Coffee Taste Test

[bonsai3s]

Scenario: On our cruise to Hawaii earlier this year, onboard the Star Princess, a lady standing in front of the International Café loudly complained that the coffee in the Horizon Court and in the MDR was “undrinkable”. Curious, we decided to conduct our own taste test.

Background: We are not coffee connoisseurs. Our daily coffee at home comes from Costco (San Francisco Bay Hazelnut Creme flavor) brewed every morning. We don’t go to Starbucks but have tasted coffee from around the world including Kona, Jamaica, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, China, Japan, Argentina, Costa Rica, and my favorite…coffee from Vietnam. We’ve also watched the cable television show “Dangerous Grounds”, and utilized Todd Carmichael’s way of taste testing coffee…by slurping it via spoon. It doesn’t make us experts by any means. Disclosure: We have been drinking the “included/free” coffee from Princess for many years…always with sweeteners and cream. You won’t hear us complain…it tasted good enough for us.

The test: We taste tested five areas. At each testing we intentionally did not use sweeteners, sugar, cream, or milk. The comparison was for regular, black, coffee. (We did not taste test the decaf coffee.)

A. 1. International Café regular brewed coffee vs MDR breakfast coffee.

B. 2. International Café regular brewed coffee vs MDR lunch coffee.

C. 3. International Café regular brewed coffee vs MDR dinner coffee.

D. 4. International Café regular brewed coffee vs Horizon Court breakfast coffee.

E. 5. International Café regular brewed coffee vs MDR premium coffee.

Results:

A. 1. Since this was our first taste test, we couldn’t wait to do it. We brought two cups of hot, freshly brewed cups of regular coffee from the International Café into the main dining room…then ordered coffee from the waiter. The waiter commented: “You must like coffee”. I took photos of the coffees (see attached photos) before the taste test. We both “slurp, slurp” one cup and then “slurp, slurp” the second cup. We looked at each other and our first expression was: “Wow!...that’s incredible…what a difference. All these years…we’ve been drinking that.” The coffee from the main dining room during breakfast was AWFUL. We did it again just to make sure…confirmed, the coffee served in the main dining room at breakfast was horrible. Note: Using sweeteners and cream made the difference in taste negligible.

B. 2. Same test, sadly same results. The coffee in the main dining room was awful.

C. 3. Same test, sadly same results. The coffee in the main dining room was awful.

D. 4. Same test, same results. This time the Horizon Court coffee the day we taste tested was even worse. As one passenger said: “It’s like Mobil oil”.

E. 5. This time we asked our waiter for “the best regular coffee they have in the kitchen”. Our waiter brought back a much smaller carafe with hot, steaming, and bubbling coffee. We taste tested it against the brewed coffee from the International Café and it was a toss-up. We couldn’t tell the difference. Both were strong, great aroma, with a hint of mocha…delicious.

Bottom line: The coffee card is a great value for the money. Unlimited brewed coffee and 15 punches for specialty coffee. Now we know there is a big difference. The sweeteners and creme we used on the "free" coffee concealed the true taste.

Additional information: The coffee served in the main dining room for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is a syrup concentrate called “Vitality”. The regular, brewed coffee served at the International Café is called Café Boast. We enjoyed the brewed coffee from the International Café, however our favorite coffee from the International Café was the Caramel Mocha, cold and blended with whip cream…incredible.

Attached photos are brewed coffee (in the cup) from the International Café, the Main Dining Room (with the saucer), and the Horizon Court (no saucer). Lastly, attached is a photo of the coffee menu. Hope this helps. Happy Sailing. :)

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes the swill is drinkable! :)

[shredie]

I love it. A scientific (albeit small with limited subjects) test at last! ;):) I think that people who like to doctor their coffee with sweeteners and the like are better off than the black coffee drinkers on Princess. Be prepared: I bet a whole bunch of CC people are going to disagree with your methods and your findings. :rolleyes:

[IECalCruiser]

Thanks for taking the time. With cream and sugar, almost any coffee may be passable. I'm more of a tea drinker, but even I can taste that the black coffee in the MDR is not very good. However from test 5 it appears that fresh, it may still taste fairly good. Unfortunately, that is not the way it is routinely served in the MDRs. DW needs her coffee (caffeine) fix every morning and she can definitely tell the difference as she drinks hers black. It is a trip to the IC (usually by me) to get her brewed coffee every morning on board.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for the taste testing.

