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UK: Free Fairtrade Coffee at Starbucks (27 February only)

B

BoyBach

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Feb 24, 2006
3,031
13
If you live near a Starbucks and fancy a coffee, today you can get one cup for free after 2pm.

With your support, we have been working together with coffee farmers to improve their livelihoods. To say thank you, we invite you to come in and celebrate good coffee, doing good from 2 pm on Wednesday 27th February and enjoy a complimentary Tall cup of Café Estima BlendTM Fairtrade coffee.
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- Starbucks Link (T&C)


Typically, I live nowhere near a branch! :rolleyes:
 
There was a report in the Guardian today that claimed only about 4% of the coffee served in Starbucks is actually Fairtrade, and that brands like Starbucks are overemphasizing their Fairtrade contribution through overly prominent use of the Fairtrade logo. Interesting reading.
 
Starbucks sucks. They are the McDonald's of coffee - they are everywhere and the quality sucks BUT they have the cheek to charge a premium for their rubbish.

They can keep their sneaky publicity stunt free cups of crap coffee.
 
I find the majority of coffee chains to be too noisy and too busy for the purposes of relaxing and so tend to go for the local choices. I'm not a grab and go type of guy.
 
iBlue said:
Starbucks sucks. They are the McDonald's of coffee - they are everywhere and the quality sucks BUT they have the cheek to charge a premium for their rubbish.

They can keep their sneaky publicity stunt free cups of crap coffee.
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Did somebody switch to decaff? :D
 
a456 said:
There was a report in the Guardian today that claimed only about 4% of the coffee served in Starbucks is actually Fairtrade, and that brands like Starbucks are overemphasizing their Fairtrade contribution through overly prominent use of the Fairtrade logo. Interesting reading.
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Yep, I'm the President of a few clubs at uni, and one deals with some fair trade issues.

What Starbucks said was, and I'm paraphrasing, that they are "now serving fair trade coffee". That doesn't mean their coffee is fair trade. In some places, I know that if you want fair trade coffee, you need to ask them specifically to use the fair trade beans. Otherwise, you're getting the regular stuff.

In other cases, you can only get the Fair Trade coffee if you buy coffee beans from Starbucks, and only if you ask specifically for their Fair Trade coffee beans. There isn't exactly a lot of variety, and yet that still entitles them to put a big "Fair Trade Coffee Sold Here" sign on their window. Even if you can only buy it in bean form (which they don't see a lot of), they still advertise themselves as being friendly to farmers.
 
Well I just had my free cup of coffee.

Not the best, but I still drank it just because it was free :)
 
iBlue said:
Starbucks sucks. They are the McDonald's of coffee - they are everywhere and the quality sucks BUT they have the cheek to charge a premium for their rubbish.
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Starbucks doesn't suck. Starbucks is average. Run of the mill. I've only rarely had any TERRIBLE coffee at Starbucks, but being a coffee snob, I refuse to have an espresso there--only milk-based espresso drinks. Starbucks does not make bad coffee by any stretch of the imagination, but most smaller places will be able to do better than Starbucks because they usually don't use the super-automatic machines. Starbucks is consistently mediocre, but that's all that it needs to be. I go to Starbucks when I'm in the mood for my double short nonfat white mocha, and I go elsewhere when I'm in the mood for my espresso or macchiato.
 
I know a fairly large roaster who said the fairtrade concept was wish washy at best. Too bad.

I still like my coffee.
 
Daveman Deluxe said:
Starbucks does not make bad coffee by any stretch of the imagination, but most smaller places will be able to do better than Starbucks because they usually don't use the super-automatic machines. Starbucks is consistently mediocre, but that's all that it needs to be.
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I completely agree with this... but as it stands, given that I avoid Bucks like the plague, on the rare occasions I actually get a latte there, it's very mediocre compared to smaller places. Though their Americano is decent, in terms of strength at least.
 
Daveman Deluxe said:
Double: two shots of espresso
Short: eight ounces
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Thanks!

I keep it simple (I'd get confused otherwise :eek: ) and just ask for a mocha - although I really did push the boat out in Bangkok just before Christmas when I had a Toffee Nut Latte! ( :cool: to :eek: <-Me in a tuk-tuk spilling hot coffee all over my lap!)
 
Daveman Deluxe said:
Starbucks doesn't suck. Starbucks is average. Run of the mill.
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Not according to the taste test done in the UK.

Of course, several explanations can be drawn from that test:

1) Starbucks ranks as the lowest of the big brands in the UK because the standards in Europe are high, and ranks as average in the US because coffee is worse.

2) Starbucks coffee is average in Europe and the USA, but Starbucks had a bad day on that particular test.


I really don't know. All I know is that I don't like their expresso-based drinks, like their cappuccino.
 
To tell the truth I get embarrassed when Apple pairs with Starbucks or Pepsi, even Nike, because the track record of these companies isn't great in terms of product or ethics. Does anyone else think the same way?
 
a456 said:
To tell the truth I get embarrassed when Apple pairs with Starbucks or Pepsi, even Nike, because the track record of these companies isn't great in terms of product or ethics. Does anyone else think the same way?
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You should look at Apple with a more critical eye. For instance, over the past couple of years they've been criticised for using sweatshop labour manufacturers, being environmentally unfriendly, gagging free speech, and using unfair business practices in the supply chain.

No company is whiter than white in today's world.
 

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Starbucks is cool, I love how they design their stores. But Balzac is just as good, if not better. Just less well-known.
 
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