Starbucks Via Tallinn

“Its quite nice, and it does taste like Starbucks actually” said Bindal, who was next to me on the flight to Estonia, on her way to Ulan Bator in Mongolia via Tallin, St Petersburg and the Trans Siberian railway.

It was the first time that Paul, my Creative Director and I had tried the Starbucks instant coffee, and we had some trepidation. Why would Starbucks, with a brand built around a coffee-bar experience, the ‘third place’, put its name to an instant coffee which could be drunk in much less comfortable environments? Other brand commentators have suggested that this could be a mistake. They imagined lonely people drinking instant Starbucks in untidy bedsit kitchens, and felt that the negative associations would weaken the brand.

However, it has long been possible to get a take-away Starbucks, to be drunk in whatever environment one was rushing to. (If you weren’t in a rush, why wouldn’t you stop and relax over your coffee). So many untidy bedsits must already be littered with empty Starbucks cups: perhaps they are just reminders of the comfort that the coffee can bring.

Anyway, back to the plane to Tallinn. We tried both the regular Colombian and the stronger Italian blend of Starbucks Via and we were pleasantly surprised. Not only was it some of the best instant coffee we could recall, but it distinctly tasted like Starbucks. I don’t know why, but it did. This was not only a credit to the brand, but distinctly enhanced the EasyJet experience. To find that there can be everyday luxuries even in budget airtravel was an unexpected little pleasure. And my Starbucks brand loyalty is therefore, if anything, a little increased.