michelle recently sent me a trial pack of starbucks via instant coffee...since peter works for them and they both know of my (mild) disdain for both their coffee and for instant coffee in general, it was a no-brainer. so, i tried them this past week and here's what i think...

it's...well...not bad, actually! seriously, it isn't bad. i even like it better than their regular coffee offerings at their stores...but maybe that's not saying much. seriously, though, it's a very smooth cup, with none of the bitterness that i associate with starbucks coffee. but the thing that makes it different than most instant coffees is that it retains the nuttiness that i think all really good coffee has. nuttiness is a very vague term...lots of things are said to have "nutty" flavors. but coffee certainly does...and it's one of the things that i look for in a good, fresh cup of coffee. now, there was no brightness (acidity) to the cup, which is something else i look for...but that's probably to be expected. still, i was pleasantly surprised.