Starbucks Coffee

I had a tall brewed cup of 'Estima' yesterday.  There was definitely a slighty 'nutty' aroma.  I could taste a 'roasty' flavor and full bodied.  Not a very clean finish.....which I don't care for.  This was never one of my faves and in this sequence, I would rank it next to Kimodo as my least favorite.  Just not smoothe enough for me.

still, so happy we're doing this!

It took a while for my large cup to cool down from scalding temperature, and the coffee has suffered for the scorching.  I do enjoy the strength of the flavor, and the Estima is light enough not to hold the burn too well but still has a firm flavor, so far my second after Komodo.

(A generous helping of half & half brings out the nutty flavor and quells the burn rebellion.)

Estima is by far my least favorite coffee featured in this promotion (which I knew). I find this coffee to simply be bland and uninteresting. It has no one flavor that stands out, and overall a very boring cup of coffee. I don't know how else to describe it.

I'd place Estima at the very bottom of all the bold offerings, close to PPR. It's better than PPR, but not by that much.

I adore Estima.  No, it's not the boldest of the bold, but I always enjoy the smooth, nutty flavor.  This week was no different.  Glad I don't feel the need to pair this one with something sweet because I was grabbing it on the run without an extra hand for a pastry.

I had this yesterday and I noticed that it's lacking in flavor and that it's also very smooth.  For people who are looking for somewhat of a bold brew, this is a good choice.

This one isn't as good as Komodo or Africa: Red for me....it's a little bitter for me, but I haven't had a bad coffee at Starbucks.  It's just not as good as the others.  

I liked this coffee as much as the others. I'm always amazed at how each coffee has it's own distinct aroma and I love all of them.

Cafe Estima shows my deep esteem for the coffee farmers that work so hard for us to enjoy.

I tried this coffee yesterday, and didn't care for the taste at all.  Don't know if I got a bad batch, so I will try it again on Thursday, but my initial impression was there was a lack of aroma and it had  really tart taste that made my mouth pucker, at least initially.  It got smoother as I drank more and my final impression was that it was quite bland.

Despite having tasted all these different coffees these past several weeks, I still do not have quite the palette to pick out the various flavors.

I still do not have quite the palette to pick out the various flavors. When I tasted this blend yesterday, I was tasting citrus. Today, I can taste the nutty flavor (perhaps the power of suggestion from the blog). Not among my favorite of the bunch.

Hmm, Estima Blend. It's not my favourite, but it's certainly not bad at all. I picked up the roasty flavours, but there was also a slight bitterness---a rarity for a Starbucks coffee. Like all Starbucks coffees, however, this one still tastes best when served black. I also noticed a dry, cocoa-like flavour and texture, accompanied by a moderate acidity. The finish was clean but somewhat forgettable. Grade: B.

One thing I forgot earlier - my placement!

1) Italian Roast (imho, nothing has even came close to this blend)

2) Verona

3) Red

4) Yukon

5) Komodo Dragon

6) Estima

I tried this one this morning and nothing stood out for me with this one. I got a hint of a nutty flavor, and a definite roughness to it. I didn't get any sort of aroma from this one, it's just plain coffee.

I forgot to list my favorites order so far, oops!

1. - Italian

2. - Red

3. - Komodo Dragon

4. - Verona

5. - Yukon

6. - Estima

Favorite to least - but like them all

#1 Komodo

#2 yukon

#3 estima

#4 verona

#5 red

#6 italian roast

Videos are very good . well made

One of my favorite parts of the bold promotion is that the store partners are talking about coffee again. "Tall bold" always sounded like "Tall Bored" to me. These coffees are different and interesting and deserve to be talked about. Estima is a very decent coffee and definitely has its place in the lineup.

Aroma- caramel sweetness

Acidity- medium to full

Body- medium to light

Flavor- a little roasty, dry, apple acidity

The Yukon Blend video is my favourite.

Not one of my favorites so far...

I've been trying to find a blend that has buttery sorts of notes in it, a little different than caramel.  

Haven't found it yet, and this was not it.

Estima to me was roasty but mellow, in that not much stood out to me unlike the other blends.  I will have a second tomorrow and see if I notice anything different.

Italian has been my favorite so far!

