BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 10:52 AM

I confess I used to like Starbuck's, but that was until they started opening 'Costa Coffee' and 'Caffe Nero' outlets over here. Hugely superior in the quality of the surroundings, the service and the product, they seem aimed at the European palate rather than the American - richer, stronger coffee and much more palatable (not to mention much healthier) food choices.

And yes Mick, I got it! (Laughing again!).

You've clearly worked out who I used to be, as well! LOL!

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 10:53 AM

Having said all that, my coffee consumption's greatly reduced now they've chopped half my pancreas off and I've succumbed to diabetes. Hence the preference for tea.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 10:55 AM

My Bro-in-Law, who lives in Oakville, Ontario, is a huge Tim Horton's fan. He refers to Costa Coffee as 'Costa Fortune'. Not far from the truth!

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 11:06 AM

Along a 6-7 mile stretch of one major road in the Los Angeles area there are six...yes, six...Starbucks. Two are inside supermarkets, the other four are stand alone. Still, it's a bit of overkill.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: bankley
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 11:14 AM

I used to go to a small 'cafe' in Masset B.C., (Queen Charlotte Islands/Haida Gwaii) it was owned and operated by local natives who called it 'Haida Bucks'.... they were sued by Starbucks for copyright infringement...when this David and Goliath story started getting traction in the non-local media... The BigBucks HQ in Seattle
decided to drop the case.... the Masset natives kept the name 'Haida Bucks' stating that 1) they were, in fact, Haida, and 2) some of their workers were male...


and as Carlin once said "Starbucks is opening a shop in my shorts"

so... Roll Up this Rim....

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Bert
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 12:16 PM

Starbucks is the worst coffee I've ever tasted. And that includes the time I was on a long road journey and stopped at a gas station at around two in the morning. I filled up a coffee cup and went to pay. The woman said "I won't charge you for the coffee it has been stewing for too long".

The one and only time I bought a coffee from Starbucks it tasted as though it had been brewed from old cigarette butts.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 12:26 PM

There are four Starbucks in town; two years ago there weren't any. Two of them are inside markets, one is a stand-alone, and one is inside the Student Union at the University.

If I want drive-through coffee I generally go to Snake River Roasters -- they're on my way to work and closer than McDonalds (which, let it be noted, sell's "Seattle's Best" coffee).

I've got some Arbuckle's in the coffee drawer here at my desk....

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: the lemonade lady
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 12:52 PM

Long live the Costa Coffees in UK!!!

Sal

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 01:31 PM

Some day a chapter will be added to "The Civilizing of North America," and it will be about the spread of Starbuck's across the land.
The generic, mostly field grown Brazilian brands are still popular because they are cheap- brands that have gone through several hands such as Maxwell House and Edwards but still pop-up on those big cans.
Which reminds me, I haven't see Stewart's, once the sole coffee used on the Santa Fe railroad, in many years. It was pretty good.

Tim Horton's has been relegated to where they belong, the low-cost strip malls on the periphery; not even Wendys, which owned them for a short period, could stomach them and spun them off.
That 'little cafe' now won't serve coffee without an order for food- but the coffee was always tasteless and remains so. And they charge the same or more than Starbucks.

MacDonald's is another success story, but their coffee that I have had is just passable- something warm on a cold day.

Starbucks represents the best in American entrepreneurship. Like Home Depot, they have what one wants in a convenient location.
When I visit Chapters bookstores, in the Starbucks outlet there, I can sit in a comfortable chair and read (might even buy the book although it will be cheaper from Amazon). Already mentioned was the presence of Starbucks in the supermarket, making grocery shopping less of a chore. Another civilizing influence.

I don't have the hassle and expense of mail-ordering Ethiopian Sidamo, my favorite, but can buy the beans from Starbuck's selections.

Espresso types crept around the Mediterranean, and perhaps reached their apogee in Portugal. It always amazed me how the locals could add four lumps of sugar to the small, filled-to-the-brim espresso cup and not a drop spills over. The Italians also make good espresso.
Starbuck's tries, but the espresso is only fair. Some of the Italian restaurants here do a good job, but serve only with food.

