Here we go again:
The National Organization for Marriage (NOM), America’s largest group dedicated to preserving traditional marriage and the faith communities that sustain it, today announced it will lead an international “Dump Starbucks” protest of Starbucks Coffee Company to give voice to consumers around the world who support preserving marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Customers are invited to visit www.DumpStarbucks.com immediately to take action.
“Unlike our opponents, we do not target whole companies for the actions of an individual business executive in that company,” said Brian Brown, NOM’s president. “But Starbucks has taken a corporate position in support of redefining marriage for all of society. We will not tolerate an international company attempting to force its misguided values on citizens. The majority of Americans and virtually every consumer in some countries in which Starbucks operates believe that marriage is between one man and one woman. They will not be pleased to learn that their money is being used to advance gay marriage in society.”
The new protest campaign was announced after the annual Starbucks shareholders meeting today in Seattle, where NOM spokesmen queried the board on its new policies promoting gay marriage and demanded protection against discrimination for employees, vendors and customers who disagree.
“We respect the important role of businesses in providing goods, services and jobs, and that people of diverse moral views build great companies working together,” Brown said. “But Starbucks has corporately, as an organization, endorsed and helped pass gay marriage in the state of Washington. Its executive vice president of partner resources has stated that gay marriage “is aligned with Starbucks business practices and upholds our belief in the equal treatment of partners. It is core to who we are and what we value as a company.” Corporations should not take sides in a culture war that pits a company against half the American people, and nearly all its consumers in some international markets.”
I can think of a ton of reasons to boycott Starbucks. Their coffee flat out sucks (why do people think that when you burn the hell out of beans it somehow is good), it’s horribly overpriced, they’ve in large part Walmarted a bunch of small independent coffee shops, and the only thing that tastes remotely ok is the iced mocha, which isn’t really coffee but a chocolate coated espresso sugar bomb. But the notion that they should be boycotted for simply believing in equal rights for all American citizens is just ridiculous.
BTW- if you want some good Kona coffee, these guys make some great beans (plus, they are just great people). I order from them occasionally, although less frequently since I started drinking tea all the time.
Baud
Boycotting isn’t ridiculous. It’s the underlying anti-equality viewpoint of the boycotters that is finally being viewed as ridiculous.
maus
Flavorwise I agree, but consumerwise i still sent them a note of support when they endorsed gay marriage in WA.
Ken
Corporations should not take sides in a culture war
Right, they should do what I say, because that’s not a side, that’s normal.
cathyx
I doubt Starbucks will notice any difference in sales.
But if your so inclined and you don’t normally go there, stop in and buy a cup. And John, they sell tea there as well.
Crusty Dem
Wow. That coffee has to be outstanding to make up for that website. Ugly.
Rick Massimo
We respect the important role of businesses in providing goods, services and jobs, and that people of diverse moral views build great companies working together. But fuck all that – they did something WE don’t like!
cbear
I’d like to comment on both the boycott and the Kona coffee, but am not sure that I’m fully qualified and will wait until I hear the other side of both issues from Megan McArdle.
BGinCHI
Hey dumb motherfuckers, it always has to be defined, since it has no other meaning or force. That’s the whole point. We had to “redefine” “all men are created equal” too since your precious founding fathers signed up for that while owning slaves.
Fucking assholes. Makes me unproud to be married.
Luthe
@cathyx: Decent tea, too. Tazo really is pretty good (and I say this as a tea snob). Not to mention that Starbucks usually brews the stuff at the correct temperature, too, which is rare in our land of Lipton-and-a-microwave.
Litlebritdifrnt
The fact that you drink tea obviously means that you are a National Health Service loving sochialist commie English person. Which of course is cool by me.
John Cole
@Crusty Dem: The coffee is amazing. The website, not so much. Just call them and talk to them- Michael Tucker is a great dude.
Winston Smith
Last time I was in a Starbucks, it was jam-packed with people reading Bibles (Authorized edition, thankyouverymuch!).
I muttered something to my wife, and someone close by confronted me, “Did you just say ‘Will and Grace’? Take your queer perversion elsewhere!” A hush fell over the Starbucks and I was met with a sea of scowling faces and glaring eyes. “No,” I stammered, “I said, ‘Will you look at this place.'” The man who accosted me coldly replied, “OK, but we’ll be watching you for any liberal stuff. Starbucks is a family establishment!”
