The Position Makers

so, there was an interesting piece in the New York Times today. here.

before getting into it, a bit of a back story on me:

i’m a total coffee snob.

i use to work at a coffee shop called Late for the Train in flagstaff, az. i started working there shortly after coming back from germany with adria. there weren’t many prospects for jobs in flagstaff, but she and i were considering opening a restaurant (flagstaff has a very high tourist flow, year round because of its proximity to the grand canyon), so we figured me getting a job in the coffee shop would be a good way to really figure out if that’s what we wanted to do. (we didn’t do it).

that particular coffee shop competes in vegas and other such places for the quality of its beans and the skill of its baristas. i had a first-class education in coffee…truth be told, i geek’d out on it and got books, etc about coffee so i could learn as much as possible. of course, with hightened knowledge comes hightened ego. i was no different.

most people can’t taste the difference between a starbucks coffee, a late for the train coffee, or the local shop around the corner, and that has mostly to do with knowing what to “taste” for. also, most people don’t realize how consistency in coffee should be the key to a great coffee shop. most coffee shops fail at this peice, and fail miserably.

starbucks has great consistency but that’s only because it doesn’t let its employees actually touch the coffee. it’s truly ghastly to me to see someone hitting a button to get my espresso drink (currently, and for the last year or so, i’ve been drinking double espresso’s w/ a splash of hot water…it’s not my favorite drink but it’s definitely the only thing good coming out of starbucks, which dominates the coffee landscape in most situations.)

because i’m such a snob and typically go for double espresso, straight, no whole milk or artificial sweeteners, etc, i have real fear when i venture into a new coffee shop: “will this taste okay? will they make what i want? does the person look like they know what they’re doing?” many questions circulate through my head. i’m admittedly frightened when i see that my shot is taking 40 sec and it’s only now starting ot drip out of the portafilter. (a double espresso should be two ounces, finished within 32 sec but not done before 30sec, unless i ask for it long which should be done around 40sec).

what’s my point?

everything starbucks did to make the business model scalable, killed what it had going for it. people say, “oh it got corprate.” ya think!? it’s now the micky-di’s of coffe land, and we all know the quality of food at mac donald’s…or we should!

on the macdonalds front, they’ve entered into the “java war” (like dunkin’ doughnuts). at first we would think that there’s “no way” those places could compete with starbucks! “no way!” hahaha, but then we realize that starbucks banks on people getting mostly-milk and sugar (vs actual coffee) and see that macdonalds and dunkin’ doughnuts are experts at sugar and fatty-concoctions.

so, in summary, i only drink at starbucks when my options run dry and i would never invest in the company (because the product quality is horrendously poor).

**this is just to say that i wouldn’t invest in it. it’s not to say that the rest of “ignorant masses” won’t shop there. it’s all about sales and starbucks has good sales. it’s just unfortunate that people don’t realize how starbucks has redefined what a coffee drink is. like the carmal macciatto! that’s a latte! not a macchiato. click here to learn about macchiato’s.

for anyone in san francisco, the best place i’ve found is called “blue fog market” on the corner of divisadero and california. simply the best. cafe murano on sutter and steiner is also excellent as it throws back to traditional italian cafes. blue fog just rocks because they have very high quality ingredients and the baristas know what they’re doing (meaning, if the grind needs to change because of weather conditions changing, they actually change the grind and will repull your drinks. what more could a coffee snob ask for?)