I drink my coffee black and no sugar and could tolerate the Princess MDR coffee with some sugar (one) but as bad as the coffee is on Princess, some other cruise lines have worse, nothing could save the coffee on the other cruise lines.:D

Edited June 12, 2014 by MicCanberra

[sparky-elpaso]

Thanks for the info.

 

Our first cruise on Princess is coming up and I'd already planned on getting the coffee cards for us - we like our mochas or caramel lattes. So it sounds like we may make a stop for the regular coffee in the morning too.

 

We're not coffee snobs by any means but after visiting a coffee plantation in Costa Rica on our Panama Canal cruise and buying some good coffee there we've changed to a different brand at home that we like better. I do put vanilla creamer in mine but starting out with better coffee still makes a difference.

[BridgeMates]

Can't tell you how happy I was when they changed to an earlier opening or 24 hours/day at the Int'l Cafe. I'm an early riser and had to suffer thru the Horizon Court coffee every morning before the Cafe opened. Luckily I found the Starbucks VIA instant coffee a couple years before they changed the hours at the Cafe. Coffee and sunrise.....my favorite part of the day.:):)

[nama15]

amen! We just returned from a 12 day cruise on the Ruby. I could not have

survived had it not been for the coffee in International Cafe and using my coffee card elsewhere. Well worth the $29. I paid.:p

[chamima]

Thanks for doing the taste test!

I enjoyed reading your results. :D

I drink my coffee black and in general like it pretty weak . I've never been bothered by the dining room coffee and find the brewed stuff too strong for my tastes.

The regular coffee on the new Royal (and probably also on the Regal) was wonderful! Someone told me that the taste is greatly influenced by how recently the machine has been cleaned so maybe it's good because the machines were new.

 

BTW - if you want truly awful coffee try Celebrity! :(

[Stevesan]

At the International Café and some lounges:

 

Brewed coffee is $1.25/cup, most specialty coffees are $2.50-$2.75 for a regular size, espresso $1.75.

 

$33.35, including gratuity, buys a coffee card with fifteen punchouts for specialty coffees, and unlimited brewed coffee at the cafes and lounges that have brewed coffee. You can also use it in the dining rooms for specialty coffees. The server is directed to take two punch outs for double shot orders, some do, some don't.

Since the coffee card is for a discrete quantity it's not time limited. If there are punch outs remaining at the end of the cruise the card will carry over to the next cruise. The unlimited brewed coffee does not carry over.

__________________

 

If you are accustomed to good quality coffee, you definitely will want a coffee card. The vile concoction in the Horizon Court (buffet) is syrup based. Room service is also syrup based.

 

Not that syrup-based coffee is always a bad thing. My hometown source, http://www.javacoffee.com/, informs me there are different grades for syrup coffee, just as with ground coffee. Regardless of grade, the taste of syrup based is always going to be somewhat inferior to an equivalent grade of ground. Based on flavor, Princess must use the lowest grade (cheapest) available.

 

Not all ships have the Int'l Cafe. They do, however, have a Coffee Bar for regular and specialty coffees.

[atmx093]

Thank you so much for that review! We are accustomed to good coffee and probably wouldn't like the syrup blend too much.

 

Coffee cards it is, plus I hear that on the Royal it's also usable for gelato. I'm sure my dear wife (Mrs. Sweet Tooth) won't mind that. Chances are she'll end up using the punches on my card. lol

[geoherb]

I remember reading coffee complaints more than a decade ago on Cruise Critic. On our 2003 Grand Princess cruise, one of our tablemates at dinner talked about how great the coffee in the dining room was. Apparently it appeals to some people.

[Seahawk#12]

Thank you Bonsai3s. As I sit here drinking my San Francisco French roast, you have convinced me to absolutely purchase the coffee card for the Baltic cruise I will be on next month.