Mellita (a German company) is just one of those supermarket shelf items here in western Canada. I think they may have better choices in the States.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Don Firth
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 01:56 PM

Maybe Starbuck's coffee comes out differently in different places, but I've always found it to be pretty good. I don't drink that much of it. Barbara gets various kinds of coffee beans from Gevalia or from Trader Joe's and grinds it fresh. I've drunk a fair amount of Starbuck's coffee, but I don't think I've ever actually bought any.

A few years ago, a friend who had written a novel wanted me to offer my opinions and suggestions on possible revision and editing. He would come to our apartment a couple of days a week, read a chapter, and then we'd discuss it. On his way, he'd stop at the Starbuck's a few blocks from where I live and picked up a couple of lattés, and as he read, we'd sip away at it. Then, a couple of times, people have given me Starbuck's gift cards, which I have used.

I've drunk one helluva lot of coffee in my life, from my first cup at the age of fifteen, brewed in a large pot over a campfire, to gallons of slop served in various restaurants and coffee shops, to instant coffee that I gulped as a morning eye-opener on my way to work, to a whole, wide variety of coffees, from espresso that would take the enamel off your teeth, to a good, strong Swedish coffee, to all kinds of coffee mixed with other stuff (Turkish coffee, caffé mocha, and Lord knows what all) while singing in coffeehouses. The Café Encore and The Place Next Door in particular took pride in the quality and variety of their coffees.

I know it's fashionable to trash the chain stores and the big guys, but the truth of the matter is that Starbuck's coffee ain't that bad. Pricey, but not that bad.

But then, living here in the Pacific Northwest (logging country), early on, I learned the secret of a good cup of coffee:

Stir it with your thumb.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Amergin
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 02:12 PM

Well its not good coffee unless you can eat it with a fork....

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Don Firth
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 02:44 PM

The way to test a cup of coffee is to place a couple of electrodes, one on each side of the cup, then shoot about 60,000 volts through the coffee. If nothing happens, throw it out. If the coffee bubbles and precipitates a bit, it's not bad. But it it leaps out of the cup and chases the current back up the wires, you've got a pretty good cuppa coffee there.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 03:21 PM

And if it gets out of the cup and starts lumbering toward you, run like hell!

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 04:12 PM

Yep, I figured Catspaw might extoll Tim's. Just like those second-time-around grounds boiled in a pail with eggshell to settle the grounds and bugs that fly over, get gassed, and fall in.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: RangerSteve
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 06:25 PM

There's a website for Coffee AM that sells coffee from all over the world via mail order. I liked the stuff from Guatemala and Costa Rica. Then I discovered a local company that sells the same coffees in stores in Pennsylvania, so I get it there. The nice thing about Coffee AM, however, is that they still sell it by the pound. The store brands all changed to 13 oz., labeling it as "New, Convenient Size". What's so convenient about having to buy it more often in smaller containers?

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 06:27 PM

My youngest brother buys the green beans and roasts them himself in a hot-air popcorn machine he bought at a yard sale. His wife makes him do it outside because of the smell, but the coffee is pretty darned good.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Greg B
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 08:46 PM

One of my colleagues reports that Starbucks is much better this day
following the 'stand down.' So apparently it was a good choice. He
said that just last week he took an overpriced SB's coffee back and
demanded a fresh cup, because it was foul.

I resent SB's because they don't offer real 'iced' de-caf. I de-caf'd
myself a decade ago. I had an intestinal issue, and had to ferry an
open-cockpit airplane from Ohio to New Jersey (at 100MPH). It was
aggravated by caffeine. So I broke my 2 double espresso a morning
habit. With the headaches and all to show for it. Never went back.

Dunkin Donuts, on the other hand, accommodates me. So there. AND they
now have some even yummier breakfast items, due to the new convection
ovens made to handle the new lunch features.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: GUEST,JennieG at work
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 09:56 PM

$tarbuck$ have made it to Oz. A couple of years ago I had a coffee at one of their stores (can't bring myself to call it a cafe) and it had to be the worst coffee I ever had. So no more $tarbuck$ for me.