This is pretty much what I’ve experienced every time I’ve been in a Starbucks. I hate to say it, but a NOM boycott is going to ruin them.
Mary
Not really the point, I know, but people really do have different flavor preferences. You and many like you may not like the taste of their coffee, but many other people obviously do.
OK. I will step off my soapbox now.
Omnes Omnibus
@cbear: Will Sully’s opinion suffice or doesn’t it have enough kitchen equipment for you?
PLH in NYC
I dislike Kona aas much as I dislike Tenbucks (with the exception of the multisylabic unpronounceable iced coffee sugarbombs). I like dark roast coffee but not the battery acid kind served by the aforesaid mega franchise. The boycot – stupid but they need press.
Daaling
Wrong Again Cole hates Starbucks so they can’t be half bad. I’ve just been going to McCafe lately but time to give Starbucks another try I guess.
liberal
FOAD! I LUV ME SOME DARK DARK COFFEE!!1!
Now, if you want burned, go to this little independent place in Columbia, MO. Tasted like they roasted a stick in a campfire then ground it up.
cathyx
And for the record, they don’t burn the coffee. Some beans are dark roasted, and to your unsophisticated palate , that will taste burnt to you,(and often to me). But they have strict rules about how long they leave their coffee brewing before the chuck it and brew another pot.
BGinCHI
@liberal: Stop slandering Campfire Stick Coffee!
Palli
Has any Starbucks employee proposed marriage to one of these people? Really. Is there a new flavor called gay marriage morning coffee?
Marcellus Shale, Public Dick
i just put money on the girlfriend’s daughter’s card and my own. i don’t really like their coffee per se, but as an iced latte its good enough, and the youngins like the sugar high from their coffee sundaes.
i brew better coffee at home with beans from an independent roaster, but when its hot as hell and you still need some caffeine, they can put out a trusty iced latte which is a pain in the ass, all things considered,to do at home.
TaMara (BHF)
Preach it.
trollhattan
@Winston Smith:
Hey-Zeus, that’s ridiculous. I’d tell him “I own their motherfucking stock [do, thankyavermuch] so it’s my store [pronounced ‘mah stoe’ in Cartman voice] and he can get the hell out, pronto!”
Don’t get me started on the asshats who “open carry” in Starbucks.
lou
I personally buy my beans from a local Ethiopian coffee shop. but I have been known to go to Starbucks on a Friday or Monday when a jolt of pure caffeine at work is called for. After this I won’t stop that habit.
trollhattan
@Omnes Omnibus:
McMegan fer sure wouldn’t approve of it made in a free trade coffee maker.
Montysano
I think that hating on Starbucks is somewhat the same as hating on the movie Titanic; it’s cool, everybody is doing it. I’ve been drinking coffee from a local roaster for 30+ years, except for the 6 years that we lived in New Orleans, where Mrs. Monty was in the batch-roasted coffee business. You may not prefer Starbucks, but it does not suck. Their medium roast is good, and quite consistent from store to store. We visit small coffee shops wherever we go, and sadly, they suck more often than not.
greenergood
‘The majority of Americans and virtually every consumer in some countries in which Starbucks operates believe that marriage is between one man and one woman.’
Scotland’s got lots of Starf***s, but hey guess what? A quick romp through wiki reveals
‘On 2 September 2011 the Scottish government announced a consultation on the issue after the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey found that 60% of Scots were in favour of a change of the law to allow same-sex marriages in Scotland. The SNP [Scottish National Party] government stated that they tended towards the view that same-sex marriage should be introduced, but that no religious group would be compelled to perform same-sex marriages.’
‘virtually every consumer in some countries’ – strikes me that a whole lot of people of whatever persuasion wouldn’t want to buy coffee in those ‘some countries’.
Amanda in the South Bay
@Winston Smith:
I’ve been to a few of the bazillion infinity+ Starbucks near Powell street in San Francisco, and I’ve never encountered any KJV reading folks there. Probably depends on your location.
beltane
@Winston Smith: Starbucks has become rather seedy in the way that the old Blimpies in NYC were seedy. The only difference between the two is that Blimpies provided temporary shelter to homeless people nursing cups of weak coffee while Starbucks features sketchy people with laptops nursing cups of strong coffee. The ambiance in both places sucks.
