Dont ever try to run game on a true coffee freak. It IS NOT THE SAME CUP everywhere you go. Wish I had a tannin (sp?) meter and a PH probe to show you. This was the original push : "consistency is a componenet of quality" but it CHANGED! Once you find the line; it makes no business sense to cross it too far. They have some good premium fruit for a price. I prefered La Costa Roasters here in San Diego or even Pete's, but even their quality became effected by Starbucks proliferation. or so it seemed. You can run all the logic you want by us. The true freaks like myself who drink their juice black and unadulterated know it changed....or we just had a mass shift in out taste buds at the same time. First thing to do would be to qualify our subjective opinions about this with a "how do you take your coffee" poll. You will probably find less than 8% (thats my guess) take it w/o any adultereant. I would have to thow a confound flag if we are establishing consistency of taste by people who change or alter coffee's purist form. btw. i suspect coffee is easlily burned by excessive heat at any stage of the process. Often the coffee I get is too hot and tastes burnt (not a roasting issue). Kinda of like old Yerba Mate practice of determinig when the water is at the right temp.
man i love coffee. i really do. i like Maxim's coffee, every now and then i go and buy bulk loads of it duty-free at the airport, but don't get on a plane just buy the goods and leave. but, starbucks if very good IMO. i normally go for macchiatos (sp?), or plain espressos, every now and then an ice latte, or chai tea latte, but i like them for themselves. however, when at home, i drink coffee (if its not Maxim's arabica) from a frequently-visiting farmer's market in the other town, and i get some really nice colombian stuff, dark roasted and very rich. I'm not an expert on coffees, but i know what i like. STRONG. if i'm at work, or at a family members house, and they offer me coffee, they end up bringing me Nescafe freeze-dried crap and i, of course, always say i take it black, and i find it just tastes like (what in britain is known as) Fairy Liquid. i think that's why people describe some coffee as tasting "bleached". it's really nasty and not worth the money. however, if pushed, there IS one coffee (called Cafe Parisien) by nescafe which i can tolerate if it's 4am, i have to go to work, and there's no espresso powder left for the machine. as for the french roasts tasting like stale cigarette butts ... i like cigarettes. i like french coffee lol i am currently drinking some Bellaroma arabica in a cafetiere, and it's alright. not the best, but its alright. what are you guys drinking? sorry that was so long. i got carried away rambling nonsense
Nesta knows his shit about coffee.. I love espresso every morning I make Hawaiian or Colombian espresso in a stovetop Italian espresso maker. Yeah so fucking good… Sometimes I get board and buy a pound of African or Latin American coffee but I like Hawaiian or Colombian the best. Once in a while I get a double shot of espresso from starbucks I go to non-franchised place before chain store but sometimes when your roaming around suburban sprawl starbucks is it. I don’t mind starbucks, the employees usually all seem nice and they are usually kicked back places you can read some magazines or chill out for a few. A lot of the small coffee shops where I live suck they are small stuffy and the employees act like you should tip them big money. They hand you change next to the tip jar and look at it like you should put all your money in it. WTF? You poured me a coffee it took 60 seconds and now you want 3 dollars extra? Fuck you.
Consider adding flavored syrups or liqueurs to the selection such as Irish cream and Kahlua, or chocolate mint sticks as stirrers.
i worked in an independent coffee shop for five years. we purchased from 5 different roasters in the united states (and carried and brewed over 200 different types of coffee). i've tried a lot. i love coffee and i'm very passionate about it. i do not prefer starbucks. i would NEVER buy espresso from starbucks. i will occasionally buy a cup of coffee when travelling. in my opinion, reliable coffee, a small family roastery in louisiana (survived katrina!) does really great work. my favorite coffee EVER is their organic costa rican. it's so good! i sold A LOT of it in our store. they also have an espresso mia that is very good. it's lighter than traditional espresso, but i love it. just my opinion. i don't believe any of starbucks p.r. and i'm not impressed about how much they pay farmers. ahh...mcbucks.
i like any coffee starbucks and other places like that naturally are they are for those that have the money . i was brought up a truckers daughter so yah cofffee is life blood to me most days . i perfure to make my own , but i miss the coffee from truckstops in the midwest like Spedway Starvn' Marvin, that chain of stations and other gas stops . not to mechion dinner coffee. but hay if anything else i think instent is over rated
I love coffee, but I hate it black. If I can't have coffee cream, I rarely drink coffee. There's usually always coffee cream around, so for about the last two or three months I've found myself having one cup a day.
I looove coffee, but I prefer to make my own. Although I almost never drink it in a coffeeshop I'm already feeling Starbucks is overrated.
Well, since I never go there I don't really think about it But I heard enough about the service and crappy interior to make a (perhaps too) early judgement.
I love coffee. And I don't know why people keep saying it's expensive, a cup is under 2 bucks anywhere I go, even Starbucks. Lattes are expensive. I'm the only chick I know who drinks it black.