@Hayley, The only coffee that has clear buttery type notes in it is Sulawesi. It is very buttery smooth. Unfortunately, it is no longer sold in North America but is still sold in many international markets such as Mexico, Europe, etc. It occasionally comes to North America as a seasonal coffee, and I stock up. I also stock up while travelling. It's one of my favorites.

Although I enjoyed the tasting of the Café Estima today I have to say that RED is still my favorite one of the challenge. They videos, however, keep getting better and better. Love this weeks video

I believe the reaction of each of us to any given coffee is totally subjective.   We can all read about what Sbux puts out about each coffee....the 'notes' of this and that but ultimately, I think, it comes down to what each of us finds for ourselves and the words we choose to try and express that.

Estima's acidity is a little high for me. It takes away from the smoothness and coolness of the sip.  But it does not linger so there is no sour aftertaste.

Cecile:  the videos:   I think they're cute....not totally necessary but still kind of cool.   Favorites for me are Verona (love like you mean it) and Komodo (assert yourself).     strictly from the video point of view, since Komodo was low on my list.    

I tried Cafe Estima today sans half and half, and I must say that it was smooth with a nutty flavor.  Not as bold as Komodo dragon or Italian roast.  My favorite is still Verona.

I got this coffee for free today as part of a promotion where you bring your own mug in.

I always get a Grande No Water Soy Chai Latte in a personal cup to start my day. Luckily I upgraded my personal cup recently so brought in both!

My Notes:

Smell: nutty, acidic

Taste: smooth, acidic, spicy

After taste: acidic, bitter

Meh, not loving it, adding some sugar (2 packets, white granular) less acidic and brings the spice to the front more.

My preferences, best to worst, so far:

1) Caffe Verona

2) Italian Roast

3) Yukon

4) (STARBUCKS)RED

5) Café Estima Blend

6) Komodo Dragon

As far as the videos go although they are cute they aren't interesting enough to share or informative enough to suggest to others IMO

I like Estima because it's delightfully unique: a nutty aroma, bright acidic topnote, and a bold yet smooth finish...

I'd say that this tastes spicy to me. My palette isn't quite up to snuff yet though.

oregonnative   4/15/2010

 The developer of this blog is our daughter Teri, and we just want to say how proud we are of her inovative ideas and work ethic...  

  Our favorite coffe drink is the Pumpkin Spice Latte ... she makes sure we have an ample supply of gift cards to purchase the coffee and other products...    +0)    =0)

I really didn't mind the taste of the Estima, but the aftertaste was enough to turn me off to it.  Definitely not one of my favorites.

What I like most about Estima is the nuttiness. I had mine with a vanilla almond biscotti and it paired quite nicely.

Estima.  This coffee has an earthy flavor to me.  I little complex, like there's lots of stuff in the mulch of the earthy-ness.  I like it.  Not my fav.  But I like it.  The earthy swirls around, and keeps swirling.  As someone above said, not a clean finish.  But I don't mind that.  BTR (better than red).  So far:

1. Italian Roast

2. Verona

3. Komodo

4. Yukon

5. Estima

6. Red

Estima is a very good coffee.  Not my favorite, but high on the list.  It's far less complex than Verona, but it has a good flavor both when it is first served and after it sits (and cools) for awhile.  As someone who likes to sip through a cup of coffee, keeping a consistent flavor as it sits is important to me.  It also has a nice, clean finish.  I do wish it was a little bit stronger, however - it seemed almost too weak.

I had a blueberry muffin paired with mine, and it worked well but not exceptionally - Estima did not seem to highlight the flavors in the food or vice versa.  Perhaps using the suggestion of pairing with something nutty would have worked better.

I quite liked this one. Its kind of sweet, at first I thought maybe brown sugar, but maybe a touch of caramel. It smells pretty floral, and I thought I detected a very mild citrus flavour. Sipping it when it was piping hot didnt do much for me, but once I let it cool off I decided I judged it too soon, thinking it was way too spicy/floral for me.

I can detect a mild citrus in it as well, which is due to the African beans in it. As I said above, no one flavor is very dominant, which makes it a bland coffee to me.

this weeks video is the best it has my vote.

ran out of balloons.

