Has anyone tried the Starbucks Winter Blend (Winter D'hiver) beans?

[Anonymous]

I brewed it for the first time today. Although it is labeled a medium roast, it appears to have been roasted past 2nd crack (oily bean) and pretty dark. I prepaired in in an Aeropress and a Kalita Wave 185. I drink it black, however this would pair well with cream and sugar in my opinion. I like it.

[Anonymous]

Our son worked at Starbucks for five yrs. just quit. French Roast tastes burned, yuck. He has never heard of this Winter Blend, but did say that medium roast will not have the burned flavor.so we are returning the French Roast and trying the medium roast. Miss him bringing us great coffee!!

[Anonymous]

The bag is good until March of next year people. Even if you drank a cup of it a day you'd go through it. The price is really good if you do the math.

[Anonymous]

When Costco stopped sellin Yukon I tried a different coffee with a description that sounded good. I took it home and ground a cup of the beans and brewed a cup in my Ninja coffee maker bought from Costco. It was a very bitter tasting cup of coffee. My wife says I’m a coffee snob, and she’s right, of course.

I took the remaining part of the bag back to Costco and they refunded it without question or guilt.

Point is, if you buy something from Costco and you don’t like it, just take it back! It’s really okay.

For me the French Roast is too rich for my taste. So, for everyone who says they like or dislike a coffee there’s someone else with a different flavor palate.

I just bought the Winter Blend. If I like it I'll stock up on it and if I think it's just "So-So" I'll drink it and not buy more. But I assure you, I will return it in a heartbeat with no remorse if I truly dislike it.

[Anonymous]

I bought a big bag from costco and will probably buy one more, hopefully before the sale ends. Can't remember if it's still going on.

[Anonymous]

Yes! I bought it myself. It’s a very strong roast and spicy roast. On the contrary of it being labeled as a medium roast. I’ve bouhht medium as pikes and dark roast as the Christmas blend and the esspresso from Starbucks. And so far this medium roast is in line with the dark roasts.

A little can go a long ways for me. I’m not a huge dark roast or black coffee drinker. My mother on the other hand is and loves her dark roasts. Even with the regular dark roast Christmas blend or the esspresso coffee roasts she’ll ask for additional esspresso shots to make it more bold tasting.

I on the other hand like creamer in mine. I’ll fill a 20oz coffee cup about 1/4 or less of the way and fill it up with milk. The coffee still has a strong bold flavor. I end up adding more milk and sugar for me to enjoy it.

If you’re looking for a bold dark roast( despite it labeled as medium) with spice this is a good buy.

The spice I refer too is that it seems to have been roasted dark to where it tastes like it’s been really roasted.

The coffee beans have that oil coating like esspresso beans too. For this reason I’m not sure if I just had a batch that was roasted more then it should have since it’s considered a medium roast or if it’s just this way. Like I said in comparison the the Starbucks esspresso 1lb bag you can buy or the red dark Christmas blend this one certainly seems to out do the dark and bold out of those three.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could the name be any more pretentious?

Is it double-named for our French-Canadian neighbors? They have way better coffee in Quebec. It's setting people up to sound silly, because someone who knows no French will possibly pronounce it "diver" as in deep-sea diver.

[Anonymous]

Don't like it. Bitter. I'm not a sugar person, but i tried it with sugar and its good. Without sugar it's really not good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our son worked at Starbucks for five yrs. just quit. French Roast tastes burned, yuck. He has never heard of this Winter Blend, but did say that medium roast will not have the burned flavor.so we are returning the French Roast and trying the medium roast. Miss him bringing us great coffee!!

You're returning an $8 bag of coffee? Shameless or broke or just a lot of free time on your hands? Just because you can return something doesn't mean you have to abuse the policy. Give the damn coffee away to someone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The sale starts on the 27th. I'll try a bag. We have been drinking the Costco Starbucks French Roast for several years and think it's a real price performer.

Yes, OP here and we love the sbux french roast. It's a staple that we'll supplement with some of the other varieties from the store from time to time.

We might try a bag, but I would feel bad about grinding the entire bag and returning. Guess I can always offload at work if we don't like it.

Yes, but then again, no one grinds the entire bag and then returns it. You grind half a cup (of so) of beans at a time.

[Anonymous]

I bought a kilo bag of this blend at Costco. I was expecting a palatable coffee with the usual Starbucks roast signature. The beans are darker, and a little oily. It makes a pretty good espresso, which is something I didn't expect. Excellent crema from an HX (Olympia, so a good HX), low acid, really a very good coffee for espresso, which was a surprise as it is not how it is advertised. I would not hesitate to buy this coffee again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its really good stuff. I can wear a gun on my belt at home and drink it in peace.

wtf?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was briefly tempted but I think Starbucks over-roasts their beans.

+1

With few exceptions, Starbucks beans taste acrid and burnt. Their drip coffee is virtually unpalatable for me. My husband actually recently got into roasting his own beans and you’d be surprised how cheap and easy the process is. He will go downstairs to our garage and have fresh roasted beans in 10 minutes. He just ordered the exact same beans that are obscenely priced in their Starbucks Reserve line, for a fraction of their cost. Sweet Maria’s is a Bay Area company that sells the raw, green beans. The beans we get are anywhere from 5.95-9.95 per pound. The roaster is basically a glorified popcorn popper. Fresh roasted coffee will ruin you for anything else. Just in case anyone feels like picking up a delicious hobby!

[Anonymous]

Costco in store coupon of -$3 in effect today total cost $13.99 instead of &16.99. 2.5lbs Medium Roast Round, Nutty Flavor100% Arabica Coffee. I’m a Peet’s Coffee Lady but Starbucks Winter Blend is a Crowd Pleaser during the Winter Season. HaPPY HoLiDaYS!??????