On our trip to Toronto last year we stopped over at Los Angeles airport, the $tarbuck$ in terminal 3 smelt dreadful, the burning smell was so bad I kept expecting to hear the fire engines.

Our son and his girlfriend love Tim Hortons, their day doesn't start until they have had their double double. But we discovered Second Cup, which we much preferred. And we found a cafe on Kingston Road (just along from Victoria Park Ave) called Savoury Grounds, where we had coffee nearly every day. Nice folks, and good coffee.

Now I think it's time to brew a fresh pot......

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 10:04 PM

Tim Horton's coffee used to be pretty dependable around here, but lately it's gone seriously downhill. The best coffee in town is now at an independent one-of-a-kind place called Razmataz.

Seems to me as far as I recall that Second Cup is usually quite good. Starbucks? Not that good, and overpriced.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: mrdux
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 10:37 PM

i don't go into a Starbuck's these days except to pick up a Sunday Times. since it wasn't Sunday, I wouldn't have noticed if it hadn't been plastered over the front of the business sction of the morning paper. my doc took me off coffee three years ago and I'm now a tea drinker, and whatever the quality of their coffee, Starb's has lousy tea.

Rapaire -- if you're ordering coffee to be shipped to you, you might check out Ristretto Roasters in Portland (the one closest to Idaho). it's owned by some friends of mine. very nice folks and, I am told by people who seem to know, a really good roast, and they do a thriving mail order businesss.

michael

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 12:55 AM

Yep, $tarbuck$ is in Brisbane too. Took over lots of what were 'one off - mom&pop" coffee shop CBD locations - I suspect the landlords put up the rents so that they would get out and $tarbuck$ would take over.

Tried it - I dont call that overpriced muck 'coffee'... but I did buy one of their huge mugs - I use it to make up those individual serves of instant noodles - I get various types from Asian stores - some of them lift off your head - & put some frozen veggies in, then boiling water. Makes a great snack.

Best part of $tarbucks$, I think!

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: JennieG
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 01:09 AM

We were happy with the coffee we had at the various Second Cup outlets we tried. And, while it's the coffee/drinks/munchies at these places that make you want to go back (or not), we liked the fact that several of the Second Cup places we went to each had their own decor and personality so it didn't feel like going to a chain store. There is one at a converted boathouse on Lake Ontario near the Harbourfront Centre(? I think that's the place) in Toronto; we were there on a cold rainy evening and the open fire was blazing. It was our last night in Toronto before we flew home, and it is a nice memory to have.

One thing I didn't like about Tim Horton's was the generic decor.....reminded us of McDonalds, every outlet the same.

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Mooh
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 06:31 AM

Care? Notice? Nope.

If the bait shop closes for three hours I'm pissed off. Now there's fine dining.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Rapparee
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 09:29 AM

So why do we have four SBs and no Second Cup? We're not that far from the Canadian Border and nobody from Idaho has ever gathered an army and invaded Canada (well, the Idaho Legion was going to but became distracted at the vodka distillery and besides, that's not really an army).

Am I doomed to second- or third- or fourth- rate coffee? Is this the thanks I get for spending a bunch of money in Alberta and a teeny part of British Columbia last August? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others might take, but as for me, GIVE ME GOOD COFFEE OR GIVE ME, oh, mediocre coffe. But not bad coffee.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: bankley
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 10:04 AM

Steve Earle calls coffee "Christian Crack"

i don't use it myself.... either one... like the smell tho...


mmmmm christians.....

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 12:16 PM

"their day doesn't start until they have had their double double"

Aaaaahh, sweet memories of Oakville! Steak for breakfast at Dinasy, on Dundas, followed by a double double from Tim's.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 02:29 PM

Starbucks does seem to have provided a stimulus to other cafes to set up and do it better. Sort of modified and improved clones, and quite pleasant places.

