Not the end of the Empire

I admit that when Starbucks first opened up, I was suckered into their verbally sumptuous drinks like "Cinnamon Dolce Latte" or "Caramel Macchiato" without actually knowing what it was. I've always been a coffee lover (snuck my first coffee when I was 15); I just loved the aroma of it. And I loved the taste..I really did, with a lot of sugar and cream. People say that real coffee drinkers don't add sugar and cream, but I disagree. I only add a bit of sugar and cream now, and even though the sugar and the cream weakens certain flavours of whatever bean that's brewed, I prefer those flavours to be subtlized so I can enjoy the coffee-ness of the coffee, as opposed to the "earthiness" or the "hint of citrus" of the bean. I find that the cream accentuates the aroma and tones down the acidity. It is not that I can't tell the difference between certain beans (I do have my preferences when I buy the beans) but it's about what I like (fyi, strongly flavoured medium roasts are awesome with just a bit of sugar and cream).

Nevertheless, during those years that I was beguiled by the so-called "coffee culture", I had a hard time choosing between Second Cup and Starbucks. With that much dairy and sugar in the coffee (like the caramel corretto from SC), it's hard to tell what's really good. I tried to support Second Cup as best as I could because it was Canadian and Starbucks looked like it was about to take over the world. However, as I learned to drink and appreciate coffee, I began to veer towards Starbucks.

Personally, I prefer Starbucks over the rest of the other coffee shops/conglomerates because their coffee really tastes GOOD and the quality is almost always assured.The fact that I will always be guaranteed good coffee is the key. I don't drink lattes because all i can taste is the milk and they are the same everywhere (unless they have really bad beans or really bad milk). It's the non-diluted stuff that makes it good.

1. It's hard to find good tasting coffee, even among the same retail brands. I can go to one Tim Horton's and have really good coffee and the other tastes awful. But I never have to say, "well I want starbucks, but I dont want the one down the street cuz they don't know how to make it properly".
2. The coffee is always made to my liking. It's always hot and always fresh. Second Cup is horrible at this. The container they use for their brewed coffee doesn't keep the coffee hot enough. They dont make iced coffee but they add ice to the coffee and dilutes the flavour, and their "European coffee" is just too sweet.
   

I find that a lot of people don't appreciate the quality of the coffee at SB because they don't understand coffee. I read in a forum once that a woman was complaining about SB being overpriced because she ordered the doubleshot on ice and the cup was full of ice. Well she's paying for two shots of espresso on ice for $3. If she is expecting an entire cup of coffee, she can order iced coffee for $2. A 350mL cup of espresso might kill her. What a moron.


At any rate, of course, I can't say that all "SB junkies" like SB for the quality. Some might just be suckered into the marketing and that's a big no-no in the new pop-culture mentality of resisting the mass media, which is why you see people make fun of those who are petitioning the closing down of SBs in the States.

...ever since Starbucks announced this month that it would close 600 stores by early next year, as its business struggles, the rallying cause has switched to saving these endangered locations.

Now, I am not advocating that there's a need for 3 SBs at each intersection, but I think a lot of people failed to realize why it's devastating for some neighbourhoods to be losing these stores.

• A lot of the locations that are closing down are not making money because they are in a neighbourhood with most likely not enough traffic to cover the cost. If i lived in a neighbourhood with just one SB that's closing down and there are only 20 of us in the hood that regularly visits the store, the 20 of us would be devastated!
  
• The marketing strategy of SB has been successful and laudable. They have created a market for these premium drinks. Regardless of whether the consumers are critical of this "need", that need is there and there are businesses that are relying on that need. If a real estate's selling point is a 1 min walk to Starbucks, then the closing down of it will plummet the sales.
• http://mystarbucksidea.force.com/home/home.jsp <-- enough said

I do think it's ridiculous that people think the SB two min away as opposed to one is devastating, but it's human nature to be lazy. If i can walk downstairs to buy a coffee, i'd be much happier than having to walk 5 minutes.

Unfortunately, time/effort = money and money = life in our world.
Is it worth my time to walk 15 min/worth the gas to drive 5 min to buy a cup of coffee that I like? No.

So what does it take for me to get a cup of coffee I will enjoy when I wake up in the morning?

SB and Tim Horton's solution is to have one every 2 min walk. Even if brewing our own coffee wont take too much time, it takes too much energy that can be spent on doing something that will help us advance in our career.

You can fault the corporation for exploiting human vice, but sometimes we gotta look within ourselves. If we weren't so strapped all the time, not so busy trying to succeed in life and make more money, if we were relaxed most of the time, then we won't be needing any coffee shops 30 min within the radius of any location.