Marc kills the Starbucks VIA challenge

I like Starbucks.  The coffee is a little more expensive than fair-priced.  The crazy coffee drinks like Triple Espresso Chocolatey Cafe Mocha (not an actual Starbucks product) are even higher priced but I've yet to find anybody who does it better.  It's like Hawaiian Kona coffee...three times more expensive and definitely better, but not three times better.  The frappucino is still one of my favorite drinks at Starbucks.  This weekend, I returned to a Starbucks location in Birch Run, Michigan that I'd been to before.  As I was leaving, an employee stationed at the front door stopped me with a blind taste test.If you haven't heard, Starbucks has entered the instant coffee foray with a product called VIA Ready Brew.  At first, it was mind-boggling.  Instant coffee is the worst of all coffees, and Starbucks is the gold standard of good coffee.  Their claim is that the instant coffee prepares...well...instantly, but tastes as good as their brewed coffee.  You can imagine by the title of this posting how the rest of the story plays out.The blind taste test was to compare a sample of freshly brewed Pike Place Roast blend with a sample of the VIA Italian Roast.  Here's the play by play.  I smelled coffee number one, then took a sip.   I smelled coffee number two, and then let her know which was which even before my sip of the second sample.  She gave me the "are you sure?", but her face said it all.  How did I do it?First of all, I have an unfair advantage.  Even among Starbucks customers, I probably drink an above average quality of coffee.  Second, don't discount the sense of smell when it comes to coffee.  Coffee has an aroma that figures into its flavor and if you're familiar with coffee cupping, you know that's purely by sense of smell.  The instant coffee had virtually no smell, especially compared to the Pike Place which is an excellent Starbucks blend.  I didn't want to hurt her feelings too badly, and let her know it was definitely the best instant coffee I'd ever had.