Welp, I did it again...
I ordered a tall latte' at Starbucks with only one extra shot. It has been probably two months since I last tried one, so I thought to myself, "Surely you're being picky about your expectations for coffee. It can't really be that bad." It was that bad. I don't think hot milk would have tasted any different at all, and that is with an extra shot! I don't even want to think about how a single shot latte' would taste. Is it really too much to ask that a $3.10 latte actually taste somewhat like coffee? It hasn't always been this bad. Their super, hi-tech, fully automated machines are mostly to blame. While these machines certainly make it easy for employees who know nothing about coffee - don't even like the taste of coffee - to make all kinds of customized drinks, they forgot one little piece of the puzzle: taste.
Of course, this is also part of their coffee culture marketing strategy. Now someone who doesn't like the taste of coffee at all can order a tall latte' with an extra shot and actually enjoy it. Nothing has changed in people's tastes in coffee over the past 20 years since the coffee craze began. Rather, companies - of which Starbucks is chief - have learned to market coffee sounding drinks to the masses that really don't like coffee; just the culture that goes along with it. If this Starbucks that I'm sitting in right now is representative of most, my case is easily made. Since I've been sitting here people have ordered a Java-Chip Frappuccino with whip, a Passion-Lemonade Iced Tea, a White Chocolate Mocha with whip, and an iced Caramel-Macchiato with extra caramel.
While both Peet's Coffee & Tea and Starbucks were started by the same two people. One went the way of quality; the other went the way of quantity. Peet's serves more or less the same drinks they did when Alfred Peet opened the store that started it all in 1966. On the other hand, Starbucks has been pruposeful about expansion, quickly changing and adapting its products to reach the maximum number of people possible.
While both Peet's Coffee & Tea and Starbucks were started by the same two people. One went the way of quality; the other went the way of quantity. Peet's serves more or less the same drinks they did when Alfred Peet opened the store that started it all in 1966. On the other hand, Starbucks has been pruposeful about expansion, quickly changing and adapting its products to reach the maximum number of people possible.
The sad thing is, Starbucks is winning, at least in terms of profitability. Why? Because of convenience. There are about 100 Starbucks for every one Peet's, which means that more often then not, a Starbucks is closer than a Peet's. I'm confronted with this every week when I take my wife out to class at Cal State Northridge on Wednesday nights. I drop her off and then go somewhere to do work. I don't really want to work in the Northridge library because it is dark and closed in, so I go to one of the three Starbucks nearby where I can work as long as I want by a window with my laptop plugged in while sipping a hot beverage. In the case of Peet's, there is always a shortage of seats. I usually have to wait for a seat and then rotate into a seat that is actually close to the one electrical outlet in the entire coffee shop, and there is no Peet's within 30 minutes of Northridge.
The saddest part of the whole thing is that I actually spend more money at Starbucks. While I usually go to Peet's for 3-4 hours at least 2 days a week, I can get their drip coffee because it is actually good, and a small with one refill will be enough for the entire time. The cost is as follows.
1 small cup of coffee = $1.50
1 refill = $.80
2 times/week = $4.60
On the other hand, at Starbucks, there drip coffee is terrible, and I am forced to buy extra shots in espresso drinks to make them actually taste like coffee. I can't get refills on espresso drinks so I usually end up buying 2. The cost of one work session is as follows:
(1 tall latte' + 1 shot = $3.10) * 2 = $6.20
The saddest part of the whole thing is that I actually spend more money at Starbucks. While I usually go to Peet's for 3-4 hours at least 2 days a week, I can get their drip coffee because it is actually good, and a small with one refill will be enough for the entire time. The cost is as follows.
1 small cup of coffee = $1.50
1 refill = $.80
2 times/week = $4.60
On the other hand, at Starbucks, there drip coffee is terrible, and I am forced to buy extra shots in espresso drinks to make them actually taste like coffee. I can't get refills on espresso drinks so I usually end up buying 2. The cost of one work session is as follows:
(1 tall latte' + 1 shot = $3.10) * 2 = $6.20
In the end, who is the dumb one really? Starbucks or me?!
2 comments:
Starbucks has caught you in their web. My sincerest sympathies. To tell you the truth, I like the coffee I make at home better than Starbucks. Even if I take Starbucks coffee beans and make them at home, they taste better than at the store for some reason.
i like peet's tea better than the tea at my bux, but the problem with peet's is they don't give a damn about customer service.
the reason people like the bux isn't just for convenience, but for the service. i've never been to a peet's where the baristas weren't rude/condescending/apathetic.
if you must visit starbucks, order an americano with some room and add the milk at the condiment bar. it's stronger tasting than a latte and will save you some money because it's cheaper than a double tall latte.
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