I agree with Backwoodsman   that tea is a better drink. But "Earl Grey" - leave that to Captain Picard, and give me a cup of proper tea. With milk.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 02:36 PM

I don't hate Starbucks ~ I've always preferred strong-ish dark roast coffee, anyway ~ but I do dislike their high prices and especially their pretentious size-names. Their seating is very comfortable, though, and the atmosphere sure beats McDonald's. And they get points for providing health coverage to part-timers.

My greatest objection is that there are just too damn many of them.. Ever been to Manhattan during the current Starbucks Era? It's not much of an exaggeration to say there's a SB "on every corner." I swear there are places where you can see three or even four Starbucks outlets from a single vantage point! Ridiculous!!

With all the poverty around us, I'm taken aback to think of so many members of the clueless and overprivileged class spending $50/week or more on mediocre coffee and the convenience of having someone else make it for 'em

Here in New Orleans, we had several well-established independant coffee-outlet chains before Starbucks ever showed up. The indies have remained competitive, but Starbucks has found a niche since coming to town. After Katrina, I was pleased to notice that Starbucks decided not to reopen a couple of their flooded properties ~ but then, more recently, I saw that they opened a new shop at a site that had previously housed an independent competitor that had gone out of business. So the competition remains balanced.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: KB in Iowa
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 02:44 PM

Starbucks is a god-send when I am visiting the in-laws. They make the weakest coffee imaginable. Other than that I don't go there much. Truth be told I only go to Starbucks then because it is handy, just about anything would do.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 02:51 PM

I don't know who Starbuck was But Tim Horton was my childhood hero. He had the hardest shot in the NHL when the Leafs were a real hockey team. Too bad that he's now known for hardest doughnuts instead. ( my spellcheck prefers "donuts".) I can't pass judgment on the coffee as I don't drink the stuff. It raises hell with my beer taste "buds". I.E. after a coffee they are burnt so that a BUD seems to have taste.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: KB in Iowa
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 03:06 PM

Starbuck was first mate on the 'Pequod.' -not sure if I spelled that right-

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: irishenglish
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 03:38 PM

Without getting into the whole union thing, they sugarcoat their benefits to employees. Nobody other than management works full time. An acquaintance of mine who worked at one until recently would sometimes have a closing shift, only to have to open at 5 the very next morning. Every week she got a different work schedule, so planning anything in advance with friends never worked, and after a year, her raise turned out to be less than 25 cents. And I have had corrobaration on this with other people at different Starbucks. Poppas point about NYC is true-I know because you were probably in my neighborhood with 4 or 5 of them within visual contact! I prefer to go anywhere else, and I think Dunkin DOnuts coffee is better anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 04:18 PM

Where y'at, irishenglish? Upper East Side?

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: irishenglish
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 04:20 PM

Nah, Hell's Kitchen, but lemmee see, there are 8 that I can count in my head within a 5 to 10 block radius.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: bankley
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 05:02 PM

Starbuck was also the name of a main character played by Burt Lancaster in 'The Rainmaker'... in the 50's....a charming rogue..

The last time I was in a Starbucks Cafe was a few years ago in North Vancouver.... some yuppie was complaining to his friend that he couldn't get a good cell-phone feed when he was in the Andes... I said to myself...'Okay, that's %&^$# enough'.... never been back to any. What have I missed ?

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: irishenglish
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 05:07 PM

Nothing much except them putting their brand name on CD's and other merchandise like Paul McCartney's last one, which was sold exclusively at Starbucks rather than at a record store initially. Everything else....the same, whether you're in Vancouver or Valhalla!

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: number 6
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 06:00 PM

"Starbucks closing: did you care?"


Did I .... nope


Do I .... nope



biLL

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 06:00 PM

Cellphone connections in the Andes? My grandson had a hard time getting connected to the internet in Andean towns. Not many internet cafes or inns with connections. When he got into the large towns, be did 'phone a couple of times. North Van? Possibly it was him.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Rapparee
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 07:01 PM

As long as the Cafe du Monde ain't Starbucks, PoppaGator!

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Don Firth
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 07:42 PM

When pledge break comes around at my local public radio and television stations, oftentimes part of the pitch is that they will suggest a membership donation, then say, "That's less than the price of one latté a week."

