Starbucks has moderately tasty food, and disgustingly bad coffee. If they put enough sugar into it, it’s fine… But going elsewhere yields better results.
Who wants to wait in line to pay that much? Starbucks is a luxury in my eyes now. I get organic instant coffee in bulk because it’s cheap and convenient. I get over 10 cups of good organic coffee for the price of what 1 cup would be at a coffee shop.
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Americans are pretty fucking disgusted that the CEO of Starbucks takes a private jet to work in Seattle from his home in California. Eat the rich.
Good. Who wants to drink burnt coffee from a megacorp when I can drink coffee that’s actually good from a local business?
I don’t drink coffee, but I hear you can make it yourself.
People can cook for themselves, too, but sometimes they like to go out for food. Same with coffee. It can be nice to get out of the house and go for a cup of coffee, or grab a cup when you happen to be out. Ever tried making a cup of coffee on a road trip? Not impossible, but not super practical for most people. If you want a latte but you don’t own an espresso machine you’re kind of out of luck (unless you want to get an Aeropress). Anyway, there’s lots of reasons why you’d go to a coffee shop.
Shit, I’m a four star chef, and most of what I eat is Taco Bell. Why? Because cooking for one person is a damn PITA, and I like Taco Bell.
I don’t drink the zombie bean though. I will say that Starbucks smells slightly burnt, compared to the local coffee shops.
I haven’t even stepped foot in a Starbucks - ever - but then again, I’m not American either.
In my experience, coffee you make at home is practically always better than what you get from a coffee shop. Even if you’re just using a basic drip machine and decent pre-ground beans.
I’ve only twice ever gotten actually good coffee from a shop. One was a pour-over from beans I watched the barista grind fresh, and the other they made with an Aeropress.
That being said. Even the worst coffee is better than no coffee.
Starbucks feels like the Blockbuster of the quick-stimulation market. Once there were no alternatives, now there are loads, often cheaper and better. Without constant customer flow, it’s suddenly just vast amounts of premium real estate that need paying for. And unlike smaller competitors, it doesn’t have much room to pivot. Watching how that unwinds will be interesting.
In my area the local shops are completely destroying Starbucks. This morning I went to 8
I’m not paying $5 for black coffee
Not to be the Debby downer. My city hundreds of local coffee shops, and they all charge $4 for black coffee. The price isn’t the issue.
It’s what they do with it. Like as the other comments say… Private jets and union busting.
What’s wrong with you? The CEO needs that money to fly on the company’s private jet! /s
Of course the company claims it’s for security reasons. I think the $90 million per year compensation must also be for security concerns following that logic.
Guess I’m the lone wolf here who likes Starbucks coffee. Of course, I like a lot of other coffee better. I make a mean cup of coffee myself. It’s not fancy and many people who stick their nose up at “corporate” coffee would probably say a lot of mean things about my coffee, too, but it’s good to me and I like it. You’ll never please anybody.
One thing about Starbucks: you’re generally going to get the same thing wherever you go. If you find something you like, it’s consistent. Also, some of their coffee is good to make at home.
That said, my favourite coffee shop is a local cafe. It’s not a chain, there’s only one of them, and it’s the same nice lady making the coffee every day. I think she and her wife own the place? It’s a bit expensive, but I don’t mind because it’s good, and it’s espresso. I’ve talked to the barista about it, like I can make good coffee at home, but I come for the espresso, the unique drinks, and the atmosphere. It’s a nice place to break out a laptop and chill, and they play nice music.
I actually very rarely go to Starbucks. But when I do, I know exactly what I want, and what I’m going to get. I don’t think they’re better than anyone, and I’ll always prefer independent cafes. But I don’t hate Starbucks, either. And I am glad to hear Starbucks being taken down a peg. We don’t need them on every corner.
I favor independent coffee shops too, and I agree with everything you said. Starbucks is useful for when you’re on-the-go or traveling, for when you need a reliable 3rd space with seating, bathroom, and wifi.
Another thing I give Starbucks points for is high customization. I can do an online order as detailed as I want and know exactly what’s in it. Oh and the drive-thrus and early/late opening hours are convenient. Very helpful for shift workers.
That’s the thing. Most of what’s drank at these shops it’s not black coffee. It’s coffee mixes that we won’t make at home.
Correct. Won’t, or can’t. I have some flavours, but not only do I not have an espresso machine, I don’t have some of the more exotic stuff on hand. It’s fine for a shop that will use a few containers of the stuff in a day, but for just me (and my wife), the container is likely to expire before we finish it. So we brew the basics at home, and treat ourselves when we can.
I like it too. Honestly I only order espressos and it’s consistent. I’ll gladly support local coffee shops, but the espressos are always bitter.
Espresso is meant to be bitter, and not in the “coffee is meant to be bitter” sense. With coffee, you take it with cream and sugar, it mitigates most of that. Espresso though? If it’s made right, it’s always gonna be bitter. So you put some flavours in it to give it other tastes but it’s still bitter. Does its job though, wakes your ass straight up. And that’s why we like it.
Is it? I’ve had espressos where you taste the créme and it’s very smooth. I never add cream or sugar.
This is very interesting to me, because the reason I don’t like Starbucks is because their coffee is SO much more bitter. I obviously don’t know what your local coffee shops are like for comparison though
Starbucks started out importing $40,000 (in ninties money) la marzocco machines, specially imported because nobody had done that before.
