Bad news for Starbucks

[STEED]

Tell us something new.

There coffee sucks and tastes like something from the deepest ocean.

Best coffee on high street? Not Starbucks

Starbucks is peddling the worst coffee at the highest prices according to a survey of the big three coffee houses on Britain's high streets.
A report published today calculates that choosing the world’s largest coffee chain instead of an independent shop for your cappuccino three mornings a week will cost you £126 a year.

The Which? Magazine survey did not stop at lamenting the cost of a Starbucks, it also placed the global brand at the bottom of its taste test. It concluded that when it came to too much water in an Americano and a surfeit of froth on a cappuccino, “Starbucks was the worst offender”.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3245914.ece

[AVGWarhawk]

No doubt the price is outlandish. I get one white chocolate mocha vente and two small triple chocolate drinks for my two kids and it is $15.00. Seems a bit much to me. Not only that, the white chocolate mocha is not consistent from shop to shop. No consistancy is bad business. If my wife gets me chocolate, coffee and whipped cream in the can I can get a crap load of white chocolate mochas in my kitchen and not spend a arm and leg for them.

[danlisa]

The quality of Starbucks ( & other 'Coffee Shops) was shown to me the first time I went into one of the stores....

"Hi, I'll have a Black Coffee please"

"Sorry we don't serve plain Coffee"

WTF!!! What kind of coffee shop doesn't sell old fashioned plain black coffee.

I don't like artsy fartsy, namby pamby girly 'coffee'.

[AVGWarhawk]

:rotfl:

Girly coffee.....:rotfl:

[STEED]

Originally Posted by danlisa

The quality of Starbucks ( & other 'Coffee Shops) was shown to me the first time I went into one of the stores....

"Hi, I'll have a Black Coffee please"

"Sorry we don't serve plain Coffee"

WTF!!! What kind of coffee shop doesn't sell old fashioned plain black coffee.

I don't like artsy fartsy, namby pamby girly 'coffee'.

Dan, did you make a sarcastic remark?

[Tchocky]

mmm, I like Starbucks' plain black, and the price (at least for that) isn't too steep.

I don't frequent it though, there's a tiny Italian cafe in Dublin that serves heaven in an Espresso cup

[Blacklight]

The quality of Starbucks ( & other 'Coffee Shops) was shown to me the first time I went into one of the stores....

"Hi, I'll have a Black Coffee please"

"Sorry we don't serve plain Coffee"

WTF!!! What kind of coffee shop doesn't sell old fashioned plain black coffee.

They darn well serve plain coffee here and it's darn good !
The reason a lot of people don't like it is that their brew is a LOT stronger than your typical American cup of coffee. It's a lot more bitter so people who are accustomed to your typical American style cup of coffee will be overpowered by the bitterness a lot. It all depends on what you're accustomed to. I for one LOVE a good strong tasting cup of coffee. I have a really nice pump action espresso/cappuchino machine here that I use to make shots of espresso all the time (The stronger the flavor, the better).
My one guilty pleasure for the "Girly" coffee is Starbuck's Caramel Macciatto. I can't get enough of those.

[Skybird]

Starbucks. Tried it twice. Both times did not get coffee, but who-knows-what. "Grauslige Plürre."

Want to have the real taste? Make espresso, in a manual machine, no automatic thing. According to the Italian's national institute for espresso culture (no joke, that thing really exists), an original espresso must have 25-30 ml espresso per cup, brewed with 2.6-3.0 mg Espresso powder per 10 ml finished liquid. Press it tightly until it almost is a tablet, there are special stamps for that. The machine must create steam pressure between 11 and 15 bar, temperature not below 93°C, the ready liquid in your cup must have passed through the powder in 12-15 seconds. You do not want a fully light (=underextracted) and no fully dark (=overextracted) cream, but a spotted cream - then it is done right. Use much sugar, drink while hot.

No coffee comes even close to that. Believe me, my espressos are enjoying legendary reputation over here.

But Green Tea (Sencha) or Roibosch Tea isn't bad either.

[Konovalov]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Starbucks. Tried it twice. Both times did not get coffee, but who-knows-what. "Grauslige Plürre."

Want to have the real taste? Make espresso, in a manual machine, no automatic thing. According to the Italian's national institute for espresso culture (no joke, that thing really exists), an original espresso must have 25-30 ml espresso per cup, brewed with 2.6-3.0 mg Espresso powder per 10 ml finished liquid. Press it tightly until it almost is a tablet, there are special stamps for that. The machine must create steam pressure between 11 and 15 bar, temperature not below 93°C, the ready liquid in your cup must have passed through the powder in 12-15 seconds. You do not want a fully light (=underextracted) and no fully dark (=overextracted) cream, but a spotted cream - then it is done right. Use much sugar, drink while hot.

No coffee comes even close to that. Believe me, my espressos are enjoying legendary reputation over here.

