I have this conversation with my wife. Her reply is that Starbucks has better ordering infrastructure where she doesn’t have to get out of the car when she has the kids. I get that.
I live in Hawai’i. We have locally grown coffee. We have chains that sell said locally grown coffee, located in malls. And you STILL see people lined up at the Starbucks. Branding is a powerful thing. Notice that people who get Starbucks will say “I need a Starbucks” and not “I need a coffee.” They’ve become conditioned to look for that green and that logo.
Me neither. I still can’t figure out why they burn the fuck out of their beans, or who likes that flavor. Outside of some bottom of the barrel instant shit it’s literally the worst coffee I’ve ever had.
Used to work there, that’s exactly right. Same reason McDonald’s makes their burgers so well done. What chains sell isn’t quality, but consistency, and it’s easier to produce a consistent overcooked food product
Yeah, also why it isn’t hard to outdo fast food with home cooking. The sauces might not be as good (since the food industry has those down to a science) but I made homemade meatballs on a whim last night and they were somehow both kinda bland as well as way better than any chain burger and comparable to premium burgers just from the cooking quality (despite the circuit breaker going off because my air fryer and freezer cycled on at the same time and having to guess at how much time was left on the timer lol).
Though IMO McDonald’s has the lamest patties out of all the fast food places. No idea how they got and stayed so big based on them. A&W and Wendy’s have far better burger patties, though even they are still a far cry from good homemade ones cooked well (but not well done).
Yes. Coffee is as susceptible to terroir as wine and can vary season to season. So lots of companies mix up their beans from different farms and over-roast them (reducing the caffeine in the process) in order to get a consistent flavor. And when I say “consistent” I mean they all effectively taste the same. I buy “medium roast” coffee from Costco from time to time. I’ve bought it from several different labels and the beans all taste the same. So I just took to mixing it all up into my “here’s what I’m drinking because I can’t spend more on good coffee now” bin. Which is clear. Before mixing it up it all looks the same as well. Hell, it might all actually just be the same coffee being sold under different labels!
Also burnt coffee is bitter and drives people to add flavor shots, etc to it. Which Starbuck’s likes because that’s where the money is.
Having lived in multiple of those countries, lets just say that most of those greens aren’t anywhere as green as in a few others and even the most green of all (probably the UK) aren’t as green as the US.
For a lot of those countries (which have long traditions of good coffee), Startbucks have only a handful of stores in one or two major cities, mostly frequented by tourists since the locals can get better coffee from local coffee places and its way cheaper.
(Were I am now, Portugal, there’s a coffee place just about in every corner in any city, plus restaurants, all serving perfect expressos from Italian made expresso machines, with the most expensive cup in a place like Lisbon costing about €1.20)
You’re seriously deceiving yourself if you think there being and handful of Startbuck stores in touristic areas in a country with a strong tradition of coffee drinking is Starbucks being “a thing” there.
Looks like countries in Europe and North Africa with at least one Starbucks store.
From my own experience living in a couple of those countries, this doesn’t mean much as Starbuck presence in some is pretty much residual with a handful of places in main cities or airports, serving mostly tourists (who, at least at first, don’t know they can get better and way cheaper coffee - not to mention pastries - in the local coffee shops which are all over the place)
For example, the UK (which has zero coffee tradition, though it does have the imported notion of patisserie in places like London) has lots of Starbucks whilst for example there are all of 11 Starbucks shops (almost all of which in tourist areas, two of which in the Airport) in Lisbon which is the capital of Portugal (a city of 1 - 2 million people), whilst there are thousands (probably tens of thousands, as they’re stupidly common) local coffee places just in Lisbon plus pretty much all local restaurants serve proper expressos made with properly roasted good quality Arabica beans (though Portugal does have a tendency for over-roasting) in Italian expresso machines.
That map most definitelly does not confirm the claim of Starbucks being a thing in Europe since a lot of that green is “is present”, not “it’s common”, much less “has a large market share”.
I don’t understand why anyone goes to Starbucks. I just go to the local coffee houses, and they are awesome.
It’s certainly not just a US thing.
I have this conversation with my wife. Her reply is that Starbucks has better ordering infrastructure where she doesn’t have to get out of the car when she has the kids. I get that.
I live in Hawai’i. We have locally grown coffee. We have chains that sell said locally grown coffee, located in malls. And you STILL see people lined up at the Starbucks. Branding is a powerful thing. Notice that people who get Starbucks will say “I need a Starbucks” and not “I need a coffee.” They’ve become conditioned to look for that green and that logo.