Those old, cost as much as a luxury car and supply a cafe all day long, la marzoccos required someone who cared to perform a skill. They had to train a new trade, basically coffee cooks, which hadn’t been a thing. Coffee generally came with breakfast.
If it weren’t for Starbucks Americans wouldn’t know what espresso was. Now, they did get out of hand with the milk at some point. Americans like buying and selling milk and I’m sure they focus grouped it or idk, but I’m sure that’s fate as much as fault. Anyway, my pet theory is that the charred tastes goes further in the milk.
Now they’ve got those super autos and the last interesting aspect disappeared.
They didn’t need to focus group it. Milkshakes are easier, more profitable, and full of fat and sugar, so they’re tastier. It’s easy to get addicted to sugary drinks.
Yeah, if you look at their menu a lot of the drinks start to look more like caffinated milkshakes than coffee. Especially their specialty drinks.
Starbucks is shit, it has always been shit, it will always forever be shit.
There’s a reason it failed in Australia. There’s a reason it only exists still in Australia and that’s only to cater to tourists who don’t like coffee but like coffee-flayoured milk bevetages - you’ll never find Australians in there except maybe if working and forced to make shit drinks. Literally everywhere else is better, including fast food places.
I’ll give it some credit as a “third place” but literally every other coffee shop is too and they serve actual coffee.
Eh, it wasn’t always shit, but it has been for longer than most people have been of coffee-drinking age. Once upon a time, they were a small company, and finding a location was a rare treat, and the coffee was leaps and bounds better than anything else you could find at the time.
It’s absolutely always been shit. I’ve hated it since it gained popularity. There was a time when people would treat you as a coffee snob for hating it, but that seems to have waned as more people realized that it’s shit, even by fast food standards. I’d rather drink local, but hell I’ll take McDonald’s coffee over sbux
I don’t like coffee that tastes burned.
I got news for you… it’s all burned
False. It’s all “cooked”, but to varying degrees, just like steak can be cooked blue, rare, and so on all the way past well-done.
It doesn’t all taste like it though.
Likely you’ve become accustomed to it and I’m a little jealous. As a non-coffee drinker, when I have rarely needed it, it’s always a burnt flavor, no matter how mild the roast.
Because it is. They burn the beans. Some more than others though and thats where the flavours come from
They roast the beans. You wouldn’t call cooking “burning the food” either. You can burn food too but then it tastes like shit - just like burnt coffee beans.
I encourage you to eat a bean straight and report back on the flavor
I can tell you exactly why people aren’t going to Starbucks anymore: the quality has declined from lack of training, it’s now overpriced coffee for what it is, and their shops aren’t even good “3rd places” anymore - their furniture isn’t comfortable and the space design implies “give us money, then gtfo”. Starbucks as just turned into an overpriced fast-food coffee company
I used to frequently go to a Starbucks in the town I went to uni in; To the point where the baristas knew me by name. I went a lot because it was that 3rd place I could go and study / get work done, with readily available snacks and beverages. However, they ended up closing that shop, even though it was one of the highest rated shops in either the town/province because: they couldn’t put a drive-through in at that location 🤦
It’s ironic how at that old location, they used to write / draw stuff on the cups for their loyal customers because there was an actual friendship between the employees and the regular customers. Now they write generic stuff on the cups as “corporate mandated fun”
The local shops in my area are making a huge comeback. Starbucks killed most of the local little independents around 15 years ago. They did it by providing consistent quality and reasonable pay to their employees.
Recently local chains/independents have made a resurgence. Their secret, heavily recruiting the experienced trained Starbucks employees full-time at better pay and benefits.
Starbucks traffic is plummetting while local companies are expanding rapidly.
This morning I went to the bank and gas station right next to a Starbucks that has been there for 20 years and a 4 month old local chain. Starbucks had one person in the drive-through and maybe half a dozen people in the store. The local chain had a 10 car line and a full parking lot.
I’m certain they’ve changed their recipes. The PSL was weak af this season. I admittedly treat myself to at least one a season because they used to be tasty. They are no longer tasty. I tried twice in different cities/states. Same weak flavor from both stores.
The coffee has always been bad.
The coffee is burnt, the milk is thin and overcooked, and this has just been a constant part of the experience forever.
What’s really changed is there’s other places to compare with, and it’s now obvious what coffee can taste like and where to go if you want one that’s half way decent.
There are two mom and pop food trucks with pretty good coffee (bean grinding, not Folgers) within reasonable walking distance of my house. There are a bunch of both food trucks and sit down joints with coffee, breakfast pastries/sandwiches, and good branding within reasonable driving distance. Even my shitty hometown has a coffee shop now and that place is garbage.
Starbucks showed that there was an appetite for coffee that isn’t just white label drip diner coffee that will strip the paint off the walls. It normalized it so that it wasn’t as pretentious looking. They normalized coffee shops. But you’re absolutely right, it’s just terrible until they add 1000 calories of dessert to it.
Idk when it was ever good or a good value…
My friends always wanted to go after school around 2005 and it was overpriced and shitty then
Where I am, there’s more artisan cafes than 'Bucks. However I find it cheaper to just have instant coffee from Indonesia.
They cant roast coffee for shit, I got a blonde roast, because the storm couldn’t get to my normal shop. It was still burnt. What a bunch of clowns.
