Well, the people won and our Starbucks closed down due lack of business. I’m not happy of lost enterprise but for the 4 indo cafees which survived. Michelin-starred tiny bistro didn’t . Those were the news from Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland.
Good news!
I rejoice when any Starbucks closes down. My local supermarket used to have a great little cafe attached. They refurbished and replaced it with a Starbucks. So now, if I go there, instead of being able to have a hot meal I can have a cup of tasteless coffee and a shitty little cookie.
I like their coffee but there just isnt anything to their stores, it would be nice if they designed them more as a cafe.
startbucks makes some of the worst coffee in my oponion. It’s got a hint of flavour. Of course my favorite is the localt roasted Jamacia Blue. That is some good shit.
Ahh Jamacan blue that is good coffee!
Starbucks sells more than overpriced coffee, customers are drawn in by the upper middle class atmosphere within every one of their cafe.
Hate to see the loss of jobs, but ever since Starbucks went beyond a NW USA regional chain they went straight down hill. Overpriced and over rated. The few in my neck o’ the woods still do a thriving business, don’t know how though because there are many independents that do equally well for traffic and have far superior coffee.
Instant coffee Maxwell House is probably the best ‘coffee’ I’ve sampled in the USA, and that’s awful. The foul grey ersatz coffee or the syrup goo dished out at McStarbucks is simply dreadful. I’m amazed Starbucks coffee is so popular in America and elsewhere.
I hardly ever get coffee anywhere but at home. I buy whole bean coffee, grind it myself, and then make it in a french press. Everything else sort of pales in comparison. But, I don’t understand the overhead mark-up. Even though I splurge on good beans, I pay a fraction of the price than if I buy it elsewhere.
I also get whole coffee beans, burr grind, and then French press. I do not drink coffee everyday, but when I do, I make it count. I drink more tea than coffee, really. Starbucks tastes rather awful to me (I like strong coffee, I suppose). I avoid watered down swill, especially true for my beers, haha.
I find american coffee in general to be inferior to european blends. having been a barrista myself, though, I know that it all really depends on formula and how you make the coffee. MJB, an obscure and hard to find blend(in certain states) is an example of an excellent american coffee in the french press method. i’m not much for drip coffee. lol starbux is only an example of the typical american monster corporation - starting out with a good product and then declining into shite, like mcdonald’s, to meet the demands of the mindless mob. i always grimace when someone mentions their love of starbux.
In the movie “Idiocracy”, set in a dystopian future Starbucks sells “adult” coffee.
One down, another 999,999 to go.
I’m with snuffegnugen and Alexander; whole beans/burr grinder/French press. Consumer Reports recently did a study on 100% Columbian coffee; and who took the tops? Why, Eight O’Clock 100% Columbian Whole Bean, of course! The only high-priced snob chain to come close was Caribou, at twice the per-pound price. Starbucks, I might add, came in around 10 or 11. HA!!!
I have to admit I went Starbucks one time to try a cup to see if there was anything to it. I asked for a cup of plain black and they tried to make me say “venti” or ‘grande’ . I wouldn’t say the atmosphere was something that would make me want to hang around for any amount of time there. The best cup of coffee I remember was at a deli shop down town Cincinnati about 4 am when I used to drive a truck. It came out of a massive, antique perculator about 4 feet tall, a wonderful dark, steaming liquid, served with a slab of cherry pie, and finished off with a Lucky Strike. I asked the lady what was in the coffee. She said the coffee was pretty well just a regular bean, freshly ground.She said they never scrub the inside of the perculator, just gently rub it, leaving the flavor intact,Haha! My kind of place, there… Hell, I don’t know…it sure was good, though!
I was curious how Starbucks does in Italy, I checked their site and they don’t have any! Kind of says a lot about the quality of Starbucks. I can only assume they haven’t bothered to open any as they know they will probably be laughed out of the country.
Just to make things clear, I don’t have anything against franchised corporate brands per pe, just in this case Starbucks was in totally wrong place at wrong time. And the thing is in Ireland, or at least in Dublin, you get a good cup of coffee in the local pub as well for a good price as well and it is now socially accepted! Progress has really progressed during the last 10 or so years.
Yeah, Down with that emperialistic starbucks!
If anyone is interested in the history of coffee and the current industry here in the US, you can check out this PBS special (three episodes) Black Coffee. One can easily find a torrent for it on google.