Ah, Starbucks!

[Annie]

I am a coffee fiend, I admit it. I drink way too much of the stuff. Because of that, I tend to like weak coffee, which Starbucks is not. However, my excercise regime includes a 2 mile walk to Starbucks at least 3 times a week. I usually get an 'iced coffee', black-regular stuff. Cheap as Starbucks can be. Now the lattes are about 75% more expensive, imagine doing that on credit! :fifty:

Think about it, $4000 in Starbucks over 10 years! That could seriously impact what career choices you make:


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/17/AR2005061701226.html?nav=rss_nation

Javanomics 101: Today's Coffee Is Tomorrow's Debt
The Latte Generation Hears a Wake-Up Call

By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 18, 2005; A01

SEATTLE -- At a Starbucks across the street from Seattle University School of Law, Kirsten Daniels crams for the bar exam. She's armed with color-coded pens, a don't-mess-with-me crease in her brow and what she calls "my comfort latte."

She just graduated summa cum laude , after three years of legal training that left her $115,000 in debt. Part of that debt, which she will take a decade to repay with interest, was run up at Starbucks, where she buys her lattes.

The habit costs her nearly $3 a day, and it's one that her law school says she and legions like her cannot afford.

It borders on apostasy in this caffeine-driven town (home to more coffee shops per capita than any major U.S. city, as well as Starbucks corporate headquarters), but the law school is aggressively challenging the drinking habits of students such as Daniels.

"A latte a day on borrowed money? It's crazy," said Erika Lim, director of career services at the law school.

To quantify the craziness, Lim distributes coffee-consumption charts. One shows that a five-day-a-week $3 latte habit on borrowed money can cost $4,154, when repaid over 10 years. She also directs students to a Web site she helped create. The "Stop Buying Expensive Coffee and Save Calculator" ( http://www.hughchou.org/calc/coffee.cgi ) shows that if you made your own coffee and for 30 years refrained from buying a $3 latte, you could save $55,341 (with interest)...

 

[5stringJeff]

Anyone in western WA who goes to Starbucks is either a) a Californian, b) an idiot, or c) both.

Starbucks is the most expensive of any coffee shop anywhere. I don't go to Starbucks locally unless I'm metting someone there, and then I only get drip coffee. For my regular drink (16 oz no-foam latte), Starbucks wants $3.50. The place I go to, which is a locally owned shop, charges $2.00. And between my house and the freeway, a three mile drive, there are no less than 17 places to get a latte. That includes three Starbucks, all within about a square mile of each other, which, for some reason, people keep going to, even though there are other coffee shops (and stands) that are quicker and cheaper. Boggles my mind.

 

[ScreamingEagle]

Anyone in western WA who goes to Starbucks is either a) a Californian, b) an idiot, or c) both.

Starbucks is the most expensive of any coffee shop anywhere. I don't go to Starbucks locally unless I'm metting someone there, and then I only get drip coffee. For my regular drink (16 oz no-foam latte), Starbucks wants $3.50. The place I go to, which is a locally owned shop, charges $2.00. And between my house and the freeway, a three mile drive, there are no less than 17 places to get a latte. That includes three Starbucks, all within about a square mile of each other, which, for some reason, people keep going to, even though there are other coffee shops (and stands) that are quicker and cheaper. Boggles my mind.

I bought a Starbucks Barista for home because the $3 latte grandes (even at my local favorite non-Star coffee shop) were really adding up. It cost about $300 but it paid for itself in about two months months because you can make a 16 oz. latte for about 30 cents. And you can use the coffee of your choice too.

I don't like putting up with egotistical Starbucks coffee clerks that think you must order your latte a certain way. This one guy kept insisting I say grande latte instead of latte grande. I told him there is no way I am going to learn a foreign language just to order a cup of coffee in America. That po'd the euro snot.
:cof:

 

[5stringJeff]

I bought a Starbucks Barista for home because the $3 latte grandes (even at my local favorite non-Star coffee shop) were really adding up. It cost about $300 but it paid for itself in about two months months because you can make a 16 oz. latte for about 30 cents. And you can use the coffee of your choice too.

I don't like putting up with egotistical Starbucks coffee clerks that think you must order your latte a certain way. This one guy kept insisting I say grande latte instead of latte grande. I told him there is no way I am going to learn a foreign language just to order a cup of coffee in America. That po'd the euro snot.
:cof:

I don't have the time to make my own... and the $2 I spend on a latte, while it adds up, is an incredible value.

But I agree... Starbucks baristas/baristos can be pretty stuck up. But I have met a few who are nice.