Reshared post from +Christopher Rauschnot
7 Things You Didn't Know About +Starbucks Coffee http://bit.ly/17tXNCz on +Mashable #coffee #facts
7 Things You Didn’t Know About Starbucks
Turns out, it wasn’t really named after Moby Dick. Also, can you believe a latte costs almost $10 in some parts of the world? For more random knowledge, subs…
Starbucks is just horrible anyways….
Why is it horrible +Meghan Nugent? Are you basing it off their regular coffee? What is regular?
For brewed coffee, there are normally 3 different kinds brewed in the store at any given time. Blonde Roast for the folks that like a lighter coffee, the regular Pile Place Blend which is what most people know, and usually a Sumatra for the Dark Roast, but sometimes another type.
When at a Starbucks, I usually purchase a beverage to be brewed on the Clover machine. (http://www.starbucks.com/coffee/learn/clover) It individually brews by the cup. It is not even comparable to a Keurig machine. It is like a reverse French Press that brews coffee at the optimum temperature for the bean that is being used. My old favorite is the Sun-Dried Ethiopian Harrar, but since that hasn't been available for a while, I've switched to Tanzania. Reserve coffees also include coffee from Jamaica, Peru, Colombia, Brasil, Hawaii, and many other places.
Starbucks sources their coffee from the same regions around the world as other coffee places. Unlike other coffee shops that use cheap arabica beans, Starbucks has never used any. All beans are premium.
These are just the coffee drinks. There are also an array of handcrafted espresso-based beverages and non-coffee beverages.
Sorry for the long post. I just resent negativity in a post that was supposed to inform with fun facts.
No worries, I just used to run a few local coffee shops as well as worked with previous Starbucks employees (on store and corporate levels). Basically, they sell so much coffee every year that they get it from all over the world but what it to taste the same so you know it's their coffee, so they purposely burn almost all the beans so they do taste the same (which is also why most of their drinks are too sugary). They also sell mostly expired beans. Coffee beans only stay fresh for roughly 2-3 weeks after being roasted…Starbuck beans usually sit on a shelf for nearly 6 months before they are even ordered by a store and served.
The "fresh baked" or made food is mostly premade and shipped to them, with the exception of a few if their newer items.
Not to mention the lengths they go to, to shut down local coffee businesses. They even went as far as sending corporate higher up's to my city to convince local politicians to vote yes on adding lanes to a highway that one of my shops (and 2 other local shops) was on…which ended the life of those 3 businesses so they could run a traffic lane right through it.
I do tend to hold resentment towards them for all we've been put through. I just don't believe they are a good company to support. Almost like the Wal Mart of coffee? Lol
I do however see much improvement in the Starbucks that are franchises (inside books, grocery stores) but that's because they have more creative leeway then the corporate operated stores.
Awesome. It's great to finally have some great dialogue with someone who can actually back up a one line argument.
Living in the Bay Area, I am kind of spoiled with all of our local coffee shops as well. I do frequent a lot of them. I used to be anti-Starbucks. But one day some coffee connoisseur friends of mine decided they wanted to take me for a taste test at several places. Turns out one of our local establishments actually "burns" (roasts) their beans more than Starbucks. That kind of pushed me back to try Starbucks again.
With Starbucks acquisition of local French bakery, La Boulange, we have had an influx of new pastries. I'm not sure if this extends out past the Bay Area, but it's a huge step up from the day-old croissants of past.
As a flight attendant, I do like exploring new tastes around the world, the consistency of knowing there is a Starbucks around the corner no matter what part of the world I am in.
I definitely will recommend trying, if you haven't already, some Jamaican Blue Mountain, Nicaraguan, and Vietnamese coffee. Some of the loveliest and most flavorful beans I've ever tasted!
Yes, I have tried Jamaican Blue Mountain, from Starbucks, and other places here in SF. I'm pretty sure ice tried Nicaraguan as well. I like to keep my taste buds surprised.
We have lots of Vietnamese places as well. The Vietnamese coffee is hit and miss, but for the most part great. Have you ever tried Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream?
I have not but that just sounds fantastic!