Starbucks

[benthewraith]

If you ask me, Tim Hortans has the most disgusting breakfast pastries I have ever had. My entire extended family agrees. At least the ones I have been to in RI (there is one about every 3 ft on Route 1 in Rhode Island).

We stopped at a Tim Horton's while visiting in NY (we were driving on the thruway from Albany to Windham), and no offense, but the food was terrible. Mind you this was at a rest stop area, but still, I would have much prefered a Burger King or McDonalds instead. We have sworn to never, EVER eat there again, and the immediate family living in Pennsylvania has been warned as well.

 

[bousozoku]

It's okay. It's not great.

There are far better places to get coffee and better coffee.

 

[Dr.Gargoyle]

Black and white Mocca cappucino/frappoccino...*drools*

 

[bembol]

Venti Frapps (Mocha, Strawberries & Cream and White Chocolate are my favortires) are hurting my weight and chequing account...!!!

Just today I had two LOL

 

[Lau]

In that I don't take milk in coffee, I pretty much always get an americano or an espresso in coffee shops. I've found Starbucks to be excessively bitter compared to other places, although I have had the odd good one. Maybe they expect people to have sugar in it as well, I don't know. I wouldn't know a burnt coffee bean if it bit me on the arse, but I suspect this is the burnt coffee many of you have mentioned.

My gripe with Starbucks (and a few other high street chains) apart from the manky tasting coffee is the sheer size and price of them, and the heat they serve it at. I just want a cup of coffee for fecks sake, not a pint and a half of super-charged lava, if you don't mind. I can let the heat issue go, in that I'm a total girl when it comes to hot drinks, but the size thing is madness. To paraphrase Bernard Black, when asking for a cup of coffee, and to be presented with the sizes of "Small, medium, goliath or god?", I tend to whimper "Just the one that's the size of a mug, cheers".

 

[katie ta achoo]

I usually get a sweetened passion tea with a shot of vanilla.

Because I have no idea of what it is actually called, I usually keep talking until they get it.

Shaken sweetened iced passsion tea with a shot of vanilla.

 

[gekko513]

To paraphrase Bernard Black, when asking for a cup of coffee, and to be presented with the sizes of "Small, medium, goliath or god?", I tend to whimper "Just the one that's the size of a mug, cheers".

Don't say that if you order coffee in Norway. They'll probably think you're talking about a "mugge" which is like the large one of the two kitchen items in this image:

 

[Lau]

Don't say that if you order coffee in Norway. They'll probably think you're talking about a "mugge" which is like the large one of the two kitchen items in this image:

That's like a medium Starbucks, right?

Thanks for the tip, I shall remember that.

 

[gekko513]

That's like a medium Starbucks, right?

Thanks for the tip, I shall remember that.

Sounds about right, a medium Starbucks is around 1 litre, isn't it?

 

[Abstract]

We stopped at a Tim Horton's while visiting in NY (we were driving on the thruway from Albany to Windham), and no offense, but the food was terrible. Mind you this was at a rest stop area, but still, I would have much prefered a Burger King or McDonalds instead. We have sworn to never, EVER eat there again, and the immediate family living in Pennsylvania has been warned as well.

Maybe the Tim Hortons in the US are terrible. Not sure.

In Canada, I don't believe the food is bad at all. I actually quite like their sandwiches. Their prices are like McDonalds, but I feel that the food is much better, or at least healthier for you. Top that off with an unhealthy doughnut, and you're set.

 

[jsw]

Sounds about right, a medium Starbucks is around 1 litre, isn't it?

You people....



First, the sizes here are 12, 16, and 20 ounces. So, unless the sizes are radically different there, the biggest one is barely a half liter. Geez. That's only a few sips.

Second, iced coffee in the summer. Cold, refreshing, delicious. I remember getting odd looks trying to get an iced coffee at Heathrow, like it was odd or something. Are cold drinks somehow frowned upon over there?

 

[bousozoku]

You people....



First, the sizes here are 12, 16, and 20 ounces. So, unless the sizes are radically different there, the biggest one is barely a half liter. Geez. That's only a few sips.

Second, iced coffee in the summer. Cold, refreshing, delicious. I remember getting odd looks trying to get an iced coffee at Heathrow, like it was odd or something. Are cold drinks somehow frowned upon over there?

The size of a litre must be different for you. The last I saw, it would be approximately 2 of those 16 ounce cups or a little over a quart.

 

[devilot]

I think it's odd that everyone is complaining that Starbucks is too hot... when I used to drink there, I'd always have to ask for it to be extra hot.