With the amount of coffee my husband and I drink, the cost of that Kona stuff would equal the price of a ticket to Hawaii in no time.
TaMara (BHF)
@Ken: But, but, corporations are people! Now if you said religious organizations shouldn’t….
mike
I do not patronize Starbucks except when there is no other choice, but I take exception with this: “they’ve in large part Walmarted a bunch of small independent coffee shops,”. There are a hell of a lot more small independent coffee shops now than there were before Starbucks popularized the notion of expensive coffee. And here in Seattle where it all started there are more independents than there are Starbucks. Around here Starbucks is for tourists and people from the suburbs.
Lev
Was he alluding to the Komen/Planned Parenthood fiasco in the first paragraph? Because taken at face value it’s bafflingly wrong. I’m pretty sure the CEO of Starbucks made the decisions he’s irritated about. He kind of has to.
Increasingly, I see all these NOM people as more pitiable than anything else. They’ve lost three more states in the past year to teh ghey, and before long Maine and California are going to be re-lost to them. Really, they ought to take a good look in the mirror, wonder if what they’re doing is really helping anyone, and just chuck it in. They won’t, and we’ll have to listen to Brian Brown and Maggie Gallagher for another few years until 60% of Americans back gay marriage and the right loses interest in it.
Cat Lady
First they came for the Starbucks coffee and I didn’t say anything because I drink Dunkin Donuts coffee, but if they think they can come for my Dunkies, they’re just fucking wrong.
cbear
@Omnes Omnibus:
No, I turn to Sully when I’m confused on issues relating to war and peace, international relations, and constitutional questions.
McMegan’s my go to girl on social and culinary issues.
BTW, we’ve got McMegan on the ropes in the comments section here.
Good clean fun.
Jay B.
Starbucks is fine coffee and it’s no more expensive than mom n’ pops — but unlike WalMart, they don’t undersell the competition to force them to go out of business. They don’t have much in the way of atmosphere, but at least they finally opted-in to free WiFi.
I try to avoid chains as much as possible, but it’s not always possible. At least this chain has not-hateful priorities and actually aspires to something better than bland coffee-esque drinks. If anything, it’s helped shake American taste buds from Maxwell House in the same way Sam Adams did from Bud.
beltane
@cbear: Good, that nasty human being deserves to be on the ropes. What happened to that project she was supposedly working on? Did it fall as flat as one of her souffles?
cathyx
@Cat Lady: Do you really think that Dunkin Donuts coffee is better than Starbucks? I prefer many local coffee shops over Starbucks here in Oregon, but I can’t believe you think Dunkin Donuts is better. Next thing I’ll hear is that the McCoffee is good.
Judas Escargot, Your Postmodern Neighbor
@Cat Lady:
They can pry my Dunk’s from my cold, dead, and presumably twitching hands.
Scamp Dog
Whenever I see the name of their organization, I think of Cookie Monster. And then I laugh at them.
Joseph Nobles
Our boycott is holier than thy boycott.
WereBear
Just a shoutout to my own Coffee Man, Dwayne of Adirondack Coffee Roasters.
My weakness is the flavored coffees, and these are fresh roasted, ground properly for my French press, and have varieties like Amaretto, Christmas Cookie, and Seville Orange.
If you are in the NE, it’s fine stuff that arrives in a timely fashion. I have a tiny kitchen, few plugs, but a fine appreciation for such a treat.
matt
Been roasting my own for 10 years. Those of you who think Starbucks is okay are missing out big time. For the record,
it is burned, most likely to cover the natural bad flavor.
quannlace
Please, oh please, oh please. Can one of these morons complaining about someone ‘redefining marriage for all of society’ show where it has been written in stone previously? And do not use the Old Testament, if you please, if you’re talking about a civil contract between two adults.
TaMara (BHF)
@cathyx: Well, let’s change burnt to acidic and bitter. No matter the roast. For some reason this became, I suppose because Starbucks became the McDonald’s of coffee, seen as ‘good’ coffee.
My palate is plenty sophisticated and I can’t even drink their mildest blend without tons of cream to make it palatable. There is a great small roaster nearby and even their darkest (and yummy) roast is smooth and flavorful. Not a hint of bitter or acid.
