Posted on 07/09/2011 12:01:34 AM PDT by JLS
This fall marks the centenary of William Mitchell. You may not have heard of him, but in his day he was a big cheese. Indeed, he was a big processed cheese, with what’s now Kraft Foods. Mitchell invented Cool Whip and quick-set Jell-O and powdered egg whites for cake mix. He was in the grand tradition of American entrepreneurial energy: Henry Ford made travel faster, Alexander Graham Bell made communication faster, Bill Mitchell made Jell-O even faster. When he died, I wrote an appreciation and noted his one great miscalculation, late in life. He noticed the dahlias growing on his daughter’s land, came up with the idea of roasting their tubers, and created a brown substance with a coffee-like taste that he called Dacopa.
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
Mark Steyn ping.
Freepmail me, if you want on or off the Mark Steyn ping list.
Yeah, but like he says in the article, luxuries like Mochafrappucinolattes are the first to go in such times as these. A thousand Starbucks have bit the dust.
I know Starbucks has its fans here on FR, but I hate them and avoid them to the largest extent possible (rarely I must have them, such as when traveling and the only coffee the hotel offers is SB).
Their coffee tastes horrible, almost burnt. They were somewhat predatory in the early days and ran what was a very burgeoning independent coffee-shop/lounge trend out of business using their scale to squeeze the indies out. And as the article implies I find it absurd to stand in long lines and wait for a coffee. I do drink coffee almost daily, but I don’t make coffee a destination. I don’t seek it out. If I am in a walking friendly city like NYC and desire one, I will get coffee in a Bodega in 30 seconds before I seek out a long SB line. On the way to work I would stop at a 7-11 before any Starbucks.
Very often there is coffee for sale within 100 feet of a SB that can be had in seconds, yet people wait for SB instead.
A few weeks ago I was in Paris, took a trip to through the Catacombs. On the way out we stopped for a minute just to ponder what we had seen, and a Frenchman stopped and joined our conversation. When we decided to go he asked what we were going to do and we said we were off to get a coffee and he said “there is a Starbucks 2 blocks over there” and we could only laugh. We weren’t sure whether he thought we would want it because we are American, or because it is trendy. We told him we despise SB, and that we wanted good old fashioned French Café coffee - double espress, please. True story. SB is taking over the world.
Count me into “The Plain Damn Cup of Coffee Club.”
Sheetz. We stop there every morning. They make a good cup of coffee!
Forget Starbucks. As another poster said, their coffee tastes burnt.
And forget the flavored garbage!
I loathed SB from the gitgo. Something about the “lifestyle” of it all bothered me. Way too synthetically “cool”. And the fact that a simple, 8 oz. cup-of-joe isn’t even on the fussy menu — you have to ask for one before they’ll dig out a little cup from a dusty place below the counter.
Stein’s broader point, that Americans aren’t awake to what’s happening all around them, amidst all the pricey stimuli, is true and worrisome.
Several FReepers researched coffee retailers a while back, for some reason, and found that Starbucks made more cups per pound of coffee than any other outlet. It’s burnt to disguise the fact that it would otherwise just taste like sugar-water.
By volume, Starbucks sells more milk than coffee.
Dunkin Doughnuts makes excellent coffee. Back in the old days (when it was cheap), I used to drink a lot of it. Now its over $2 for a medium (w/tax), I mostly pass. Maybe once a month or so.
DH and I have shifted to McDonald’s coffee...it’s very good and cheaper than DD’s and of course SB’s.
I'm with you. I seldom buy coffee unless I'm traveling, but when I do, I prefer DD or Cinnabon. Starbucks coffee tastes burned and I've never cared for their pastries.
