Starbucks? How are they viewed among the coffee guys and gals?

I dont consider myself a coffee guy like I am a shaving guy but how is Starbucks looked at among the coffee lovers? Whenever I am in a Starbucks getting an ice coffee or ice tea, I always see someone buying a bag of coffee and getting them to grind it or whatever it is they do to it.
I would like to know more about the magic of coffee besides that a tall is a small and a grande is a medium.

I buy it a lot because it is readily available and I love really dark roasted coffee. I much prefer it over typical big house grocery store brands. That being said some of the smaller roasters have some outstanding beans. Counter Culture, Intellegentsia, and Stumptown come to mind. I prefer to order from one of these three when I can. If I can't then it is Starbuck's for me.

+1 on the Dunkin Donuts. Their packaged stuff is among the best that can be had at the grocery store

I'm a fan of Starbucks. I can't comment on Dunkin' as we don't have any here (if they are like Winchells, the pot sits on a Bunn-type burner forever and destroys any resemble to coffee within an hour post rush-hour. No thanks). 'Course, I don't drink coffee black, so their house blend, which I gather some view as too dark and burnt, is just fine for me. Otherwise, I drink Starbucks Italian Roast or Verona, which is sweeter and not as tannic, and have 'em grind it for me. I'm not a fan of French Roast, which to me tastes smokier than an ashtray and more tannic than a bad Bordeaux, so I may not be the one to ask. I've tried Peets, and most of the local specialty roasters here, and I always come back to Starbucks. Is it Kona? No. Is it good coffee? Yes. And, it's consistent. Bottom line: Much of it just depends on what your taster likes.

There are different levels of "coffee people".

What I'd say is that on one hand Starbucks is interesting because it offers a chance for people to become aware that there are things beyond the pre ground coffee scene.

On the other hand they have sort of branded their taste and most people being the consumers that they are will likely stop at that introduction level and call it good.

I'm glad I found Starbucks all those years ago but that being said I have not been inside a Starbucks in many years as well.

Starbucks? How are they viewed among the coffee guys and gals?

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The same as KFC is viewed by lovers of fried chicken.

ouch said:

The same as KFC is viewed by lovers of fried chicken.

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Same as Twinkies are viewed by pastry chefs.

That their Barista's do not know how to spell very well. Check out the Starbucks spelling blog to see some examples, especially in the archives section. A few examples:



Ask Lacey, Aline, and Christain what they though of that.
Picked up this story from here.

+1 on Dunkin as well. When I travel to Buffalo (I'm in Toronto), I load up on 8 bags at a time . SMWBO and I prefer it over Timmy's to start our day by a WIDE margin.

ouch said:

The same as KFC is viewed by lovers of fried chicken.

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I was thinking the same thing lol. Great replies to my thread, I am hoping to learn more about coffee and tea.

DaveNJ74 said:

I dont consider myself a coffee guy like I am a shaving guy but how is Starbucks looked at among the coffee lovers? Whenever I am in a Starbucks getting an ice coffee or ice tea, I always see someone buying a bag of coffee and getting them to grind it or whatever it is they do to it.
I would like to know more about the magic of coffee besides that a tall is a small and a grande is a medium.

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I like the boldness of their coffee. I drink decaf and what they have is strong and flavorful. If I'm taking a trip out of town I'll usually get a cup on the way out.

I'm usually a 8 O'Clock Colombian budget buyer, but I do like Starbuck's Komodo Dragon Blend and Sumatra.

John F said:

Same as Twinkies are viewed by pastry chefs.

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So.... delicious? Everybody loves Twinkies! YOU LEAVE TWINKIES OUT OF THIS!!!!



I have a friend that works there, so I go in on occasion. I don't do coffee, but they have really good cold drinks though.

Ethan.Bassist. said:

So.... delicious?

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Would you trade a mass produced Twinkie for a fresh hand crafted pastry from an acclaimed pastry chef made expressly for you?

They might both be similar things but they really aren't the same thing.

There are worlds beyond the green machine.

The coffee snob in me doesn't like Starbucks, to me it doesn't even come close to stacking up to a nice cup of freshly roasted coffee (provided the roaster has skill). I'd frankly prefer chock full o' nuts to pike's place. But, if I'm in the mood for a very dark roast it's fine. Also, I hate the Starbucks "scene."

They fail on two major points in ways that leave little room for argument:

1. Freshness: If you get fresh beans at a Starbucks (less than two weeks old) then you've hit the lottery. Otherwise, they don't make it to the shelf in less than a month from the roaster. I have a friend who is a shift manager at a local Sbux, and she gave me a free 1lb bag of 3 Region Blend before it was even displayed or served. It was 6 weeks out of the roaster (subtract 34 weeks from the "use by" date = roast date).

2. Roast level: Everything is taken beyond 2nd Crack. Usually well beyond. This diminishes what makes the coffee unique in the first place, so it undermines the concept of serving a bunch of different varieties.

It's like the mac donalds of coffee right?

Starbucks is a mass-market brand, and they tailor their products to have the widest possible appeal.
Coffee lovers appreciate them because they've introduced fine coffees to the masses and expanded a lot of people's understanding of coffee beyond the basic crap they get at the office. Coffee snobs hate them because they hate anything popular and talking about how much better some obscure indie brand is makes them feel cool (much like music snobs or comic book snobs or wetshaving snobs).

I'm no coffee geek but the times I have bought a bag of beans from them it was not fresh and way over roasted.

The first thing I learned about coffee is, to cover up defects in the stuff you over roast that way the strong flavor covers everything.