The only reason I ever liked Starbucks was because I, like everyone else it seems, enjoyed their iced sweet coffees. Until I saw the calorie counts. Total buzz kill.
But to each his own. I might just have to support Starbucks again if these idiots are going to boycott. Sigh. I’ll just have to forget I’ve seen the calorie counts.
Raven
We have Jittery Joe’s in Athens. It’s a local roastery owned by the wonderful Charlie Mustard (his wife’s maiden name was Pickles!)
Gin & Tonic
@Jay B.:
Compare sales volumes much?
Raven
@TaMara (BHF): Their decaf mocha frap was fun but they stopped making it.
KG
Starbucks is decent, for a chain. I use to drink their cafe mochas fairly regularly in law school, but haven’t in a while. On the coffee related front, I am counting down the days until the end of April when I get to go to New Orleans, because the one thing I really, absolutely will do, with no excuses, is go to Cafe Du Monde. Now that is some damned good coffee.
MikeJ
That’s the part I don’t get. Has Starbuck’s said that they’re going to dump any supplier that doesn’t support marriage equality? If so, good for them! Somehow I doubt it though. Will Starbucks fire you if you start telling telling your cow-orkers that they’re evil preverts who will burn in fiery torment forever? I certainly hope so. Just like I hope they’d fire you if you insisted on telling the bible humping employees how stupid they are and wouldn’t shut up about it.
Paul Gottlieb
Your anti-Starbuck’s rant is completely incoherent. How can they “Wal-Mart” smaller coffee shops out of business while being over-priced at the same time? Wal-Mart undersells their competition! Maybe they do it with their massive TV advertising campaign?
That tired old “They burn it” nonsense is just tired provincialism. In the Northwest, they regard most of the coffee we drink out here as pale cat piss. They like their coffee roasted darker than dark. You call it burnt, they call it done, but only an idiot thinks his opinion matters
Riilism
@cathyx: I enjoy a good dark roast coffee on occasion, but I swear to God, Starbucks burns their beans.
Of course, now I find myself either supporting a multinational corporation whose product I don’t enjoy or a bunch of whiny nutbags whose sole purpose seems to be to hurt their fellow human beings (in Maggie Gallagher’s case the motive seems to be pure spite).
All I can say is, bottoms up…
Thoughtcrime
This should be Starbucks’ answer:
http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2008/10/25/128694352929419017.jpg
The Moar You Know
Used to work for them. Loathe the company. Loathe the coffee even more.
But dammit, now I’ll have to go out and buy some. Rewarding people and companies that do the right thing is important.
Ben Franklin
The execrable Jobs Bill was cited earlier. Why is Wyden carrying the ball on this.
And don’t tell me POTUS plans to fix it later.
http://boingboing.net/
Wyden’s demand is embodied in a legislative proposal to amend H. R. 3606 (the JOBS act), whose purpose is given as “To prohibit the President from accepting or providing for the entry into force of certain legally binding trade agreements without the formal and express approval of Congress.”
“It’s a huge deal whether Congress signs it or not,” said Sean Flynn, an American University, Washington College of Law intellectual-property scholar. “The reason it is a big deal, because this is what this agreement does, it tells domestic legislatures what its law must be or not be. These type of agreements are the most important to go through legislative approval and go through a public process and commenting on what the norms are of that agreement. The reason, it locally restricts what the democratic process can do.”
cbear
@beltane:
Another project? You mean she has another project other than irreparably damaging the credibility of The Atlantic and any other media associated with her? Who knew?
PaminBB
Well, at this point all of 172 people have apparently signed the pledge at the DumpStarbucks site. I’m guessing that Starbucks are not too concerned.
Tamara
http://www.king5.com/home/related/Washington-United-for-Marriage-Business-Coalition-138062488.html
Why just Starbucks? Many companies have come out in support of marriage equality in Washington state. Why no press release about dumpmicrosoft.com or dumpamazon.com?
NOM’s pathetic attempt for publicity won’t generate the outrage they desire.
Crusty Dem
John, I pretty much live in coffee heaven (hint: we subjected the rest of the world to crap coffee we don’t drink), but I’ll give it a try. Though I think I’d rather rent out their vacation spot.
If you’re still drinking any coffee, drop me an address and I’ll send you a couple bags of my local favorites, they’re not Kona (but a similarly fruity Ethiopian), but I think you’d approve.