 

[kretzy]

Second, iced coffee in the summer. Cold, refreshing, delicious. I remember getting odd looks trying to get an iced coffee at Heathrow, like it was odd or something. Are cold drinks somehow frowned upon over there?

I'm an iced coffee person at any time but I was very disappointed when I went to the snow last week and none of the cafes I went to had it on their menu. People just gave me funny looks.

 

[jsw]

The size of a litre must be different for you. The last I saw, it would be approximately 2 of those 16 ounce cups or a little over a quart.

Which is why I said the 20 oz was barely over half a liter....

Edit: I said "barely a half liter"... I meant "barely over a half liter".

 

[TheMonarch]

I really like Starbucks, but only because the drinks I order, I can't make myself [Fappuccinos]. I never order plain coffee.

 

[Capt Underpants]

I go to starbucks for the atmosphere. It's the kind of place you and a friend/friends can go, sit, chill, drink something, and talk. The usually have good music/comfy chairs, so I dig it.

I don't like coffee, so I drink their creme frappucinos.

 

[bousozoku]

Which is why I said the 20 oz was barely over half a liter....

Edit: I said "barely a half liter"... I meant "barely over a half liter".

I should have read what you meant, not what you wrote. I find that a common mistake I make on MacRumors.

 

[jsw]

I should have read what you meant, not what you wrote. I find that a common mistake I make on MacRumors.

Well, of course, I was being sarcastic (as per the sig), and so, in fact, I think 20 oz would qualify under those conditions as "barely a half liter", due to the poetic license which I, as a fully disclosed sarcastic person, have as a right.

Of course, we all know it's actually just under 0.6 liter. Way over half.

 

[CorvusCamenarum]

You people....



First, the sizes here are 12, 16, and 20 ounces. So, unless the sizes are radically different there, the biggest one is barely a half liter. Geez. That's only a few sips.

Second, iced coffee in the summer. Cold, refreshing, delicious. I remember getting odd looks trying to get an iced coffee at Heathrow, like it was odd or something. Are cold drinks somehow frowned upon over there?

I noticed that too when I was in the UK. Here in the South, when I go to a restaurant, I'm accustomed to being brought a glass of ice water as their way of saying "Thanks for coming in, sit down and relax." The first time I asked for water over there, they brought me a bottle of room temperature mineral water and charged me £2 for it.

I guess the reasoning against cold drinks there is that due to the climate, only a crazy person would ever want a cold drink in December.

 

[DakotaGuy]

I like Starbucks, but I just buy their coffee and brew it at home. I only get a drink at the Starbucks store for a treat every now and then. Yukon blend is my favorite. It definitely has some kick to it.

 

[Haoshiro]

I have notice a lot of the replies in favor of Starbucks seem to like dessert more then coffee (clayj and your 6-pumps of raspberry!) but also mixed reports of the drinks being bad suggest that it's either a difference in preference, or a bigger problem...

The baristas. Could it be that there are just more Starbucks locations then there are good baristas to staff them? It could also be the espresso machines, I had heard they had started to use super automatic espresso machines, which would be good if the people they hired didn't have any barista experience, but from my experience SA machines don't make good coffee.

It could be management/maintenance as well, since there are several factors ranging from water filtration, espresso machine maintenance (cleaning/pressure/etc), as well as the beans.

Maybe one day even *I* will go to a Starbucks that is good, althought anyone is likely to have better luck with a local place where the owner is activily involved in ensuring everything is how he/she wants it.

 

[ZoomZoomZoom]

I like the Starbucks environment. Great place to meet up with friends, sit down and chat, relax for a bit, and study. I usually still drink coffee there so I don't look like a mooch.

But go there to just drink coffee? Please. I'd rather spend the money to upgrade my ramen noodles. I hear they have ones that give you real meat now.

 

[clayj]

Well, the reality is that I hate pure coffee. Can't, won't drink it. I need it to be cut with a LOT of milk and sugar, or as I usually have it, milk, chocolate syrup, and raspberry syrup. I love coffee ice cream, too, because the coffee is cut with so much milk and sugar. (In fact, I make award-winning coffee ice cream.)

Perhaps it's because my coffee's always diluted so much that I don't notice any bitterness in Starbucks coffee... or why I don't care if it is bitter.

 

[NeoMac]

I hate to admit I go to starbucks a lot, but for me it's more about the atmosphere then the coffee. Its close to my house so I can go there and study. The coffee is alright but overpriced. Almost $5 for latte? One thing I have noticed, there are a lot of mac users I see at my starbucks. A lot of ibooks and powerbooks. I am waiting to get a macbook once leopard comes out.