What is so great about Starbucks?

[Tropicalsenior]

1 hour ago, haresfur said:

I was glad to get to a Starbucks

When we were in New York City, the worst coffee we got was at Starbucks. I used to get my coffee every morning at 7-Eleven in Flushing. It was darn good coffee.

[Midlife]

Starbucks plain coffee has always had that burnt taste. I suppose some people like it that way but most order it doctored up in ways that mask that flavor. I wonder if there are stats available as to how much plain black coffee they sell as a % of their total sales. 

[cdh]

I'm with Rotuts on the DIY from green side of this... Roasting your own is the way to go if you have the ventilated space and patience to do it.  The quality (and price) of green beans has skyrocketed in recent years, but even spending (shock, gasp) $80 for 10 pounds of excellent fruity ethiopian coffee beans, or even some of the newer more interesting stuff out of Colombia is a total bargain compared to subjecting myself to whatever the local coffee joints feel like selling this month for $18 per 12 oz bag of stuff they roasted to their tastes. 

[rotuts]

home roasting is very easy once you ventilate the smoke .

[Tropicalsenior]

8 minutes ago, cdh said:

I'm with Rotuts on the DIY from green side of this

And when you're sitting there in your own home, with that fresh brewed, steaming coffee in your favorite coffee cup checking out eGullet first thing in the morning, priceless.

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

home roasting is very easy once you ventilate the smoke .

 

Oh, you make that sound so easy.  

 

 

[rotuts]

if it were not for the smoke

 

( coffee-house aromas are fine )

 

people who really appreciate their Cup

 

would be roasting 

[rotuts]

and by saying the above , I dod not mean to be 

 

snobby in any way.  

 

once you get to your personal roast level 

 

you then work on your personal blend 

 

buy trying all sorts of green coffee

 

maybe then selecting g two , no more than three 

 

for a Personal Blend.

 

more than three in the blend might give you an uneven grind 

 

that's what they say .  ( OK Tom @ SweetMarias )

 

and when you taste that cup for the first time

 

All Clouds Part .   a true story ,

 

of course if something if off a bit on that first cup 

 

it might be that ExLarge pepperoni you had at midnight.

[weinoo]

38 minutes ago, rotuts said:

if it were not for the smoke

 

( coffee-house aromas are fine )

 

people who really appreciate their Cup

 

would be roasting 

 

I'm sure that the person to whom I gifted my early-adopter Fresh Roast to appreciated it.

 

And I'm sure my neighbors above, below and to either side appreciated me gifting the roaster. Unless they really enjoyed the smell of roasting coffee 24/7 (which kinda smells like popcorn in a small apartment).

 

No doubt I enjoyed playing with the roaster and the beans from Sweet Maria's, but I've found a very good supplier, who carries many varietals, and from whom I receive my order a day or two later. often having just been roasted.  And they do multiple roast levels.

Edited July 26, 2023 by weinoo (log)

[rotuts]

@weinoo 

 

correct .

 

you've found your Personal Roast .

 

that's all that counts .

 

you do , of course , clean your grinder , from time to time ?

[weinoo]

7 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@weinoo 

 

correct .

 

you've found your Personal Roast .

 

that's all that counts .

 

you do , of course , clean your grinder , from time to time ?

 

As a matter of fact, I recently replaced the burrs!!

[Deephaven]

Just added a Starbucks right near my house.  Averages having more than 10 cars in line ALL the time.  Had it been a real nice 3rd wave shop I bet it wouldn't.  That is really sad.  Not sure why people want to drink over roasted, poorly cared for beans, that are espressed out of a mal-adjusted superauto machine that really doesn't do anything well.  When Starbucks sold off their manual machines for autos to make barista-ing more consistent was when they should have failed.  I don't get it.

On 7/25/2023 at 6:18 PM, weinoo said:

 

Long ago, I reconciled the fact that if I wanted good coffee, I'd be making it at home.  All these years later (and all the thousands of dollars saved by not going out for coffee) make it seem as if that was a good idea.

There are some great new exceptions to that...but they are really expensive and not near my house.  Can think of about 10 shops in the Minneapolis metro that are worth visiting.  Dead giveaway is if they weigh their beans/shots per dose and offer pour overs.  If they don't around here that means you will get mediocre.

On 7/26/2023 at 8:59 AM, cdh said:

I'm with Rotuts on the DIY from green side of this... Roasting your own is the way to go if you have the ventilated space and patience to do it.  

Even the cheap behmour out in the garage does a better job than 99.999% of coffee that is roasted.  We started initially to save money, but now solely for flavor...although it's great to save at the same time.

On 7/26/2023 at 10:54 AM, weinoo said:

Oh, you make that sound so easy.  

If you are willing to make it part of your daily routine the Ikawa roaster does make it that easy.

