Starbucks coffee is an affront to all things good about coffee
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What exactly do you not like about them? I like their coffee, but not the foo-foo drinks.
In all seriousness, and with respect to the company as a whole (their branding, their social efforts, their consistency etc etc) I find the coffee weak and bitter. North America seems to have a fascination with coffee bean cremation. Even local cafes in Toronto often start out smooth, full bodied, and with an excellent aftertaste, and then soon enough the roast turns darker and more bitter until you're back to the norm: a coffee that has the subtlety burned out of it. The other issue is that they never seem to be able to get a decent microfosm going. Get it right and it makes the coffee smoother and sweeter. Instead they scorch the milk and break down the goodness. It really makes a huge difference. (Caveat here is I'm talking about espresso based drinks, not the coffee-through-a-wet-rag filter coffee. )
cheers Chris Maunder
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Start with good coffee, and a good roast (and a barista who knows how to roast): Absolutely! But the water is critical as well. Too pure, and it's too inert to take up the coffee oils properly; too many minerals and it deforms or masks the actual flavour. Then there is the cleanliness of the equipment, the grind, the age, the packaging, ... it's delicate and complicated stuff, coffee. Just like wine really - one mistake and you have grape vinegar. Get it right...and you have Chateau d'Yquem 1787. :-D
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
I think some of the beans I had this morning were from 1787.
cheers Chris Maunder
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It was 5AM and I needed a coffee and he only option in this establishment was Starbucks. It's unconscionable. But yes: your strategy is sound. My mistake was that instead of grabbing a macchiato I went for a latte and it all went downhill from there. Michael Martin can attest to the dangers of a latte.
cheers Chris Maunder
Explains your ire a bit: you didn't get coffee - you got a beverage that contained coffee. Putting that much milk into coffee is guaranteed to ruin its taste (even if it went through the digestive track of a civet cat[^]).
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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Explains your ire a bit: you didn't get coffee - you got a beverage that contained coffee. Putting that much milk into coffee is guaranteed to ruin its taste (even if it went through the digestive track of a civet cat[^]).
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
Exactly. Coffee flavoured beverage. Where's a civet cat when I need one.
cheers Chris Maunder
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Discuss.
cheers Chris Maunder
Overall I dislike coffee shops so I cant throw shit at Starbucks only. For me coffee should be served black, maybe some sugar if its late in the day. The majority of what the coffee shops sell in my area isn't coffee but milk with flavor. Different lattes or frappuccinos or cappuccinos that's so creamy you might as well just put your cup straight to a cow udder. On top of this its overpriced and all their other gods are also overpriced. My wife loves going to Espresso House but I hate it, mostly because I hate buying overpriced crap. I cant fanthom how so many people can visit these places so regularly because the thought that going to one of them even once a week is sickening to me. For the price of one visit with me and my wife with a drink each and some miniscule small cookie that costs an arm and a leg I can buy enough snacks at a normal store or bakery to last several times over. This subject really got me in rant mode. :sigh:
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I drink my coffee at home in "turkish style". It means a tea spoon of milled coffee beans with hot water.:java: So a coffee pot costs me about 5 cent per pot. :cool:
Press F1 for help or google it. Greetings from Germany
At home (and one of the two offices where I allegedly work): Me Too! It doesn't get any fresher.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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In all seriousness, and with respect to the company as a whole (their branding, their social efforts, their consistency etc etc) I find the coffee weak and bitter. North America seems to have a fascination with coffee bean cremation. Even local cafes in Toronto often start out smooth, full bodied, and with an excellent aftertaste, and then soon enough the roast turns darker and more bitter until you're back to the norm: a coffee that has the subtlety burned out of it. The other issue is that they never seem to be able to get a decent microfosm going. Get it right and it makes the coffee smoother and sweeter. Instead they scorch the milk and break down the goodness. It really makes a huge difference. (Caveat here is I'm talking about espresso based drinks, not the coffee-through-a-wet-rag filter coffee. )
cheers Chris Maunder
I see. My sophistication in such matters, is lacking. :-O
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I'm giving you a flat look for sending me research published in a British newspaper about coffee. Britian and coffee is like Australia and drizzly days: we just can't quite get it right. I would put to the jury that the secret of a good cup of coffee is to start with good coffee
cheers Chris Maunder
Chris Maunder wrote:
Britian and coffee
Compared to the dishwater I have been served in the good ol' USA, I will go for coffee here any day. However, I never go into Starbucks, Costa or any of those places, so my experience is coffee at home or in a restaurant; both of which I find quite satisfying.
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Discuss.
cheers Chris Maunder
I've said it before and I'll say it again, going to Starbucks for coffee is like going to prison for sex!
veni bibi saltavi
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I'm giving you a flat look for sending me research published in a British newspaper about coffee. Britian and coffee is like Australia and drizzly days: we just can't quite get it right. I would put to the jury that the secret of a good cup of coffee is to start with good coffee
cheers Chris Maunder
I can't vouch for Canadia, but last time I was in Merca I went for an emergency heart starter at around 6am before a 500 mile trip. "Double shot, strong as fuelephant!" I request. "D'ya wana decaf?" drawls Doofus T Buck-Frain. It's 6 o'clock in the morning and the eejit is asking if I want decaf!
veni bibi saltavi
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I've said it before and I'll say it again, going to Starbucks for coffee is like going to prison for sex!
veni bibi saltavi
How long were you in prison?
