As I was reading this I was drinking an espresso made from beans from the oldest cafe/espresso bean roasting company in Naples Italy. My general feeling is that Starbucks caters to average American tastes, which includes lots of milk and or cream in coffee drinks, along with flavorings and sometimes sugar or other sweeteners. When I’ve bought cappuccino from Starbucks it generally has way too much milk and is more like a latte. I agree entirely with your assessment.
I once bought a home coffer roaster at Zabars and set about roasting my own from green beans. It was far more trouble than I expected, with so much smoke coming off the beans that I was sure someone would call 911. Not knowing any better, I ground the very hot beans as soon as they came out of the roaster, and then dumped them in a French press and poured in boiling water. A volcanic eruption of steam and oily foam followed, but the coffee that resulted was the best I have ever had.
“ As I was reading this I was drinking an espresso made from beans from the oldest cafe/espresso bean roasting company in Naples Italy. ”
I follow a Breville espresso machine page on FB.
People get really crazy about their machines and the beans .
I have a low price Breville Duo Temp machine, Kitchen Aid grinder, and use dark Trader Joe’s beans .
I can make latte as good as Starbucks for probably 20 cents a cup.
Not as fancy as higher priced beans or machine.
But it works , others can use it as well .