Baud
@PaminBB: Given that the boycotts on Disney World and JC Penny failed miserably, I don’t think Starbucks has anything to worry about.
Cat Lady
@cathyx:
Dunkies is just a damn good cup of coffee. I like the smoothness, and that you can just go up and say medium regular and get your coffee and leave without having to listen to a line full of coffee wankers wanking away about a hot drink.
quannlace
Lifelong tea drinker. Favorite vendor is Harney & Sons. But being a bit of a tea snob, I’m embarrassed to also say one of my favorites is Tetley’s British Blend.
************
It’s funny, I love the smell of the fresh grounds from a newly opened can. Love the aroma of coffee brewing. Like coffee ice cream. I ‘ve just never been able to develop a taste for coffee itself.
Calouste
We really have to make the NOM aware that Apple, Google and Microsoft also came out in support of gay marriage in Washington, and they should start boycotting them pronto. We can probably also tie RiM, FireFox and RedHat to the ghey, which should leave them with JesusBrowser on JesusOS on the JesusWeb as their only online presence.
MikeJ
@Ben Franklin: I don’t understand your complaint here. Wyden is saying Obama shouldn’t sign ACTA without congressional approval, and ACTA is bad. The JOBS bill has to pass for Wyden’s amendment to pass.
The Moar You Know
Thank you, I’ve been looking for a vacation rental place in Kona and theirs looks quite nice. Coffee too? SCORE!
John Cole
@Paul Gottlieb:
You MUST be new here.
J.W. Hamner
Shout out to barisimo in Arlington, MA and Coffee by Design in Portland, ME for some of the best coffee I have ever had. Don’t do Starbucks for flavor reasons… I agree that all coffee I’ve had from there tastes burnt to me… but also agree with others that it seems silly to object to them based on their business model and effect on independent coffee shops.
maeve
When I lived in the Bay area I like Peet’s coffee – now owned by Statbucks – still a dark roasted, oily bean but more skillfully done.
Now (that I live in Alaska) – i like Raven’s Brew http://www.ravensbrew.com/ – the three peckered billy goat is good (the cup that keeps you up), as is Deadman’s Reach (great for graveyard shifts) but my favorite is actually Resurrection Blend ““In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was COFFEE, and in that elixir was INSPIRATION and RAPTURE, REVELATION, and TRANSCENDENCE. And yea, verily, that libation of transubstantiation was found to be Resurrection Blend and it was good, and there were many comings for more, and much was quaffed. And what word and what sacred host will be on the supplicant’s lips as they meet their coffee maker?”
But yeah for Starbucks. (We don’t have one where I live but there is a Starbucks in the Fred Meyer in Juneau, which has free wireless, and I’ve been known to hang out there with a peppermint mocha latte while waiting to get back on the 10 pm plane)
cathyx
@Crusty Dem: For free?
Riilism
@John Cole:
New to the site, maybe, but SUCH potential….
urlhix
In my opinion, you can’t beat Cafe Campesino in Americus, GA. Fair trade (first in the USA), shade grown, organic coffee, roasted to order with next day shipping. Amazing coffee (and tea) from all around the world.
kmeyerthelurker
If I may plug a tiny roaster near and dear to my heart, check out these guys.
I worked there a long time ago for many years, and their stuff is simply the bomb. LOTS of great light roasts. They ship.
liberal
@Marcellus Shale, Public Dick:
I always get “iced decaf venti latte”
Crusty Dem
@cathyx – yep, I’m craaazy like that.
liberal
@matt:
That’s funny, cuz I’m thinking of roasting my own with the goal of making it nice and dark dark dark…
cathyx
@Crusty Dem: Ok, but I’m not giving my address to you here at this site. What’s your email address?
TooManyJens
Do they have any decent pastries? I don’t drink coffee, but I’ll go buy some pastry.
gwangung
HEY!
I RESEMBLE that remark greatly!!
grumble * the stuff I have to put up with around these parts…
liberal
@cbear:
God, she’s such a f*cking idiot.
I liked DougJ’s comment in particular:
Maeve
trying again – maybe in moderation -now I have the website, not mobile.
When I was in the Bay area I favored Peet’s coffee – darkly roasted and oily but not burnt tasting. They’ve been bought by Starbucks now.
