Powdered Instant Starbucks Coffee: The End of Civilization?

As one of the biggest high-end Barista-prepared coffee franchise in the world, does the recent introduction of a powdered instant Starbucks coffee means the end of civilization as we know it?


By: Ringo Bones


As the designated “coffee-man” of my peer group, I and the rest of us had acquired a taste of genuinely brewed coffee that probably only an on-going post apocalyptic nuclear winter – or catastrophic climate change – would had us revert to drinking freeze-dried powdered instant coffee. But as Starbucks experimented its own version of the devil a few years ago – is this the surest sign that the end of civilization is nigh?

To seasoned coffee connoisseurs, there is really nothing like enjoying a properly prepared brewed coffee. And we probably reached a consensus long ago that that freeze-dried powdered instant coffee is an abominable form of coffee drinking. I had yet to try Starbucks’ version of freeze dried powdered instant coffee that some say is close enough in taste to their properly brewed cuppa that Starbucks Instant Coffee could relegate Barista’s to the dustbin of history.

If you ask for my opinion, I think there’s more to being a coffee connoisseur than convenience. A good tasting coffee is of prime importance though, but how that coffee is prepared is part of a revered Western ritual than some Japanese even compare it to a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. And with our increasing awareness of the injustices brought about by globalization, the corporate social responsibility compliance of the coffee that we consume has also become part of the equation. Remember folks, support your local Barista, it’s the socially responsible thing to do for us capitalist coffee consumers.