Starbucks Dark Roast Ground Coffee — French Roast — 100% Arabica — 1 bag (20 oz.) Great Holiday Gift

I love Starbuck's French Roast - it beats every other brand, IMO, and is always delicious. Smooth, slight hint of coco, and so aromatic.

Starbucks gets knocked around a lot by coffee experts but I've tried a lot of highly rated dark roasts and this is where I land. I like dark coffee to taste *dark* - very bold, bitter around the edges and robust enough for good coffee taste to punch through the sweet cream that I also prefer. The price is a bonus, especially as I brew it strong - I'd pay more if any of the pricey competitors could pull their weight as well. The only real competition to me are the super duper high caffeine ones with corpses and stuff on the label that wreck my day with edgy jitters. Nah. Just don't let that guy run for president.

Before this COVID-19 pandemic I had just purchased French Roast drip brands in the store. Would always go to Starbuck's for my Lattes and to shot the bull with our little Starbuck's social group. Since I am in the CDC's group "People at Risk" do not think going back in person to Starbuck's any time soon. Now that being said after first using the Starbuck's French Roast Dark Roast Ground Coffee my daughter-in-law purchased for my and dropped on my doorstep there is no way I am not going to treat myself to Starbuck's French Roast from now on.

Although the cognoscenti often look upon dark roasts with great disdain, I take great delight in the delivery of this fine roast from Starbucks, which is always on time and fresh. I assure you that I know the difference between a roasted bean and a burnt one, and that this roast brings out the sugars in the bean without the char flavor of burnt beans. In addition, this lowers the acidity of the brew for those who have sensitive stomachs. Great value for money!

Have been drinking SB FR since forever. Now and again will try something else but always come right back to FR. Couple of issues. One is that it's a bear to grind in an electric burr grinder. Makes a mess, not the end of the world. Depending on the grinder it makes cleaning the machine difficult. My old Cuisinart DB-8? had to be replaced 2 or 3 times. Cuisinart was great about exchanging: Remember to register your machine otherwise it might be YOUR problem and not theirs. The newer Cuisinart makes a bigger mess but is easier to clean. Sorry, this is supposed to be about the coffee not the machine.One of my joys with SB FR was the aroma of the beans. I used to tell anyone who would listen to me that the aroma was just about the very best thing. Unfortunately, it's mostly gone now. That rich oily smell has gone missing. So has the unmistakable smell of the brewed coffee. I've noticed that it's a rare bag of SB FR that is a "brick" on arrival i.e. the bag is rock hard from a powerful vacuum sealing process. Not sure if it's direct cause and effect but the beans are no longer oily. Maybe just maybe the care with which Starbucks roasted this coffee is just not done anymore. Read the SB story many times how the roasting process wasn't done until the beans began to give off a little white smoke and it was at that point that the beans gave up their oil. At the point the coffee beans were at the maximum of dark roastedness lol. Love that story. Maybe somewhere I read that some flavorful oil may have been added to further enhance that amazing smell.With logistics as good as it is now, one would think that delivery of a super fresh, vacuum sealed bag of coffee would be fast enough to not let anything happen to the coffee in transit. IDKI HOPE that this isn't the end of the oily greasy orgasmic smelling coffee that I've enjoyed fondly for at least 20 years now. C'mon Starbucks, you know what I'm talking about.

It took me a while (and the pandemic) to give up my daily Starbucks run. Thankfully, I can still have my cold brew that tastes amazing while staying in and keeping healthy and safe. I can't say how it works for a regular hot pot of Joe, but I'm sure it would be great there, too. For cold brew, it has a strong smooth flavor without the bitter coffee aftertaste of many coffees. I like it.

I enjoy the Starbucks french Roast dark coffee over anything else I have drank my whole life. I like the flavor, and I even tried Seattle's Best, thinking they are/were the same, but they are not. Some people beat up on this brand/flavor, and prefer Mc fast food place coffees, but this is always number one to me. Nearly 40 years later, coffee is always the morning prize to starting the day. The best part was the price on this order.

Smooth and flavorable.....love this coffee!!