But Green Tea (Sencha) or Roibosch Tea isn't bad either.

A true lover of coffee.

Starbucks is just rubbish. I don't want nice atmosphere and a fancy looking shop with something they call ambiance. I just want bloody good coffee. Is that not too much to ask?

[Kapitan_Phillips]

Originally Posted by danlisa

The quality of Starbucks ( & other 'Coffee Shops) was shown to me the first time I went into one of the stores....

"Hi, I'll have a Black Coffee please"

"Sorry we don't serve plain Coffee"

WTF!!! What kind of coffee shop doesn't sell old fashioned plain black coffee.

I don't like artsy fartsy, namby pamby girly 'coffee'.

That reminds me of that DI from The Thin Blue Line:

"Hoity Toity, Snooty Tooty, Mamby Pamby...Fannying about!"

[STEED]

Next time I'm in the town I will pin up the article in my Starbucks when no one is looking.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by STEED

Next time I'm in the town I will pin up the article in my Starbucks when no one is looking.

Look out for the craftily hidden securuity cameras.....people have been lifted for less, (if of course the company find it detrimental to their business)

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

No doubt the price is outlandish. I get one white chocolate mocha vente and two small triple chocolate drinks for my two kids and it is $15.00.

Are you nuts? You can have yourself a Big Mac, French Fries, and a Drink for less calories. This is why people that drink Starbucks get fat!

-S

PS Here is some info (A quarter pounder from McD's is only 410 cal for comparrison):

Starbucks mocha clocked at 628 calories

Would you like that tall, grande or grosso?

By Lester Haines → More by this author
Published Thursday 24th January 2008 10:41 GMT


Updated Those among you looking to control your calorie intake would do well to think twice before wrapping your laughing gear round some high street coffees. Consumer group Which? has found that one Starbucks mocha contained no less than 628 calories, or "nearly a third of the recommended daily amount for women and a quarter of that for men".


According to the Times, the diet-busting mocha in question is a large white chocolate with whip. Other hi-cal caffeine-based beverages identified were Caffe Nero's medium-sized mocha with whipped cream "made with semi-skimmed milk" at 326 calories, and Costa Coffee's medium mocha flake made with whole milk and cream at 297 calories.


Which? probed the UK's leading coffee chains and 18 independent cafés in its survey, and advises those wishing to lay off the calories to choose a skinny cappuccino or latte which "contain skimmed milk and have fewer calories and less fat".


Alternatively, you could always take your coffee black and without sugar, which of course delivers "practically zero calories and fat". ®
Update

Starbucks kindly got in touch this afternoon to offer the company's response to the Which? findings. The email says:


At Starbucks we are committed to serving great tasting coffee and food to provide the Starbucks Experience in our coffeehouses. We believe we offer the highest quality coffee, as we source the top 2% of Arabica beans available.


In October 2007, we converted milk in our handcrafted drinks from whole milk to semi-skimmed milk as standard. Should customers prefer a lower calorie drink, we can customise drinks to use skimmed milk as well as soy as an alternative to milk.


We are committed to offering a variety of food and beverage options to customers based on dietary and lifestyle choices. We offer a range of healthy products such as fresh fruit salads, leaf salads, lower fat 'skinny' muffins whilst also offering an indulgent range of food for those customers looking for a treat. We continually source tasty ingredients and do not add any unnecessary artificial ingredients
Starbucks is committed to making information on our products easily accessible so our customers can make informed choices. Nutritional information for both food and drinks is available online at www.starbucks.co.uk and on all packaged items as well in the nutritional leaflet in store.


We believe that we offer good value, by providing the highest quality coffee, great food and a relaxing, comfortable environment for customers to meet with friends and relax.


The email concludes by explaining that Starbucks "provides an uplifting experience that enriches people’s lives one moment, one human being, one extraordinary cup of coffee at a time".


Hmmmm. Looks like the Strategy Boutique had overdosed on large white mocha chocolate with whip when it thought that one up.

[Blacklight]

They use real chocolate shavings to make their hot chocolate... (And it's baker's chocolate so it's bitter), but then they also mix it with hot milk and sugar. Fantastic hot chocolate. VERY high calories though. Don't drink them all the time.
I only have a Caramel Macciato once a week. I'm a skinny stick and I intend to stay that way.

I find if I want espresso I just leave the regular coffee on the burner for two hours.:p

You havn't tried the espresso I make. The secret to pulling a propper shot with a little frothy head is to 1. Have a pump action machine (The pressure machines are HORRID). 2. Put a little bit of heavy cream in the bottom of the espresso shot glass, just enough to coat the bottom. 3. Pull the espresso for about 12 secconds into the little espresso shot glass and you're all set with the perfect shot. You can also toss a little bit of Sambuca into it if you like it to have a little kick !

[STEED]

I think I only had one cup years ago and never had another. Conclusion, it must have been so bad and left it's mark on me.