roast.
You may want to consider this approach when trying out the Starbucks Via Veranda Blend. You are trading away some quality in the coffee in exchange for convenience and cost.
Making your Starbucks at home will be cheaper than buying them from your Barista. It will be incredibly convenient, too. You will, however, live with a slightly lower-quality coffee. You may not notice much difference if you are not too pedantic about how your coffee tastes. You can find Starbucks Via Veranda Blend here.