Although I usually drink my coffee from home, I have tried 7-11 and enjoyed it. I do tend to find that it is much better during the coffee “rush” times because it is fresh. Our 7-11’s have half and half, milk and flavorings of all sorts. I like a stronger bodied coffee so I buy Peet’s when it is on sale or Costco’s brand of Columbian coffee. To be honest, I think I tried a SB’s once. I was “corrected” on the SB term when I ordered a “large”. I thought to myself, “If I need to be educated on the proper way to order a stupid cup of coffee then this isn’t the place for me” LOL!
Ditto to everyone - I hate Starbucks. I don’t think they sell much coffee only, but make it on the sugared-up specialty drinks to disguise the flavor of their disgusting coffee. I make my own or get 7-11, black or with half and half, not the flavored stuff. I’m not a purist, just like the taste of coffee.
There is one flavored, sugary coffee at 7-11 and I treat myself once a year. It is usually offered in the Fall and it is a pumpkin spice. One a year and I feel like that is a dessert. Sometimes the kids will even get a hot chocolate there and that is a treat for them. However, I am a purist like you. Strong, good coffee taste (I use half and half since it coats my tempermental stomach).
For a while, upwardly mobile professionals started avoiding the Dunkin Donuts because they did not want to be seen there. DD's had the reputation of being a place for blue-collar, working class people, and here in the Boston metro area, that is seen as a bad thing by a lot of the pretentious people who live around here (these are the same people that enthusiastically vote for the likes of John Kerry and Barney Frank).
However, I have always liked the Dunkin Donuts and they still make the best coffee in Beantown. Even though sometimes I have to get stuck behind the old lady with a large handbag who takes forever to pick out her donuts and then, realizing she is expected to pay for it, takes another five minutes to dig through that large handbag for loose change.
Here in Boston area, we are absolutely saturated with Dunkin Donuts, which is a good thing because you are never more than a few minutes away from one. To be honest, even though there are obviously a lot of Starbucks, I forget where most of them are. I only go there to get gift certificates around Christmas time for my yuppie relatives.
I’ve also gone over to McD’s (heresy!) since they switched to a different process and Newman’s coffee. I like dark roast, but Starbucks pretentiousness makes me vomit (Tall? Grande? Venti? —from a fabricated language that doesn’t even exist! —Ugh!) Oh, and for rbg81, it’s Dunkin’ DONUTS, not Doughnuts. Yeesh!
Interesting thoughts from Steyn. His metaphor for Americans' disinterest in the world around us collapsing is that we spend lazy time in coffee bars - and that it's a sign of our indifference. But I think the Tea Party might answer his question best. Americans are not going to lie down while the currently powerful destroy this country.
Howard Schultz built a global empire. If you want to understand how, his biography is an excellent read. He made lots of money - for himself and for the companies who supply and work with Starbucks, and has created hundreds of thousands of jobs over the years. He's a wealth creator. He should be applauded for his business acumen, not derided because his product doesn't fit everyone's idea of perfection. The popularity of SB's over the years has spawned massive competition - too many companies and roasters to count. And out west, while SB's is still popular, several other coffee co's are almost as popular. Schultz not only created a popular brand, he helped create an entire industry.
A 12 oz. Wawa is $1.25, same size SB's is $1.50-$1.65. Sometimes I pay the premium, sometimes not. After spending nine years on the west coast, a great deal of it around Seattle, I grew to like SB's - though having a preference for the medium-to-strong blends. There were so many of SB's around - and eventually other coffee companies, that I developed a real taste for good, strong, flavorful coffee. The really milds and really strongs aren't favorites. Living back here in the northeast, I am wary of some of the SB's because they can brew very weak coffee, I mean dishwater weak. Frappuccino's are good - I put a shot of espresso in if I get one. No other sweet drinks for me though - no lattes or capps. I'm a truck driver - don't need to look cool. LOL!
“Their coffee tastes horrible, almost burnt.”
If you get a French Roast, yes - that’s what a French Roast is: slightly burned.
Get a medium roast (IIRC they’ll brew anything custom if you ask nice) and SB makes a good cup of coffee.
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