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Discuss.
cheers Chris Maunder
I go for starbucks now and then, when i get into a bigger town i enjoy a cappuccino toffee and i like it. But i won't go there regularly, too many hipsters, in this case i prefer good ol coffee or sometimes a fine one from switzerland or italy.
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Wrong on every imaginable count. Coffee:* Most stores, at least in the US, are company stores. For that reason they discard and replace unsold coffee on schedule, not when it's all sold or too nasty. Usually, however, it's sold out first.
- Dark roasted - although those admittedly nasty light roasts were made available for those who used that as an excuse not to buy coffee there
- They use more coffee to make their coffee - never watery - and, much as some like the element of surprise, no mystery about the quality=reliably high
- I haven't bought a fancy mixed coffee beverage in years (that wasn't alcoholic) there or anyplace else.
Environment:* Each Starbucks is different - usually with real furniture - the one nearest me has a fireplace. - and their business model is to encourage people to linger over their coffee - making it easy to study, use laptops, etc., with free WiFi and electrical connections
- Their planned niche is to make their place one of your comfort places - and there's nothing wrong with that
Social Consciousness:* Part Time employees, a great many of them, earn vacation time, sick time, medical benefits, college tuition, etc., which is rare, indeed, in the US for a chain (especially q.v., Walmart, McDonalds, etc.) - They were trend-setter in their coffee sourcing, getting the money directly into the hands of the growers when possible - and now it seems everyone's doing it
- Even their 'card' program - I don't have one, but apparently the changes reflect customer requests. A customer is now 'fully credited' for buying multiple items in a transaction, rather than 'per visit'. This would not be to my advantage, but it's clearly fairer.
Now, they don't sh^t as sweetly as the whip-cream that tops many a beverage, and have made mistakes, but when it comes down to it, they're a reasonably socially responsible company. And they, at least in the US, are the ones who really popularized the concept of drinking real coffee instead of the traditional swill that used to pass for coffee. Uh-Oh! There goes my CP account!
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert
"If you are searching for perfecti
:thumbsup:
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I disagree. Apple (hardware) products are very, very well designed. Their phone works well as a phone. Their laptops work extremely well as laptops. Their music players shaped what we came to expect from a music player. Starbucks coffee isn't, as far as I can tell, actual coffee. It doesn't actually fulfil its basic purpose. I think people go for Apple because they like the design, the ecosystem, the simplicity (we can argue about this later) and the cache that comes with Apple products. I think people go for Starbucks because of laziness, ignorance, convenience, or because there's no other choice. There are also those who treat Starbucks as a caffeine delivery system: give me a bigun' and I'll plug 'er in and I'm good. Taste is not even part of the equation. This makes me sad.
cheers Chris Maunder
Chris Maunder wrote:
hardware
This. This is the part you shall not miss. Well done.
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How long were you in prison?
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Discuss.
cheers Chris Maunder
No starbucks where I live, so no discussion.
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I can't vouch for Canadia, but last time I was in Merca I went for an emergency heart starter at around 6am before a 500 mile trip. "Double shot, strong as fuelephant!" I request. "D'ya wana decaf?" drawls Doofus T Buck-Frain. It's 6 o'clock in the morning and the eejit is asking if I want decaf!
veni bibi saltavi
They saw you coming a mile away.
cheers Chris Maunder
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Chris Maunder wrote:
Britian and coffee
Compared to the dishwater I have been served in the good ol' USA, I will go for coffee here any day. However, I never go into Starbucks, Costa or any of those places, so my experience is coffee at home or in a restaurant; both of which I find quite satisfying.
To be fair I'm finding the coffee in the UK has improved a lot.
cheers Chris Maunder
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I go for starbucks now and then, when i get into a bigger town i enjoy a cappuccino toffee and i like it. But i won't go there regularly, too many hipsters, in this case i prefer good ol coffee or sometimes a fine one from switzerland or italy.
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}There are no hipsters in Starbuck; only (overly sweetened ) coffee; maybe there were hippies there back in the day it was only a Seattle business. Hipsters go to 3rd wave coffee houses that serve good coffee from sustainable coffee growers around the world. (I'm not a hipster, but I go to 3rd wave coffee houses, because the coffee is better and they don't misspell my name).
I'd rather be phishing!
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There are no hipsters in Starbuck; only (overly sweetened ) coffee; maybe there were hippies there back in the day it was only a Seattle business. Hipsters go to 3rd wave coffee houses that serve good coffee from sustainable coffee growers around the world. (I'm not a hipster, but I go to 3rd wave coffee houses, because the coffee is better and they don't misspell my name).
I'd rather be phishing!
So you know the people i see when i go to starbucks? I say the most of them are hipsters, those going to 3rd wave economic whateverdouche shops are environmentalists that got blinded on both eyes.
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