The Best Starbucks Coffee Beans for Your Taste Buds (2023)

Starbucks is one of the most popular coffee chains worldwide and by far the largest. They are best known for their unique handcrafted coffee, using carefully curated premium-quality coffee beans.

However, which option from their extensive menu would satisfy your taste buds?

The best Starbucks coffee beans for your taste buds is the Starbucks French Roast Whole Bean Coffee, especially if you enjoy coffee with complex flavors. This variation has a smoky and rich caramel taste that marries well with the strong dark roasted beans.

In this article, you’ll find out why the French Roast Whole Bean Coffee is Starbucks’ best.

In the following sections, I’ll also take you through some other options that would best fit the qualities you’re looking for in coffee beans to create your perfect cup of joe, so make sure to keep on reading!

Best overall: Starbucks French Roast Whole Bean Coffee

The Starbucks French Roast Whole Bean Coffee is roasted to perfection, creating delicious and complex flavored beans that will impress all coffee drinkers, even those who prefer a milder taste.

Despite being one of Starbucks’ darkest roasts, these coffee beans produce a smooth-tasting cup of coffee, in addition to their smoky and rich caramel taste.

You must follow a specific process to get the best flavor out of the Starbucks French Roast Whole Bean Coffee, as it requires a longer period for its flavors to fully shine through.

This variation is best prepared using traditional methods, such as a French press or drip coffee equipment.

With that said, using it as an espresso won’t be the best way to prepare it.

Pros

• Complex flavors: As mentioned above, the Starbucks French Roast Whole Bean Coffee bursts with a smoky and rich caramel flavor that blends perfectly with the dark roast flavor of the beans.
• Dark roast: This variation is one of Starbucks’ darkest roasts. Hence it has a stronger coffee taste compared to their other blends. And if you’re someone who loves a bold cup of coffee, you’ll surely enjoy this.
• Works well with French presses and drip machines: If you’re someone who likes to make their coffee the traditional way, the Starbucks French Roast Whole Bean Coffee is for you. And the great thing about using French presses or drip equipment is that the more the beans steep, the bolder the flavor becomes.

Cons

• Quick extraction isn’t recommended: You can use these beans using quick methods, but the flavor won’t be as strong as when you prepare it using traditional methods. So if you don’t like spending too much time preparing your coffee, this might not be the best choice.

Best decaf: Starbucks Decaf Pike Place Coffee

This variant is great for people who don’t need the extra energy from caffeine but still want a good strong cup of coffee.

It’s also the decaffeinated counterpart of another beloved coffee bean offered by Starbucks, the Pike Place Roast Coffee, so you know it’s worth trying.

These coffee beans have notes of toasted nuts, cinnamon, and cocoa — flavors that go well together.

This blend is very aromatic, making your drinking experience even better. So if you’re looking for a decaffeinated option, the Starbucks Decaf Pike Place Coffee is the best choice.

Pros

• Available in regular and decaf: As mentioned above, the Starbucks Decaf Pike Place Coffee is the decaf counterpart of its regular variant, known to be one of Starbucks’ crowd favorites, so you can never go wrong with this option.
• Complementary flavors: The Starbucks Decaf Pike Place Coffee has hints of toasted nuts, cinnamon, and cocoa, which are known to complement each other.
• Strong and smooth: Besides their tasty flavors, these coffee beans produce some of the strongest and smoothest coffees you’ll ever try despite being decaffeinated.

Cons

• Too dark: Although it’s medium roasted, the taste might be too dark for some. So if you’re not into strong coffee, this might not be for you.
• Nothing out of the ordinary: The Starbucks Decaf Pike Place Coffee is undoubtedly a tasty coffee with great flavors. However, the flavors are familiar— but still very good!

Best ground coffee: Starbucks Sumatra

If you want to avoid the extra step of grinding coffee beans yourself or if you don’t have the necessary equipment, the Starbucks Sumatra would be an excellent option.

This blend is perfect for people who enjoy bold and strong coffee with complex flavors.

The Starbucks Sumatra has herbal and spicy notes and is another recommended dark roast blend offered by Starbucks.

These coffee beans aren’t too bitter despite being under the dark roast line, and they have low acidity compared to other variants.

Pros

• Unique flavors: The Starbucks Sumatra will captivate the taste buds of coffee lovers who like trying out new blends.
• Not too bitter: Although this blend is another of Starbucks’ darkest roasts, the aftertaste isn’t as bitter as others.
• Convenient: Since the Starbucks Sumatra is already pre-ground before packing, you don’t have to worry about grinding it yourself.