I liked Estima very much. It has a very balanced flavor. I would give it 4 pts out of 5

I love Estima!  It is my very favorite blend and my only wish is that one day it could be organic like Yukon.  Estima is very smooth, crisp tasting and the perfect strength for me.

Estima is not a bold and I am unsure of why it is featured with the bolds. It's bland and boring. I wished espresso roast was featured instead of Estima.

So far this is my favorite of the Bold coffees offered during this promotion.  It has a bit of an edge to it at first but that turns into a wonderful coffee flavor.  So far, this is closest to my favorite (Thanksgiving Blend).  Black, no cream or sugar.

I also tried it with the samples of the lemon cake that was being offered; the two went together well.

I enjoyed it this morning, and it tasted even better when paired with the oatmeal + brown sugar. I'd put it in third with behind (Red) and Yukon and definitely ahead of Verona and Italian Roast.

Cafe Estima Blend is another coffee featured in this promotion which I have had the pleasure of sampling before.  The in-store advertising describes this blend as, "Velvety smooth and balanced with a roasty sweetness," and I am not able to say it any better myself.

In addition, I observed that Cafe Estima Blend does not have as much of a lemon-like finish as some of the other Latin American coffees; perhaps it is a little less acidic?

I enjoyed the Estima very much, possibly the best of all. The first cup I had was fresh ground and pour brewed, and was positively a delight. With half-and-half (my usual), it was perfect all by itself and did not require a pastry, as some of the others did. I found it smooth, with no unpleasant bite.

This was a delicious coffee. It had a caramally sweetness to it but enough bitterness to add some balance. There were some smoky hints and a syrupy mouthfeel. This is probably one of my top three along with Yukon and Komodo Dragon.

I really liked Café Estima, It was smooth and not too strong. It's probably my second or third favorite. I sort of thought there might be a bit of citrus to it, but not sure, I don't think I do well with picking up flavors.

Aroma- earthy

Acidity- medium

Body- smooth

Flavor- sweet and crisp

I have had Estima several times this week, but hadn't gotten back to this thread. Yesterday, I started my day with Estima and Perfect Oatmeal which was truly a nice pairing.

I'm not the hugest fan of Estima compared to other Starbucks coffees, but the nuts and flavor of the oatmeal seemed to bring out the best in Estima. I don't think I've ever even thought about it before, but Estima mostly washed Latin American beans? It is bold because it has a lot of mouth feel, but still works fine as a morning breakfast cup of coffee.

I don't know why but I tend to drink lighter coffee in the morning (remember the days of House Blend???) and switch to bolds later in the day.

On a scale of one to ten, Estima rates about a six in my book.

Definitely bold but towards the bottom of all the offerings thus far

Very smooth and not a strong bitter after taste.  This is a great coffee!

I like Cafe Estima.  I drank it black,  with no food pairing.  The second time, I was lucky enough to have it brewed by Pour Over method (my first experience with it).  For me, it is smooth, well-balanced, with a full body.  I didn’t pick up much on the sweetness, though.  As a bonus, it’s a Fair Trade offering.  

It was quite good even when cooled to room temperature, and was then refrigerated.  It wasn’t bitter, so I would choose this again when brewing at home for iced coffee.  Since I generally prefer bold or extra bold coffee, out of the tasting journey offerings, I would place it somewhere near the middle.  

I’m looking forward to the Gold Coast tasting this week, perhaps as a Pour Over.  

Side note:  I found it amusing that someone in front of me, with the choice of Estima or Pike, specifically requested Pike.  There ARE Pike lovers out there.

It's Tuesday morning.  awaiting Gold Coast..... ?

Really, REALLY loved Estima - Probably second to me after the Dragon.  It was smoother than most of the bolds, which I think is what I liked about it.  I may end up choosing this one for my free pound!

this week's video i like the most

P.S. @TheKwan - it will probably amuse you to know that, although I've been a fan of bolds for a long time, I find a cup of Pike very satisfying on occasion too.  I do a thing called BzzAgent and they sent me a free lb. of Pike and a sampler of Verona - the Pike is about gone and the Verona went to the neighbor because I really didn't care for it!  Anyway, just a comment...

@sarcla - Actually, I don't hate Pike like many people on these posts.  I drink it on occasion, too, but it’s just not my first choice.  

Hope you’ve enjoyed the coffee journey; it’s been fun for me.