[Crystabel]

Thank you for posting about your taste test. I generally use cream or milk in my coffee, but may purchase a coffee card on our next cruise based on the results of your experiment. Hubby will drink anything. :p

[AKman2495]

Well, I generally drink coffee only in the morning. The stuff in the dining rooms is fine by me. I'll keep drinking it and save my money (and time) for other things....

[GweninTX]

They have changed to real brewed coffee on the Royal and the Regal in the dining rooms and Horizon court and it is wonderful - even better than the IC. I am praying they will roll it out fleet wide !

[caribill]

I drink my coffee black and no sugar and could tolerate the Princess MDR coffee with some sugar (one) but as bad as the coffee is on Princess, some other cruise lines have worse, nothing could save the coffee on the other cruise lines.:D

 

Right. Check the Cruise Critic forums on the other cruise lines and you get many threads/posts about how bad the coffee is on their favorite line.

[Times Prince]

Thanks for taking the time. With cream and sugar, almost any coffee may be passable. I'm more of a tea drinker, but even I can taste that the black coffee in the MDR is not very good. However from test 5 it appears that fresh, it may still taste fairly good. Unfortunately, that is not the way it is routinely served in the MDRs.

I must disagree - on Caribbean Princess we had coffee in the MDR that no amount of doctoring could save - it was that bad. Unfortunately the worst cup ever was served in the MDR on the morning of disembarkation, when I really needed a cup to start my day after a short night. Awful, and totally undrinkable.

 

We can usually doctor up the coffee, but not always.

 

Thanks to bonsai3s for the coffee test. I may try that one myself some cruise. :)

[JustinPlusLauren]

I love that you took the time to do a "taste test" of the various coffees! I usually just stick to International Cafe brewed coffee myself, I know it will taste good every time. I found that the MDR coffee used to be good, but I didn't really enjoy it the last time I was on the cruise. As for HC coffee...I stay away from that stuff! I used to like it when I first started drinking coffee and didn't know what good coffee tasted like. Now...no thanks! I don't mean to be a snob either...I just don't care for it.

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for posting. It was fun to read. I only drink a cup of coffee in the morning and am fine with the Horizon Court coffee but I also like coffee weak and add lots of stuff to it.:):):)

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for doing the taste test!

I enjoyed reading your results. :D

I drink my coffee black and in general like it pretty weak . I've never been bothered by the dining room coffee and find the brewed stuff too strong for my tastes.

The regular coffee on the new Royal (and probably also on the Regal) was wonderful! Someone told me that the taste is greatly influenced by how recently the machine has been cleaned so maybe it's good because the machines were new.

 

BTW - if you want truly awful coffee try Celebrity! :(

Agreed, I had alluded to that earlier.:D

[MicCanberra]

Right. Check the Cruise Critic forums on the other cruise lines and you get many threads/posts about how bad the coffee is on their favorite line.

Yep, it is truley awful on X, as mentioned by chamima.:eek:

[Pam in CA]

Well, I generally drink coffee only in the morning. The stuff in the dining rooms is fine by me. I'll keep drinking it and save my money (and time) for other things....

I agree. Interesting results but as always, taste is subjective and what one person loves, another hates. Making negative remarks about those who like the ship's coffee is not appropriate because everyone is entitled to their opinion and those opinions should be respected. They may not be yours but that doesn't mean they're bad or wrong.

[TracieABD]

Love it! (and I agree about the dismal excuse for coffee in the MDR).

 

This could become a new activity for Meet and Greets! Then you can utilize some parametrics and run some statistics. With a larger group of people, you may be able to create some statistical significance. This could be ground-breaking (and super fun for a data-nerd like me).

 

Pending the outcome of your highly scientific experiment, Princess may actually pay attention and discontinue its use of the syrup-based swill.

 

I really think you are onto something, here! (or maybe it is time is switch to decaf :eek:).

[rdsqrl]

Wouldn't it have to be a blind tasting to be truly scientific? Double-blind, actually, to eliminate bias.

 

See, and people are often complaining how there's nothing to do in bad weather or on multiple sea days . . .