Cons

• Not as fresh as whole coffee beans: Since the grinding process is done for you, it won’t be as fresh as when you do it yourself.
• Acquired taste: As mentioned above, this specific blend has unique and complex flavors. So if you don’t like stepping out of your comfort zone in terms of taste, you might not enjoy the Starbucks Sumatra.

If you want to know more about the difference between whole bean and ground coffee, check out my article, where I talk about their differences and which is better.

Best medium-dark roast: Starbucks Caffé Verona Coffee Beans

The Starbucks Caffé Verona Coffee Beans is one of the first offerings released by Starbucks and is also one of the most popular. It is well-balanced and perfect if you’re into the classic taste of coffee.

This blend undergoes a “post-blend” method. The coffee beans are divided, following a certain ratio, before roasting separately — one batch is roasted lighter, while the other is roasted darker.

Afterwhich, both batches are combined, creating a distinct and rich coffee blend.

The coffee beans used for the Starbucks Caffé Verona Coffee Beans are carefully selected from South America.

Pros

• Well-balanced: Since the Starbucks Café Verona Coffee Beans have 2 types of roasted coffee beans, it produces a smooth and balanced taste.
• Great flavor: The combination of light and dark roasted coffee beans creates a distinct and rich flavor that most people will enjoy, regardless of their preference.

Cons

• Too light for dark roast aficionados: If you like your coffee strong and bold, this blend might not be the best choice since the light roasted ones balance out the dark roasted beans.

Best for espresso: Starbucks Espresso Roast Whole Bean Coffee

If you enjoy pure espresso or espresso-based drinks, you’ll love the Starbucks Espresso Roast Whole Bean Coffee.

These carefully sourced beans produce a rich espresso shot that you can use for any drink you desire.

These beans are versatile and can be used with just about any coffee-making device that you have on hand.

The downside with this specific blend is that it contains more oil than other variants. However, the oil content plays an important role as it helps produce the perfect espresso shot with crema.

Although it’s part of Starbucks’ dark roast line, the Starbucks Espresso Roast Whole Bean Coffee is smooth and isn’t too bitter.

It has notes of sweet caramel and rich molasses and boasts an excellent coffee flavor.

Pros

• Well-balanced: The Starbucks Espresso Roast Whole Bean Coffee has the perfect amount of sweetness and boldness, creating a balanced taste.
• Versatile: This blend can be used for any coffee-based drink you can think of. Plus, it works well for any coffee-making device, such as an espresso machine, a French press, drip equipment, and even Moka pots.

Cons

• Oil content: Since oil is needed to create that smooth and great-tasting espresso shot, the Starbucks Espresso Roast Whole Bean Coffee has higher oil content than other coffee beans offered by Starbucks.

Best light roast: Starbucks Veranda Blend Whole Bean Coffee

If you’re one of the people who prefer their coffee lighter, the Starbucks Veranda Blend Whole Bean Coffee is a fantastic option.

It has hints of baking chocolate and toasted malt, which adds a bit of dimension to the light flavor offered by this blend.

Although this is a light roast blend, the Starbucks Veranda Blend Whole Bean Coffee has higher caffeine content than Starbucks’ other variants.

With that said, this is perfect if you want to stay alert and awake.

Pros

• High caffeine content: A lot of people drink coffee to stay awake and energized, so the Starbucks Veranda Blend Whole Bean Coffee would be a great choice.
• Mild: If you’re not a fan of strong coffee but are still an avid coffee drinker, you will enjoy this blend’s mild yet tasty flavors.

Cons

• Not for dark coffee lovers: If you like your coffee strong, you can pass on the Starbucks Veranda Blend Whole Bean Coffee, as you won’t enjoy its mild flavor.

Final thoughts

Whether you’re someone who loves a strong, bold cup of coffee or someone who enjoys coffee but prefers a milder flavor, Starbucks has you covered!

With the options above, you’ll surely find coffee beans that will please your taste buds!

And if you’d like to put these coffee beans to the test, why not try one of the following delicious coffee recipes?

Starbucks recipes to try at home

• Blonde Americano: What Is It and How Do You Make It at Home?
• Starbucks Blonde Latte: How Do You Make This Latte at Home?
• Homemade Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino Recipe