[bigwheeler]

Somehow the McD coffee is better too.

[Forgeties79]

I am far from the coffee snob, but Starbucks genuinely taste burned to me. And I know that’s not a hot take, it’s a pretty common line you’ll hear when people are critiquing it. But it is also repeated with good reason.

[RankingMember]

My opinion as well unless we're talking their "Blonde Roast", which is somehow decent despite Starbucks' apparent burnt-flavor bias.

I think the reason Starbucks stays afloat is not their coffee, but their 900 calorie "coffee drinks", which they market such that people can pretend to be coffee snobs while drinking what are essentially milkshakes.

[itake]

My understanding is Starbucks intentionally burns their beans because 'burnt' flavor is easy to standardize across all of their bean suppliers.

[meragrin_]

My father was in the Navy. On the night shift, the coffee would become syrupy and he would drink that. He drinks coffee black. He tried Starbucks and will not touch the stuff.

My parents are smokers. There were few times cigarette ash accidentally got into my mouth. I swear Starbucks coffee and cigarette ash taste the same. I've had it from a couple of stores and both tasted the same. I can't help but think someone else in the comments is right in that people don't go for the coffee but for the stuff that hides the coffee.

[RajT88]

It is not just you. Starbucks coffee tastes burned.

McD's coffee is also bad (acidic, weak flavor).

[antisthenes]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one.

I'll take the consistency of McD coffee over almost any other establishment.

And given their traffic volume, it's almost always guaranteed to be fresh, at a fraction of the cost of coffee-centric cafes.

[Zigurd]

Not that I refuse it when having a Mcbreakfast on the road, but there's this weird taste of ashtray in McDonald's coffee.