• Ad Age, MSNBC, Thursday, February 19, 2009 10:46 AM

I was looking for a distinguished food critic's review of the new Via instant coffee from Starbuck's after CEO Howard Schultz' press conference in New York on Tuesday but could not find one. Still can't. But Ad Age, which broke the story of the new instant coffee on Friday, put three "cynical ... newsroom coffee junkies" on the case yesterday and taped a four-minute video. The result, in the words of coffee-klatch host Matt Kinsey, is that the new brew is "virtually indistinguishable" from cups of java bought at a local outlet.

In their comments, all three of the tasters felt the brews were comparable; two of the three guessed wrong about which was which. Assistant managing editor Aris Georgiadis says he's "gonna take it back with me and keep drinking it and maybe get some whiskey in it, too, or something." Seems things haven't changed much in newsrooms since I haunted them (but thank the Linotype gods that they didn't have the spawn of YouTube capturing every throwaway line back then).

In another video posted online, CNBC's Maria Bartiromo interviewed Schultz following his press conference. She starts with a question about the stimulus package of the non-caffeinated variety, which Schultz says he favors for the impact it will have on consumer confidence. He also asserts that Via represents the first innovative idea in instant coffee in more than 50 years. "At a time like this, you cannot embrace the status quo," he sayeth, "you have to push for innovation." Oh, and it turns out that Maria "really" likes the taste of Via, too .

Read the whole story at Ad Age, MSNBC »