If your idea of coffee is something from Starbucks, a new pod variety might just satisfy that craving faster than finding one of America’s coffee outlets.
Australia’s experimentation with Starbucks didn’t quite go the way we suspect the company expected. While some of Australia’s capital cities once featured quite a few of America’s massive coffee outlet franchise on various street corners, several years ago, they started disappearing.
It’s not that they were bad, but rather that America’s take on coffee culture wasn’t as important in a place like Australia, a place where coffee was already excellent, and didn’t need Starbucks to reinvent it.
Pretty much everywhere in Australia (or at least the capital cities), you can expect the coffee culture to be seriously cool, with baristas aplenty who totally get that you want a minimum or a maximum of froth, notes of cocoa or blackberry, and the very specific points of what makes a great cup into a great cup. You don’t have to look too hard to find a great coffee shop in Australia, and Starbucks isn’t the reason. There are just so many solid places to get a cup that America’s place for cappuccino never really stood a chance to shape Australia’s coffee the way it had for America.
Starbucks are still around, though, and still offer an assortment of beverages locally, competing with local coffee houses just as well as any other.
Interestingly, though, Starbucks may have a bit of an edge, as it takes it roasts and blends home.
Starbucks has apparently teamed up with the likes of Nespresso, collaborating for a pod variety that features Starbucks coffee in Nespresso pods that don’t have to be bought in a Nespresso store.
Similar to the several varieties you can already find in typical Coles or Woolies stores acros Australia, it’s essentially yet another coffee pod that works in a Nespresso system, but there is one difference: the Starbucks are actually produced by Nespresso.
Not only are they compatible, but they’re technically Nespresso pods sold outside of a Nespresso store, making it a bit of a first for our market, because you no longer have to go online to Nespresso or set foot in a Nespresso store to buy Nespresso pods.
There is a catch, however, because you have to be content with Starbucks coffee, as these pods are just that. Starbucks coffee may fill the gap of finding an espresso or cappuccino when you’re stateside, especially if you haven’t quite adapted to the long black variety you mostly find overseas. Locally, it means the Nespresso pods found in a supermarket may not quite be the level you expect from Nespresso’s other range, but they will provide something.
That something may be more than enough if what you seek is a caffeination nation, and after trying a few, we can tell you they really do taste like Starbucks coffee.
For some, that will totally suit, while others might just go running back to the warm comfort of either their favourite cafe-like pods or even their own local barista. But it’s definitely something new, and you can find it in stores across Australia now.