Now that I live in Alaska – I like Ravens Brew http://www.ravensbrew.com/ – the Three Peckered Billy Goat is good (the cup that keeps you up) as is the Deadman’s Reach (good for graveyard shifts) but my favorite is actually Resurrection Brew (“From the Book of Joe we read, “In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was COFFEE, and in that elixir was INSPIRATION and RAPTURE, REVELATION, and TRANSCENDENCE. And yea, verily, that libation of transubstantiation was found to be Resurrection Blend and it was good, and there were many comings for more, and much was quaffed. And what word and what sacred host will be on the supplicant’s lips as they meet their coffee maker?”
In constant quest of the Supreme Bean™ your immaculate roastmasters at Raven’s Brew Coffee offer this revival of heavenly flavor and sacrament of wakefulness in a blend of some of the most blessed beans in all creation, Resurrection Blend, the chosen one.”)
They have a “full city roast” which is designed for those of us who like a dark roast but not the burnt/espesso roast.
Yeah for Starbucks though – when I’m in Juneau I’ve been known to hang out at the Starbucks in Fred Meyer (while waiting for the 10 pm plane back to Sitka) and they have free wireless and peppermint mocha latte (in season). Victory!!!!
The forcible mobile site (which shows up randomly on my laptop but never on my ipad) did not show that my previous (identical) comment was in moderation (due to being “new” ) so this is a duplciate, yeah. just shows how obsessed I am with coffee.
A Humble Lurker
@Daaling:
Now I get it, you’re a balloon juice hipster!
Which basically does not exist, because we all disagree about everything, so there’s no way to take the ‘uncool’ position and be cool in an ironic way. You’re efforts to do so are rather funny, though.
MikeBoyScout
Reaching out to a Starbucks marketing pal here in Seattle, she said “There’s no such thing as bad PR.”
I take it Starbucks is looking forward to NOM trumpeting their popular stand on marriage equality in a national advertising campaign.
Egg Berry
I used to have a co-worker who worked at Starbucks as a manager. She said coffee was not burnt, but they did brew it so there was more caffeine in it than the regular cup you’d find at a convenience store or in Folgers or whatever.
Take that for what it’s worth.
Schlemizel
Starbucks is burnt & bitter but I guess I’ll chock down a couple of cups now just because.
I love a good dark roast, French or Italian style. It can be done without burning the beans but Starbucks doesn’t know how I guess.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
Wait, isn’t Starbucks a person? I thought corporations were people, my friends. Why is NOM going after the personhood of Starbucks?
PurpleGirl
I like Starbucks Chai Latte. Don’t buy the coffee but I like the spiced tea.
All this coffee talk made me think of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. A former boyfriend took me to this restaurant for my birthday years ago. They served Jamaican Blue Mountain… ah, that was good stuff. But it’s hard to come by and expensive.
Lockewasright
If there is a company that is putting profits made in part from your patronage toward political activity, you should decide whether it is an issue important enough to you to impact whether you wish to let them have your money with which to do it and consume or don’t consume accordingly. Not everyone will fall on the same side of each issue, but it is perfectly acceptable in my view to make such a decision as a consumer. I don’t like coffee (because it tastes like coffee) and I am not much for tea either, but I may buy someone a gift certificate soon to mitigate the knuckle draggers’ boycott.
Vanya
“Their coffee flat out sucks”
I am so tired of coffee snobs trotting out this tired line. No, Starbucks coffee is better than average. It’s much better than watered down Dunkin’ Donuts. It’s also better than the mediocre espresso I find in pretty much every Vienna coffee house. I think half the people who complain about Starbucks roast being burnt really have no idea what they’re talking about, they’re just looking for an excuse to show off.
Catherine
For quality, if you just want to stop for a cup of whatever, Starbucks is, alas, as good as it gets where I live. This makes me a loyal customer by default, and even though most of their coffee does, in fact, suck, I am totally dropping them a note in support.
Schlemizel
@liberal:
I used to roast my own & found that some beans do not take dark roasting well. It took a lot of experimentation to get the right combination. I’ll see if I can find my notes & post in a food or open thread sometime.
My roaster died & I discovered a local chain, Dunn Brothers, that roasts on site at every location & had a super dark roast that was so good I decided not to replace the roaster.
