Starbucks Blonde Roast vs. Pike Place: Which one is bitterer?

Starbucks has many beverages that are created from the three roasts available at the coffee house. Whenever I get brewed coffee at Starbucks, I always go for the medium roast as it offers a smooth and balanced cup with rich flavors. I realized that some Starbucks customers do not know the different roasts available at the coffee shop. Thus, I created this post to help you learn the main differences between two of Starbucks roasts; blonde roast and pike roast. Read on to know which one is bitter and which one to get based on your preferred intensity and flavor.

What are the differences between Starbucks blonde roast vs pike place

Feature/Starbucks Coffee Roast

Starbucks Blonde Roast

Starbucks Pike Place

Ingredients

100% Arabica coffee

100% Arabica coffee

Taste Profile

Bold but mellow flavor and sweet, vibrant (sweet citrus) notes

Smooth and well balanced with a rich, approachable taste and subtly rich notes of toasted nuts and cocoa

Caffeine Content/ Nutritional value

360 milligrams in a Grande serving

310 milligrams in a Grande serving

Availability/ Accessibility

Easy to access every day in a Starbucks store near you all year round.

Easy to access every day in a Starbucks store near you all year round.

Roast level

Light roast

Medium roast

Starbucks blonde roast vs pike place – How They Compare

Starbucks Blonde Roast

Ingredients

The ingredients Starbucks uses to concoct a particular coffee dictate its nutritional value and taste.

Starbucks concocts its Blonde Roast with 100 percent Arabica coffee it procures from Latin America. The Blonde Roast is a product of almost five decades of procuring, blending, and roasting. The outcome was a 2nd espresso with a bold but mellow flavor, and sweet, vibrant (sweet citrus) notes. 

Starbucks meticulously roasted a blend of Latin American coffee beans to coax out this unique blend’s vibrant and sweet notes. Being soft and well-balanced, the Starbucks Blonde Roast helps to highlight milk’s soft side and, as a result, makes classic espresso drinks noticeably smooth without a roasty edge.

Conversely, Starbucks concocts its Pike Place Roast with 100 percent Arabica coffee it sources from Latin America. The area is famous for its high altitude, favorable climate, and frequent rainfall. 

Starbucks decided to concoct the Starbucks Pike Place Roast after receiving numerous requests from its dependable fan base worldwide to come up with a new freshly brewed coffee they could drink all day. 

After comprehensively blending and roasting various Latin American coffees, in 2008, Starbucks announced the entry of a new smooth and well-balanced coffee with a rich, approachable taste and subtly rich notes of toasted nuts and cocoa.

The difference between the Starbucks Blonde Roast and Pike Place is that the former is a light roast while the latter is a medium roast. 

To achieve the Light roast profile, Starbucks roasts a blend of raw Latin American coffee beans lightly to create coffee beans with a bold but mellow flavor, and sweet, vibrant (sweet citrus) notes. 

Starbucks gives a blend of raw Latin American coffee beans a medium roast to achieve the medium roast. The result is coffee beans that produce a smooth, balanced coffee with a rich, approachable taste.

The Pike Place wins this category since it is a medium roast. Therefore, Starbucks roasts the Pike Place ingredients (Latin American coffees) for longer than those of Blonde Roast, which is a light roast. 

Taste Profile 

The ingredients Starbucks uses to concoct a particular coffee determine its taste. Starbucks Blonde Roast and Pike Place are concocted using the same ingredients (100 percent Arabica coffee) which Starbucks procures from Latin America. 

Additionally, the roast level also dictates how coffee tastes. The three Starbucks roast profiles have differing tastes.

The first Starbucks roast profile is the blonde roast. To achieve this profile, Starbucks roasts a blend of Latin American raw coffee beans for a shorter period. Blonde or light roast coffee beans have a mellow flavor. 

The second profile is the medium roast. To achieve this profile, Starbucks roasts a blend of Latin American raw coffee beans for a reasonable period. Coffee beans in this category have a fuller body with a strong, bold taste. 

The third profile is the dark roast. To achieve this profile, Starbucks roasts a blend of Latin American raw coffee beans for an extended period. Coffee beans in this category have a rich and bold flavor. 

The Starbucks Blonde Roast is light, while the Pike Place is a medium roast. Therefore, the former has a stronger flavor than the latter. It is the difference in the roast profile that sets the two apart. 

The Star Starbucks Blonde Roast has a bold but mellow flavor and sweet, vibrant (sweet citrus) notes. Conversely, The Starbucks Pike Place is smooth and well balanced with a rich, approachable taste and subtly rich notes of toasted nuts and cocoa.

The Starbucks Blonde Roast wins in this category because it has a stronger flavor than the Starbucks Pike Place. 

Caffeine Content/ Nutritional value

An adult should not take more than 400 milligrams of caffeine daily. Therefore, it is vital to keep track of your daily caffeine intake. 

Additionally, caffeine may adversely affect some people. For instance, caffeine is known to trigger anxiety attacks in some individuals. Therefore, caffeine is good but not for everyone.

However, for strong coffee lovers, caffeine can be used to choose the better between two coffees.

