Has Starbucks Reinvented Drip Coffee? Doubt It.

As an already coffee-obsessed city, It will certainly be interesting to see San Francisco's reaction to the latest phase of Starbucks' reinvention. Pike Place Roast is being billed as a new, reinvented drip coffee "freshly roasted, hand-scooped, freshly ground and brewed with shorter hold times," which will presumably replace the standard burnt rocket fuel flavor with a smoother (gasp!) more drinkable cup of coffee. I can't help but wonder how much attention the Starbucks braintrust has been paying to the widely-covered, supposed Blue Bottle drip coffee renaissance. Serious Eats gathered some initial reactions to the Pike Place Roast from a store in Rosslyn, Virginia and returned with a very mixed bag.

-- B.B.