 

 

[weinoo]

4 hours ago, Deephaven said:

If you are willing to make it part of your daily routine the Ikawa roaster does make it that easy.

 

No, it really doesn’t…if you live on the 15th floor of an apartment building in NYC, without the ability to vent to the outside. Not everyone has a garage; not everyone live in the metro area of Minneapolis.

 

What makes it easy is finding a good roaster that roasts consistently, offers good variety, and is able to deliver my freshly roasted beans within a day or two of ordering,

Edited July 31, 2023 by weinoo (log)

[Deephaven]

2 minutes ago, weinoo said:

No, it really doesn’t…if you live on the 15th floor of an apartment building in NYC, without the ability to vent to the outside. Not everyone has a garage; not everyone live in the metro area of Minneapolis.

 

What makes it easy is finding a good roaster that roasts consistently, offers good variety, and is able to deliver my freshly beans within a day or two of ordering,

The ikawa is nearly smokeless and a simple kitchen vent will easily make it ok.  Even the behmoor is fine under a hood but the ikawa excels there.

[weinoo]

I guess in the wilds of Minneapolis, people just have more time. Except not enough time to read: “without the ability to vent.”

[Deephaven]

No I took that differently.  A real roaster needs more than a kitchen hood.  Significantly more.  The ikawa will color your air less than if you make a strong curry.  So if you are truly without any way to have fresh air or any vent it will be hard.

[heidih]

OK so back to "what is great". I had a wonderful experience last week. Sister took me to DMV. No appointment available until late August so took a chance. Line - horrifyng - stand outside in heat. She drove to another one 5 miles away. Much better situation. After she asked if I wanted to grab a coffee at StarBucks. Umm no it is very hot andI am stressed. But I'll take an iced tea. We sat outside in a shady spot. Only one other person on other side of patio. Surrounded by greenery, catching the breeze from the Pacific Coast highway sipping a wonderfully tart iced Passion tea (unsweetened). I can still feel the contentment. It can have its place.ee agreed there was no other pace that woud have given us this. I woud patronize an indepedently owned place but - not really around.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

@heidih    Totally agree.    Under normal circumstances I don't patronize Starbucks.    But husband and I were visiting Portland OR in August during a (then) heatwave of 100F.    We were parched and VERY cranky.   i staggered into a Starbucks and bought us some kind of frozen coffee drinks.    Very expensive, to me and in those days, but absolutely perfect first-aid.   Memorable while I can't remember any other food or drink from that trip.

[kayb]

I did something like that once. Child C called me in a panic, taking Grandchild 2 to the ER for a raging ear infection about 9 p.m. one Friday, would I please meet here there? Of course I would.

 

ER waiting rooms on Friday night are not pleasant places to be. By about 11:30, we had not been seen, Grandchild was asleep on a seat, and we were dying. I looked at Child C and said, "I'm going to get us some coffee."

 

Nowhere to get coffee in the hospital at 11:30 at night. So I bought a couple of Starbucks cold frothy things from a vending machine.

 

We got home about 1:30. I didn't go to sleep until after 4.

 

[Alex]

"The Pumpkin Spice Latte Is Designed to Make You Feel Death"

 

Quote

I drink the Pumpkin Spice Latte to commune with autumn. Not first for its taste, warmth or color, though also for those things. I order pumpkin spice to fuse my body with the leaves, the crisp air, the gentle reminders of death, and all the other trappings of fall. Twenty years ago this month, Starbucks brought this flavor to the world. In so doing, autumn was perfected.

 

Full story in The Atlantic

[heidih]

Locally big shake-ups as many converting to drive-thru. They have to prove no roadway obstruction should line snake onto road.Seems to negate the communal aspect such as it was. 

[blue_dolphin]

4 hours ago, Alex said:

"The Pumpkin Spice Latte Is Designed to Make You Feel Death"

As a black coffee drinker who does not visit Starbucks, I just learned here that the Pumpkin Spice Latte is tinted orange. I had no idea!  

[Porthos]

On 7/20/2023 at 11:56 AM, heidih said:

Restrooms also and A/C. Used to wait at the one nearest LAX for a text that my guests were here They did not have a public restroom for customers - sent you across parking lot to the large chain grocery. Claimed issues with homeless...

If they sell baked goods, etc. then they're in violation of the CURFFL regulations, AFAIK.

[liuzhou]

I posted this before in another topic but it fits better here.

 

Here in Chinaland, when developers are building retail units that they hope to sell, they often put up fake signs to show that they are likely to be bustling commercial centres.

 

One got it slightly wrong, not that anyone noticed at the time.

 

 

At that time, there were no legitimate Star-anythings in town. Now the burnt coffee places are everywhere.

That one was eventually turned into a nail salon!

 

 

[MetsFan5]

Give me a Venti green tea lemonade unsweetened. I’ll throw a Splenda or tow into it and would work like a maniac.