Xecky Gilchrist
@greenergood: the Scottish government announced a consultation on the issue after the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey found that 60% of Scots were in favour of a change of the law to allow same-sex marriages in Scotland.
…but no TRUE Scotsman supports gay marriage!
Schlemizel
@Vanya:
Well thats one possibility, but its also entirely possible that all of us who can taste burnt beans from Starbucks have tasted a lot of coffee (see my previous comment) and can recognize the taste.
There is another national chain, Caribou, that I has its own problems but at least the coffee does not taste burnt. Its not snobbery if its true.
Jay B.
@Gin & Tonic:
I’m talking about tastes. The craft beer movement owes a lot to Sam Adams (and has far, far outstripped it). Starbucks helped popularize much better coffee while not being the best coffee roaster or having the best beans, they are still much better than what came before. Sam Adams has helped revolutionize the American beer industry which, in turn, has created a market for MUCH better beers than what was available even 15 years ago. While the scale is obviously different, Starbucks and Sam Adams are two large to monumentally huge brand names that actually offer consumers something better than what existed previously.
Maxwell House and Bud haven’t gone out of business (and certainly the latter would think of SA’s sales as a rounding error), but, thankfully, there are options for people with taste buds.
maurinsky
I can drink coffee from pretty much anywhere, but that’s mostly because I don’t like coffee much except as a means to deliver cream and sugar into my system.
EIGRP
@PurpleGirl: I think Finger Lakes Coffee Roasters in Pittsford brews Jamaican Blue Mountain once a month. You can get a cup for a regular price, not the high price of buying JBM beans.
I purchased Bruegger’s coffee club keytag ($170 maybe) back in November. It is free coffee, iced coffee and fountain drinks until DECEMBER 2012 I am way ahead of the game and always go to them for coffee now (since it’s free). I’ve had more coffee in the last 4.5 months than I did all of last year I think.
With summer almost here it will be time to switch to iced coffee. I like their hazelnut, regular and iced.
At home I’ve been brewing Wegman’s hazelnut and vanilla coffee together. Strangely enough, to tie this back into Starbucks, we have their Barista coffee machine and it is the best coffee maker we have ever had. Bar none!
Eric
BH
Yes, John. All of us who go to Starbucks are foolish dupes with no taste whatsoever. We just enjoy wasting money on beverages that taste horrible. You figured it out. Our vast conspiracy has unraveled.
Heliopause
Don’t know if you remember this one but some gun fanatics chose Starbucks as the place to make their point about open carry laws. You need to look at this from a broader perspective; Starbucks carries the same symbolism for conservative fanatics as the World Trade Center did for al Qaeda jihadists.
gerry
John, Since I think you may be a do-it-yourself esthete, try getting some unroasted beans and roasting them in air poppers from Goodwill. The poppers don’t last too long (I hear…I don’t do this myself) since the beans produce a lot of oil and chaff, but you can experiment yourself and get good results. It’s faster than homebrew also, too.
Cheers
AA+ Bonds
Hahahaha what the shit
BOYCOTT ALL POPULAR THINGS YOU GUYS, ALSO VOTE FOR REPUBLICANS
AA+ Bonds
These people are from fucking Mars
Stella Barbone
Actually, I’ve fallen in love with Starbucks new “blond roast”. It replaces my 8 O’Clock. They’re not an evil company. I have several patients who get health insurance from Starbucks which is one of the rare providers in the restaurant industry.
AA+ Bonds
Popularity fading fast for a position? Boycott of an even more popular business will FIX THAT RIGHT THE FUCK UP
or, you know, everyone will lazily side with all the shit they already sort of support and against you
I fully understand these people’s fascist personal beliefs but their campaign director must be some one-eyed TV-degree hustler turning his skim into lines of meth
AA+ Bonds
For what it’s worth I know someone who lived in Chapel Hill and worked at Starbucks of all coffee shops around there for the health insurance
Then again the workers don’t own the company so it’s exploitation by definition, there is after all a cooperative a few miles the road that also has a coffee bar
Jess
Great. Now I’m going to have to start going to Starbucks. Grrrr…
Crusty Dem
nexusunderscoretexus42122 at the yahoomonster. It’s my dummy spam email, but I also check it. Which I guess makes me a dummy. Dammit.