After guzzling a couple of supertanker-loads of coffee over the years, it started getting to my stomach a bit. I still drink coffee from time to time, but my current preference is tea.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 11:14 PM

"With all the poverty around us, I'm taken aback to think of so many members of the clueless and overprivileged class spending $50/week or more on mediocre coffee and the convenience of having someone else make it for 'em"

It's a sort of karma - the rich clueless and overprivileged class consumers are the source of sustenance for the underpaid underpriveleged coffee makers...

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 29 Feb 08 - 12:29 AM

"I still drink coffee from time to time, but my current preference is tea."

Way to go, Don!!

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 29 Feb 08 - 12:35 AM

I have to confess that I hardly drink coffee any more - the medics tell me it's bad for my diabetes and tea is better. And I prefer the taste of tea now, but I do allow myself the occasional Espresso or a small Americano skinny at Costa Coffee or Caffe Nero.

But Starbucks? Nope, I'd rather drink my dog's pee.

Tea is also laden with antioxidants which are good for the heart. Coffee just gave me palpitations after two or three.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Rapparee
Date: 29 Feb 08 - 08:46 AM

I drink about 2.5 cups of black coffee per work day. Rarely make it at home, even from instant. At home I usually drink tea or hot chocolate (or diet Pepsi).

I've never heard of a link between coffee and diabetes, although I suspect that if you drink too much of it or use additives you could have a problem.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: bankley
Date: 29 Feb 08 - 08:51 AM

'Hear Music' is Starbuck's record label... Joni Mitchell is with them also

oh well, Garth Brooks and Eagles are dealing with Walmart..

Time for the Revolution..... and some King Cole Tea from N.B.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 01 Mar 08 - 09:00 AM

"and some King Cole Tea from N.B."
Best there is! Although, like Red Rose I believe that it's only available in Canada. Another pitty............
It was once shipped to the USA but for some strange reason they threw it overboard in Boston Harbour. They haven't gotten any decent tea since then! (   :-} running and ducking )

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Tweed
Date: 01 Mar 08 - 11:03 AM

Did I care? Yaz, because when a coffee shop closes for a couple hours and it makes the evening news, we is all up shit's creek.

"Paddle faster. I hear banjo music."

Only time I get anything from Starbucks is at the airport, if it's a morning flight, but I don't think they got a thing over the Chock Full of Nuts brand coffee that I brew every morning with a goodly splash of half & half in it.

And why is coffee drinking something to look down upon I wonder?

Tea's alright, but to sweep all the cobwebs outta my pore brain case at 5:30 I need something with more octane than earl grey can give me.
And it smells better. Just the scent of fresh coffee wafting past your nostrils will get you on the path to a great day with many wonderful adventures waiting beyond every corner for you. And with this fantasy zipping through my caffeine-addled mind I fall out into the real world well girded against lane changers, old folks in Mercurys who leave their turn signal on for miles, and ninja motorcycles that I have near miss encounters with every morning on my way to work.

Yaz, yaz, coffee is King of Breakfast Beverages!!
Accept no substitute.
But no, I couldn't give a shit if Starbucks closed up forever, but know a few friends who'd lose their minds if it did.

Tweed

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: Bill D
Date: 01 Mar 08 - 11:45 AM

Since Starbucks makes most of its profit on weird concoctions of milk & various flavors, a lot of its customers wouldn't have the slightest idea whether the actual coffee is 'good' or how it's roasted.

And since a friend of my son works part-time at Starbucks, I an 'occasionally' gifted with a free bag....and it IS the case that the quality of whole beans they sell depends a lot of the type of coffee. The Ethiopian & such are too strong & dark, while the Guatemala Antigua is pretty good. I won't turn it down.

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: GUEST,astro
Date: 01 Mar 08 - 12:19 PM

Here is a link to something pretty funny about this...Try it, you might like it....

click

Astro

Subject: RE: BS: Starbucks closing: did you care?
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Mar 08 - 12:21 PM

or this

click

astro