Me neither. I still can’t figure out why they burn the fuck out of their beans, or who likes that flavor. Outside of some bottom of the barrel instant shit it’s literally the worst coffee I’ve ever had.
My guess is dark and medium roasts are more common than light roasts because it masks low quality coffee beans better.
Used to work there, that’s exactly right. Same reason McDonald’s makes their burgers so well done. What chains sell isn’t quality, but consistency, and it’s easier to produce a consistent overcooked food product
Yeah, also why it isn’t hard to outdo fast food with home cooking. The sauces might not be as good (since the food industry has those down to a science) but I made homemade meatballs on a whim last night and they were somehow both kinda bland as well as way better than any chain burger and comparable to premium burgers just from the cooking quality (despite the circuit breaker going off because my air fryer and freezer cycled on at the same time and having to guess at how much time was left on the timer lol).
Though IMO McDonald’s has the lamest patties out of all the fast food places. No idea how they got and stayed so big based on them. A&W and Wendy’s have far better burger patties, though even they are still a far cry from good homemade ones cooked well (but not well done).
Consistent but low quality is so boring.
Yes. Coffee is as susceptible to terroir as wine and can vary season to season. So lots of companies mix up their beans from different farms and over-roast them (reducing the caffeine in the process) in order to get a consistent flavor. And when I say “consistent” I mean they all effectively taste the same. I buy “medium roast” coffee from Costco from time to time. I’ve bought it from several different labels and the beans all taste the same. So I just took to mixing it all up into my “here’s what I’m drinking because I can’t spend more on good coffee now” bin. Which is clear. Before mixing it up it all looks the same as well. Hell, it might all actually just be the same coffee being sold under different labels!
Also burnt coffee is bitter and drives people to add flavor shots, etc to it. Which Starbuck’s likes because that’s where the money is.
Makes me wish producers were in the game to sell good products rather than to sell as much as they can of anything they think will make a profit.
Yeah, people forget the point of capitalism isn’t to satisfy the consumer. It’s to maximize returns to the current owners.
If they can do that with good products, they will. If they can make more money with a shitty product, the that’s what’s on the menu
Having lived in multiple of those countries, lets just say that most of those greens aren’t anywhere as green as in a few others and even the most green of all (probably the UK) aren’t as green as the US.
For a lot of those countries (which have long traditions of good coffee), Startbucks have only a handful of stores in one or two major cities, mostly frequented by tourists since the locals can get better coffee from local coffee places and its way cheaper.
(Were I am now, Portugal, there’s a coffee place just about in every corner in any city, plus restaurants, all serving perfect expressos from Italian made expresso machines, with the most expensive cup in a place like Lisbon costing about €1.20)
You’re seriously deceiving yourself if you think there being and handful of Startbuck stores in touristic areas in a country with a strong tradition of coffee drinking is Starbucks being “a thing” there.
Last time I was in Portugal, 90% of the coffee was of the same aweful brand, think it was called Delta? Is that still as dominant?
Sadly, yes.
That’s the one which IMHO tends to be over-roasted.
What does the map show?
Shows some countries around Europe in Green
Countries that Starbucks had conquered in Risk. This means they get an extra 5 armies on their next turn.
Looks like countries in Europe and North Africa with at least one Starbucks store.
From my own experience living in a couple of those countries, this doesn’t mean much as Starbuck presence in some is pretty much residual with a handful of places in main cities or airports, serving mostly tourists (who, at least at first, don’t know they can get better and way cheaper coffee - not to mention pastries - in the local coffee shops which are all over the place)
For example, the UK (which has zero coffee tradition, though it does have the imported notion of patisserie in places like London) has lots of Starbucks whilst for example there are all of 11 Starbucks shops (almost all of which in tourist areas, two of which in the Airport) in Lisbon which is the capital of Portugal (a city of 1 - 2 million people), whilst there are thousands (probably tens of thousands, as they’re stupidly common) local coffee places just in Lisbon plus pretty much all local restaurants serve proper expressos made with properly roasted good quality Arabica beans (though Portugal does have a tendency for over-roasting) in Italian expresso machines.
That map most definitelly does not confirm the claim of Starbucks being a thing in Europe since a lot of that green is “is present”, not “it’s common”, much less “has a large market share”.