S. cerevisiae
This stuff fucking rocks and it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than Kona
Jay C
Stella Barbone @ #100:
I hear you about S’buck ‘s new “blonde” roasts – I had been getting bored with the usual, and the new ones are actually pretty decent. Not that that alone will redeem the franchise IMHO; I’ve never been one to believe much in the redemptive qualities of victimhood, but I will admit that hearing of NOM’s latest commercial jihad made me want to run down to one of the overly-abundant Starbucks in the neighborhood and overpay for a coffee just on general principles.
YellowJournalism
So I don’t have to feel guilty about that caramel frap I had, even though it’s going straight to my hips. Cool.
And I want to shout out to the Daily Grind espresso stands in Pullman, WA. I miss it even after all these years! That coffee started out each of my cross-state drives home during the college years and helped me through many a stressful cram session.
SectarianSofa
@Amanda in the South Bay:
I have seen a Bible Study group in a starbucks — but it was that kind of neighborhood.
priscianusjr
SectarianSofa
Can’t drink Starbuck’s coffee straight — have to add some cream[1] to it. So I can see why NOM says they are encouraging queery queerness. Also, coffee adulteration. Also, the coffee’s black, and then I add some white stuff to it, which I can see now is Against Nature and Wrong.
[1]: (well, soymilk, actually — but it’s creamy),
Mnemosyne
@TooManyJens:
It partly depends on when you get there, but they started introducing some fun snack-sized pastries, like tiny brownies and cake pops.
They have pretty good lunch plates — they have one with chicken, a mini pita, veggies and hummus that’s 7 Points+ for the whole thing (under 300 calories for you non-Weight Watchers people).
SectarianSofa
You guys don’t hand-roast your own beans? Coffee snob fail.
Also, note that using a French press will fuck up your cholesterol. Assuming you use it for coffee.
This is actual science I got from the googles.
priscianusjr
@priscianusjr:
Scuffletuffle
@cbear: You were on fire there!
AnotherBruce
Really, fuck you Cole, take that weak brown shit that you drink and stuff it down your throat. I likes me coffee strong and black and bitter. Go back to Folger’s (Its de richest kind!) Which is what you were probably drinking before Starbucks made coffee shops viable again. Ignorant east coast motherfucker.
jhaygood
maybe this has been covered, but DAMN that kona coffee site is the most anxiety inducing thing i’ve seen. seriously, it’s totally overwhelming, it’s like a dr. bronner’s bottle on, well, coffee. i finally found where to buy something and i think i saw it was $25 a pound and i just gave up. i bet they’re very nice people! but wow…
Tom Hilton
@Vanya:
Yes, it’s better than average…for the United States as a whole. But “better than average” for the benighted hellholes that make up most of this pathetic country is way below average for the Bay Area.
Me, I’m not gonna lower my standards to those of the yahoos. Starbucks sucks, period.
Bruce S
Most Starbucks have accessible bathrooms.
That is reason enough to thank God for their presence in most urban environments. There’s better coffee, but there’s a lot more that’s a lot worse. Some folks out here in the Bay Area where there are many venerable and upstart caffeine options, hate Peets, which is crazy. They think it tastes “burnt.” But then there’s no accounting for taste. (I pretty much only drink straight double espressos and hate shit like milk, sugar or flavoring in my coffee.)The point of this post could have been best focused on the fact that Starbucks is taking shit for doing the right thing in this instance.
The weirdest thing I’ve noticed about Starbucks recently was that the average age of the artists whose CDs they were featuring was something like 72. That’s not hyperbolic. Leonard Cohen, McCartney and The Chieftans. Maybe 72 is low-balling it. Seemed odd.
Bruce S
If you want to order fine coffee online, this is the place:
http://www.graffeo.com/
Jebediah
For those of you who want to patronize Starbucks to piss off Maggie Nom Nom but think the coffee tastes burnt or too strong, try an americano – to my palate, it seems much smoother than their brewed coffee. A tall with an extra shot is nice. And if you do so at the Culver City Starbucks I will happily let you pet Otto and/or Juno. (Not you, Veritas. My dogs did not appreciate that “fuck the poor” crack. And they’re suspicious of Romney supporters to begin with.)
Montarvillois
My reason for avoiding Starbucks? Joe Scarborough.
someofparts
The Kona coffee sounds wonderful, but the prices alone make my blood pressure shoot up, so I guess there’s no need for the coffee itself.