Starbucks is going blonde.

The Seattle coffee company known for its dark-roasted beans unveiled its lighter blend "Starbucks Blonde Roast" on Tuesday, as it tries to reach a wider base of consumers.

Starbucks has long faced criticism from people who think its coffee is too dark or bitter. The company said it developed the new roast for the large number of U.S. consumers who prefer a lighter-tasting coffee.

"We recognized the unmet consumer need for a super-premium, light-roast coffee, and our coffee developers went to work to craft a great-tasting, quality lighter-roast coffee we are proud to stand behind," Cliff Burrows, president of the Americas for Starbucks, said in a statement. "This is a significant opportunity for Starbucks to gain a greater share of the brewed coffee market — both in our stores and down the coffee aisle."

The company, citing Nielsen research, said that more than 40 percent of U.S. coffee drinkers prefer a lighter-roast coffee. The new product represents a major market opportunity for Starbucks, too, as more than 70 percent of total premium coffee sales in groceries are of light and medium roast coffee.

Consumers who don't favor the company's dark tastes have mockingly called the company "Charbucks."

Kristen Clough, of Rochester, N.Y., says Starbucks coffee is "undrinkable" and that none of her family likes it. She said she found Starbucks iced coffee sometimes acceptable, but the last two times it was too bitter.

"I'm over Starbucks," she said. "I'm certainly not going to spend $2.54 on a medium iced coffee that goes down the drain."

Starbucks began with a dedication to bold coffee and stood by its dark-roasted roots for some time. But it has been adapting more to consumer desires as it faces increased competition from McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts, which offer milder and lower-priced options.

The company added a lighter Pike Place blend in its stores in 2008 as one of its daily brews and emphasizes its low, everyday price.

The company said it went through 80 different roasting recipes before finding its blonde roast. It will begin selling and brewing the new roast in January.

It will be sold under the "Verana Blend" or "Willow Blend" names for $11.95 or $12.95, respectively, for a bag of whole bean coffee, comparable with its other products.

Starbucks also said Tuesday it will try to help consumers differentiate between the various roasts in stores, organizing its coffee in stores by three rankings: blonde, medium and dark.

The company took a similar approach with its Seattle's Best Coffee brand last year, offering that coffee in brightly colored bags in a range of categories ranked from one to five based on intensity of flavor.