Starbucks?

I found some info on Snopes about it. They have it filed as false

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/starbucks.asp

Mine too! Yum!

Nah, there's other reasons to boycott Starbucks...like their secret agenda at world domination through a Starbucks on every street corner and enhanced caffeine in their coffee.

I was cracking up the other day because we have a new mall here with 4 Starbucks in it so far! Well... it's not that there are 4 actually cafes but there's 2, and then you have one in Barnes & Noble and one in Target

They're EVERYwhere. There's an intersection in downtown Vancouver, where there are infact two Starbucks -- kitty-corner from each other -- both always busy. That always gives us a bit of a giggle.

Starbucks will take over the world someday. I vowed never to step foot in one but I did twice already. I really dispise them. They took over two really great cozy little independant coffee shops here in town. BUT when I was deperate for a job, I tried applying at a few becuase they give benefits to part time employees. I have 5 years of coffee shop experience and they didn't even call me for an interview. I don't know what the heck they are looking for.

Someone they can mold .... see you actually dont need a machine to do it for you ... I learned that at the local coffee shop at which the starbucks guy was getting HIS coffee

I dont think any Starbucks reps. would be that stupid to send reply like that.
I bet its false.

My opinion on startbucks...
I love the stuff!!!
It's worth every calorie and there is no other item of choice I would waste them on....mmmm white chocolate mocha mmmmm!! I too believe they will take over the world..anyone who lives in New York city or has been there knows exactly what i am talkin about. But oh well!!!!

At the coffee shop I work at, I love when people come in and order Caramel Macchiatos and I had them a tiny cup with a shot of espresso with a drop of cream on top and a shot of caramel syrup in it (gross) just to see the look on their faces. Sure that is kinda mean and I have to remake the drink heh. Starbucks makes Macchiatos with milk and that is where everyone gets it from, a macchiato does not contain milk. What starbucks makes would be I don't know, some sort of latte? So when people come in and order a caramel macchiato I give them just that, the shot of espresso with the cream on top and caramel syrup mixed in. We are not Starbucks!!

lol McDonalds is the one that is taking over the world.
one happy meal at a time

I am proud to say that I have NEVER set foot inside a Starbucks.

Honestly, the only reason I've ever even had Starbucks is because someone gave me a gift card a couple years ago. I wasn't *that* impressed.

But I honestly did hear that they did a study and found that Starbucks coffee contains over twice the amount of caffeine than other coffees you could buy at stores or make yourself, and that's why people actually do get addicted to Starbucks and can't replace it with another other coffee.

I'd like to see that study. Unless you're talking about decaf, all coffee is pretty much the same. Caffeine variances are almost obsolete in the grand scheme of things. The difference in flavor has to do with where its grown and how its processed. Starbucks only tastes 'stronger' because they roast the beans longer... i.e. they BURN them!

Coffee beans are the seeds of a fruit in the cherry family that originated in Africa (probably Ethiopia). There are two types of seeds, Arabica and Robusta. Robusta has more caffiene, but Starbucks uses both. In fact, they use Arabica more often than not because its a better quality.

Further, there are two general methods of processing coffee. Dry and wet. Dry coffees grow in dryer climates, like arabia and ethiopia. The fruit is picked and left out to dry. Then the fruit is cleaned off the seeds (beans). This usually results in the coffee tasting more earthy and fullbodied. It lingers on your palate longer. Its like the red wine of coffee. (my preference)
The wet or washed coffees grow in wetter climates like columbia and jamaica and hawaii. Here, the fruit is washed off the seeds right away, before drying. It results in a slightly lighter flavor that is 'cleaner' on your palate.

I recommend if you really want to appreciate coffee you buy a coffee grinder (really cheap, like $10 at walgreens or target). Buy whole beans and grind a little before you brew it. When you buy beans, make sure they aren't shiny or oily looking. That means they're old and the natural oils are leaking out of the beans. I'm a little wierd here, because I put ALL coffee in my espresso machine. My coffee pot is used for making hot water for tea and hot chocolate.

(Note, the finer you grind your coffee, the 'stronger' it will taste. If you use and espresso machine, try to get it to a fine powder. For a coffee pot, grind it to the consistancy of sugar. Enjoy!)

When I worked at Starbucks (some years ago) they were just transitioning over to the new machines. I learned on the old manual espresso machines. Because I worked in a large store (in the Sears Tower, downtown Chicago) we had both. There is a pretty significant difference in the taste between the two.


LOL, I worked at a smaller coffee shop after I quit Starbucks and I used to do the same thing. Starbucks did train us on how to make 'real' macchiatos/cappuccinos/caffe con pana/lattes/cafe breve/etc. but thats not what the vast majority of their customers want. Most people just want coffee with hot milk and somethin' funky thrown in to make it fun/chic/metro.

Yeah, that email didn't look very authentic. (But that's just me.)