For instance, A Grande serving of the Starbucks Blonde Roast contains 360 milligrams of caffeine. Conversely, a similar serving of the pike place contains 310 milligrams of caffeine. Therefore, if you are a strong coffee lover, the Starbucks Blonde Roast is the better of the two. 

The Starbucks Blonde Roast wins in this category because it has more caffeine than the Starbucks Pike Place. 

Availability/ Accessibility

Even though most Starbucks coffee beverages are universal, some may not be available in some Starbucks locations. Additionally, some Starbucks drinks are seasonal, which means they are only available during special periods or holidays during the year. Therefore, some drinks may only be accessible or available during specific periods.

However, that is not the case with the Starbucks Blonde Roast and Pike Place because they are easy to access daily in a Starbucks store near you all year round. 

This category is a draw because you can easily access the Starbucks Blonde Roast and Pike Place daily in a Starbucks store near you all year round.

Roast level

Roast level is crucial because it determines a coffee’s taste and caffeine content. Starbucks has three coffee bean roast profiles. 

The first profile is the blonde roast. Starbucks roasts coffee beans for a shorter period to achieve this profile; Blonde or light roast coffee beans have a mellow flavor. 

The second profile is the medium roast. Starbucks roasts coffee beans for a reasonable period to achieve this profile. Coffee beans in this category have a fuller body with a strong, bold taste. 

The third profile is the dark roast. Starbucks roasts coffee beans for an extended period to achieve this profile. Coffee beans in this category have a rich and bold flavor. 

The Starbucks Blonde Roast is a light or blonde roast, while the Pike Place is a medium roast. Therefore, the Starbucks Blonde Roast has a stronger flavor than Pike Place. 

The Star Starbucks Blonde Roast has a bold but mellow flavor and sweet, vibrant (sweet citrus) notes. Conversely, The Starbucks Pike Place is smooth and well balanced with a rich, approachable taste and subtly rich notes of toasted nuts and cocoa.

The Starbucks Blonde Roast wins in this category because it has a stronger flavor than the Starbucks Pike Place.

Starbucks blonde roast vs. pike place: A comparison overview

Starbucks Blonde Roast – Overview

Starbucks Pike Place

The drink is perfect if you love light roast coffee with high caffeine content. Starbucks creates the Blonde Roast by lightly roasting a blend of Latin American coffees. The outcome of the meticulous process is a coffee with a bold but mellow flavor, and sweet, vibrant (sweet citrus) notes. 

I like the Starbucks Blonde Roast because of its bold but mellow flavor and sweet, vibrant (sweet citrus) notes. It is suitable for people who love lightly roasted coffee with high caffeine. 

What I liked;

  • It has a bold but mellow flavor
  • It has sweet, vibrant (sweet citrus) notes

What I didn’t like;

  • It has an extremely high caffeine content

Who it’s best suited for.

  • Best suited for people who love lightly roasted coffee with high caffeine.

Starbucks Pike Place – Overview

Starbucks Blonde Roast

The beverage is perfect if you prefer a medium roast coffee with high caffeine content. Starbucks Pike Place was concocted to meet the needs of Starbucks loyal customers around the world who needed freshly brewed coffee they could drink all day. 

I liked its smooth and subtly balanced coffee notes, rich, approachable taste, and rich notes of toasted nuts and cocoa.  

The Starbucks Pike Place is suitable for genuine coffee lovers who prefer their coffee medium roast with high caffeine content.

What I liked;

  • It is smooth and well balanced 
  • It has a rich, approachable taste 
  • It has subtly rich notes of toasted nuts and cocoa
  • It has a decaf option

What I didn’t like;

  • It is very high in caffeine content

Who it’s best suited for.

  • It is suitable for genuine coffee lovers who prefer medium roast coffee with high caffeine content.

Final Verdict: So, Which is Better? – Starbucks blonde roast vs. pike place

The Starbucks Blonde Roasts is better than the Starbucks Pike Place. It is so because the former has more caffeine than the latter. Additionally, the Starbucks Blonde Roast has a stronger flavor than the Pike Place because the former is a light roast while the latter is a medium roast.

On the other hand, Pike Place is bitterer since it is roasted for a more extended period than the Blonde Roast.  

FAQ Section

Which one tastes better between blonde roast and pike place?

Blonde roast offers balanced and mellow flavors with slight hints of roast and soft notes of lightly toasted nuts and soft cocoa since it is heated for less time. On the other hand, pike place gives a balanced and smooth cup with rich and approachable flavors and hints of toasted nuts and cocoa. Thus, the blonde roast tastes better due to the slight hints of roast.

What is the main difference between Starbucks blonde roast and pike place?

The main difference between Starbucks blonde roast and pike place is that the former is lighter-bodied and mellow since it is roasted for a shorter time, while the latter is medium-bodied and is roasted for a longer time.

Is pike place healthier than blonde roast?

In general, all coffee varieties are healthy as long as you watch your caffeine and calorie intake. That being said, pike place has 310 mg of caffeine, 5 calories, 0g sugar, and 0g fat. Blonde roast also has 5 calories, 0g sugar, and 0g fat but 360 mg of caffeine. So, pike place is relatively healthier since it has lower caffeine content.

Which one came first between pike place and blonde roast?

Pike place came first since Starbucks launched it in 2008, while the company launched blonde roast in 2012.

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