That has to be bate! I'm not biting.
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I'm not a Starbucks sales person, but I believe they could compete with any coffee offered in Europe. I'm not sure when I ordered a cup of Coffee Americana (Italy), why I got a cup of coffee? Would that be a particular blend or the fact that I got a cup of coffee vs espresso? It also seemed no one took their coffee to go. Along the highway everyone (most) seemed to drink their coffee in the gas stations.
Sorry to disagree with you but I'm with Shrink (post quoted below). Starbucks may look good, and have masterful marketing, but their coffee just doesn't cut it for me; the quality, flavour, depth are all lacking - actually, it is
insipid, the very worst thing a good coffee should be. No, for coffee, Starbucks are over-rated, and under-powered.....actually, I heartily wish they were better, and served better coffee, as I have friends who (knowing I like coffee) keep suggesting meeting in such places, looking confused and lost when I suggest little Italianate coffee shops instead.......
And no, they could not compete 'with any coffee offered in Europe'; if anything, the opposite - they serve some of the very worst coffee in Europe, unfortunately, especially when compared with the real coffee drinking cultures of Europe.
Re the gas stations in Italy, when I first saw (and experienced that - i.e. the quality of the coffee and espresso on sale and the fact that many drank their coffee in such places), it blew me away completely.
You can tell a lot about a society by looking at how they deal with mundane, everyday matters, what they consider acceptable, and what those who patronise them expect by way of available goods and service. In Italy, basic gas stations offer excellent coffee and expresso (which is why many Italians can be seen drinking coffee there) and this is a standard which is accepted and expected in that country.
Moreover, in Italy, the gas stations had the sort of espresso, dried pasta, passata, olive oil - and so on - for sale that you will normally find in a decent deli elsewhere in western Europe. I was stunned. To Italians, this was the most basic standard that they would accept.
Personally, I love the idea of a society where the ordinary, everyday things - cups, coffee, coffee pots, to use topical (to this thread) examples, - are so beautifully designed as to be both very attractive (and often tactile, too) and extraordinarily functional. And I love that design nirvana of a fusion of form and function for ordinary things (for any fool with an inflated budget and innate good taste can design stuff that only the wealthy can afford) that you find in countries such as Italy, Denmark, and even (a different aesthetic), Japan, where what is used in everyday life is elevated to an art form, and respected as such. That is cultured, civilised living in my book.
I must respectfully disagree about Starbucks' coffee, at least when it comes to the straight espresso.
I have only had espresso at Starbucks a couple of time, and have not been impressed with the quality of the espresso. Most recently, about a week ago, I had 20 minutes ti kill, so I went to my local Starbucks for a double shot. I found the espresso to be lacking in intensity and flat. No depth or complexity, just a weak, flat drink.
As always, this is purely a matter of personal taste.
And, again, my friend, I'm in complete agreement with you here.