Because of my lifestyle, I went to Starbucks twice a day, everyday. Now that things have slowed down and I actually started to see what was in some of those drinks, I decided to quit for a while.

I love Starbuck's mocha frappachino with whipped cream but do not get it that often.

My hubby makes the coffee every morning. We usually grind our own beans. We had a bag in the cupboard that was at least a couple of years old but because it was sealed in an airtight bag, the beans were fresh tasting. After opening beans, we put them in a ziplock bag and store in the refridgerator.

Since the OP has been answered98 (<-Talin says hi), I just thought I'd share my one and only Starbucks experience.

I was visiting my sister for her graduation in Washington D.C., and the rest of the family was down from Syracuse. The sister who was graduating loves Starbucks, and my mother and I were up looking for a copy of a book I desperately wanted to get for the graduation. Eventually we gave up (I was looking for a copy of the US Constitution - she majored in Politics, and was going on to law school) as there wasn't a copy to be had in Georgetown (I know. Luckily, my deeply paranoid brain had prepared for this possibility and I managed to get two different paperback copies of the Constitution and a copy of the Federalist Papers in Logan Airport, they just weren't very impressive looking).

So, I said, eventually we gave up the search, and my mother, not being much of a walker, insisted we sit and have coffee in Starbucks. I was game, my sister loved the place, so I ordered something that sounded like what I have at home (don't remember what). It was so vile, I couldn't even finish it.

Different people have different tastes, I get that, but there have to be plenty of people like me thinking "8999999999well, this
3.
is gross". (Talin landed on the keyboard there).

Satai, I like that you're a Sandman fan too

I remember commenting on that to my husband when we were there.

There was a Simpson's episode where as they were walking through the mall, each store was becoming a Starbucks.

That brings Shrek II to mind! Towards the end, there are people sitting outside a Starbucks, but when soemthing comes to crash down on the building they run across the street to the other Starbucks.

Someone mentioned that they didn't like the drink they chose at Starbucks.... just on a side note, if you tell them that you don't like it they will make you a new drink to replace it (at no charge). Also, on 3 occasions (over a 4 year period or so), I have had to wait longer than normal for my order for whatever reason. Each time they have handed me a certificate for a free drink on my next visit for my wait without me even complaining.

Cool. The Gaimen fans on the board have a thread in Paws and Reflect that sees occasional traffic.

I personally haven't been a fan of Starbucks...I'll go in for the fancy drinks (i.e. Cafe Mocha), but I've never found a coffee there I like.
I'm more of a Caribou Coffee fan.

One thing I found out that may be why I'm not a fan of their coffee (and this is by a 3rd party coffee maker) is that Starbucks flavors their beans after roasting...they're more or less just a large manufacturer of coffee beans.
Places like Caribou are artisian roasters, they roast the flavor with the beans. Its truely a difference in taste.
I.e. this 3rd party roaster (I had been working on her web site and she paid me in coffee) helped me understand this. she sent me her flavoring coffee, such as chocolate raspberry. The coffee truely tasted like chocolate raspberry rather than coffee/chocolate/raspberry.

Thats true Lunasmom. But only for some of their coffees. Their Irish Cream coffee has flavor added after the roasting, and you can see it on the beans. Their amaretto (sp) is roasted with the beans.

I don't like flavored coffee's at all. I think it ruins the coffee. To me its like wine. All the apricot wines and cherry wines and very young, sweet wines and whatnot are fun and easy to drink, but you'll never appreciate the complexity and nuances of a good Pinot Noir if you stick to only those.

Since I am too far from Canada for Tom Horton's I was overjoyed when we had a Starbucks open in our little hick town. It is the only place you can get a decent cup of coffee. For many years the only place to get an expresso was at the airport and they were only open from 10 am to 1 pm!!

I agree that Starbucks coffee is horrible. And the names they give their offerings sound like diseases. They can't even call their coffee SIZES something normal like small, medium, large, etc, that has to sound like a description of a seizure.

I am lucky I live in New England, we have Dunkin Donuts. I think there is a law here that wherever you are there has to be a DD within 1.5 miles of you. The coffee is GOOD with no pretention (except for the Lattes, and stuff where they put caramel drizzle on it YUCK!!!).

I very rarely drink coffee, but when I do I drink it black, and strong, and lukewarm. I always find it fun to order that at starbucks. "A small coffee, black"... for being a coffee shop, you'd think they wouldn't look at you like an alien when you ordered COFFEE and not sugary milk with a splotch of espresso in it.
Caribou does taste good though.

LOL! Thats why when I go to starbucks I order an Americano (espresso and hot water). Gotta appease the coffee gods!

Do you ever stick an ice cube in your coffee too when its hot? People think I'm weird for that, but honestly my mouth is ultra sensitive.

I don't mess with sugar or cream either personally. My coffee mentor in college would yelled at me (jokingly of course) saying that I was poisoning my coffee.
Finally one day I stopped and haven't added it since