What latte drinkers have in common. And why Starbucks should care.

There were two fascinating items this week from the world of coffee. The first is a study from New York's Mindset Media, reported on by QSR Magazine. Their task was to find similarities between latte drinkers.

If you're standing in line for your $4 latte wondering what you have in common with the person behind you, the first thing that comes to mind would probably be income. This and other demographic traits (age, gender, family status) are often the first places researchers go when trying to assess their audience. It's the easiest research to do.

But Mindset Media dug deeper to find psychographic similarities. Their research reveals that latte drinkers have four things in common, the most striking being their openness to new things. Rounding out the top four are leadership, superiority and creativity.

Now onto the next news in the world of coffee which, as we've come to expect, is brought to us by Starbucks. The pioneer of the global mass market coffee craze is now the maker of...ready?...a soluble coffee named Via.

Think Taster's Choice only, according to CEO Howard Shultz, it mimics the flavor of Starbucks coffee.

First of all, really?

Second of all, Starbucks coffee of late tastes burned. So which coffee does it taste like: the old version when their stock was climbing and they had customers or the new version when their company is taking drastic measures to find their core.

What Starbucks doesn't know it was always selling was the experience of being there, with good products as the point of entry.

Now enter the Mindset Media research. Latte drinkers, Starbucks' customer base, is prone to "openness," so perhaps they will give Via a try. But they're also prone to "superiority," a trait which won't bode well for soluble coffee of any quality level.

It is no coincidence in my mind that Starbucks' customers stopped gracing their doors the minute they brought in automated latte machines, removing the barista's ability to control the quality of the espresso and somehow adding a burned aroma to the joint.

I happen to be "open," but the "creativity" of burned espresso or the "superiority" I can't feel drinking soluble coffee has made me a "leader" in eschewing Starbucks for losing its soul.

All this is making me thirsty for some tea.