Word: vias
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...went to my local Sbux and bought a pack each of Italian (dark roast) and Colombia (medium) Via. I also bought a cup of the daily dark roast, Sumatra, black, for comparison, as well as a couple of croissants and some vanilla-bean scones, as accompaniments and because TIME was paying. I also picked up a jar of Folgers crystals from the corner deli, whipped up a pot of homemade coffee (Guatemala, from Costco) and put on a pot of filtered NYC tap water...
According to Starbucks, the difference in Via instant is that, in addition to dehydrating a brewed reduction of coffee, it adds microground beans to add flavor and body to the finished product. It's meant to taste more like the cup you'd buy - and at $2.95 a three-pack, it had better. (My Folgers was $5.99 for a 60-cup jar, even at the usurious prices of a Brooklyn bodega.) The resulting coffee dust (more like espresso than the usual crystals) comes packaged in a sort of coffee Pixie Stix, premeasured. (See the top 10 food trends...
...verdict? Via does actually taste something like brewed coffee. Not a great cup of brewed coffee, and not the coffee from Starbucks: my store-bought cup had a richer, winier mouthfeel, as does my Costco homebrew. At the recommended eight-ounce dose of water, the Italian tasted a little weak, but smooth. To my surprise, the Colombian actually had a rounder, more satisfying flavor, though I usually prefer a darker roast. (Both types of Via tasted better when the water had a minute to cool.) I wouldn't replace my home-brewed with it, but if my sister...
Nonetheless, I can't say I entirely get the point of Via as a product. I'm hard up thinking of many situations in which I would have long-term access to hot water and a buck a cup to spend on instant, yet would not simply go out and buy a French press. But clearly they exist. Myself, I'll soon be doing a home renovation that will leave me without a kitchen for several days, and I'm putting away my remaining Via for then...
...Brazilians supported the city's candidacy. Indeed, Cariocas consider the 2007 Pan American Games a big success, but they do so by overlooking the costs and organizational snafus. To secure the Pan Ams, Rio promised to transform the city with a new ring road system, a "via light" highway, a new state highway and 54 km of new metro line. Guanabara Bay, the fetid body of water whose smell assails visitors driving into town from the international airport, was to be cleaned up. None of those plans came to fruition, prompting the current mayor, and former state Sports Secretary...