Hyperbole aside, the coffee's actually tasty. Unfortunately, we had to have a two hour (unpublicized, this time) meeting to discuss the Pike Place blend and how we will brew it. For various reasons, I've put in my notice and am quitting soon.

@transgenic_mouse: Interesting!

But: Why would new beans take two hours to learn to brew? Seems like you could use the same techniques as before.

@Ryan Tate: Dude learn to parse, he said the meeting was to discuss the new blend (and all its subtleties) and then also how to brew it. Unto which I say AWESOME. Because Starbucks coffee tastes burnt and a new brewing technique would be greatly appreciated.

@Ryan Tate: Also please don't ban me for being bitchy. I was having a moment. And the spelllllllcheck is down. So. yeah.

And I am sodrunk.

@azi: Seems like "not burned" could be conveyed in approximately 5 seconds! But I guess the cashiers need to be able to really SELL it.

Isn't Pike Place best known for the fishmongers who throw salmon back and forth? Sounds tasty to me!

Okay, so the company's stock is stuck in the crapper and the corporate response is to serve some halfway decent quality java? I am missing something here. Didn't crappy, burnt coffee build the Starbucks empire? Schultz has gone mad.

@Ryan Tate: I see your point, Ryan. But consider the average interaction between barista and neurotic American coffee addict. The average joe-junkie is insanely finicky about every single little detail about his/her morning swill, down to how to exactly position the heat cuff. I have no doubt there will be more than a few hissy fits as princesses discover a pea, or lack of one, under the mattress.

@SarahHeartburn: Forgot to finish that. So I think a 2-hour seminar in how to handle hysterical obsessives overwhelmed by small changes in the brew is not excessive at all.

@SarahHeartburn: ur right, 4 surely ***someone*** liked the way it used 2 taste

the horror!

No, you're getting it wrong. They already had several different types of lighter-roasted coffee and Nooooooooooobody bought them. No. Bo. Dy. As if_i_only_had_a_heart said, somebody's been buying their regular Full City Roast all this time. (7 years of Starbucks speaking here; I eventually escaped). This is PR.

The barista may have drunk the Full City Roasted kool-aid, but s/he's right about the whole buying-from-the-little-guy thing. Starbucks takes a lot of crap that Nestle deserves instead.

And FYI Howard Schultz is a sweet, sweet guy. Oh, god, I must be PMSing. Snark to resume in three...two...

Let's word associate a moment. Pike...let's see..oh yeah! Impale on a pike ala Vlad. Fabulous! I'll have a new coffee from Starbucks that will generate serious intestinal rumblings like a huge wooden pike being rammed up my rear. Possibly driven by horses. Yes! I'll take 2 please. Then the Starbucks head honchos can sit around determining how best to brew my freshly spilt type O+.

@transgenic_mouse: do you really even brew the coffee? Starbucks is the epitome of workplace automation.

@azi: I'm thinking of all the people who won't even notice, because they put no-sugar vanilla and latte and peppermint in it. Wait, maybe that's why they put all that shit in it.

@Stark_pigeon: That's a key point; it's why Starbucks has slid from being seen as a premium coffee bar to just another fast-food place. The automated bars they put in not only isolate the barista from the customers and dehumanize both sides in an ugly Orwellian way, but they also put a ceiling on the quality of the shots. Simply put, the espresso is less often bad, but it is never great. It can't be great. And it used to be. I worked with one fellow who had the magic touch at the bar and I'd deliberately wait till he was on bar to order an espresso drink.

It's that whole risk avoidance vs greatness thing. They chose predictable and ordinary over their own standards, and THAT is why its seen as just another fast food place. Well, that and the freaking egg mcmuffin with whipped cream and sprinkles crap they serve now. I mean, please.

@TedSez: Eeeeew. Fish coffee. Tastes like salt, and a bit scaly.

Also, "To us, coffee is a goal, and a dream." Get the feeling Mr. Schultz would've timed this to the 40th anniversary of MLK's assasination if he could've gotten away with it? Nothing would surprise me from those sanctimonious fuckers.

Starbucks should get some credit for realizing that coffee and espresso drinkers are growing increasingly more discriminating in the U.S. As artisan coffee operations like Intelligentsia in Chicago and Gimme! Coffee in New York continue to grow in influence, chains like Starbucks and Caribou will continue to lose their luster unless they make strong efforts to improve the quality of their drinks.

I've always thought Starbucks did a decent job brewing coffee--it's their espresso drinks that bit it.

Also, I noticed that the old twin-tailed siren was back on the cups this morning.

Geez, people. Just get yourselves a $15 French press. It will make you happy.

I'm giving points for efforts to change. I'm neutral when it comes to Starbucks, but at least they are trying to solve their problems. Many companies would raise prices and cut portions and staff and cross their fingers.

Our long national nightmare is finally over.

Also, "alot" is two words, not one, brainwashed baristabot.

Starbucks: for medicinal purposes only.

Maybe I'll be able to buy it for the taste now.

If the coffee is still overpriced, then it still sucks. I'll continue to stop by Dunkin Donuts, thankyouverymuch

@SarahHeartburn: "Heat Cuff"-ha!

@TedSez: I stood in front of the fish throwers at Pike Place just the other day. It reminded me of Thanksgiving Dinner when I was growing up. The original Starbucks store is cute. I genuflected.

On behalf of all of Seattle I apologize for Starbucks. (not that we even drink that garbage). You can come after us for reparations later!

@belltolls: Assuming you are Seattle-based, is it true that the Coffee Messiah is gone? I'll treasure my 'Caffeine Saves' t-shirt all the more.

Starbucks set up a booth at Bryant Park and is giving away samples of the new coffee. It tastes good! Just how the guy in the coffee cart across the street blends it.

@WideStanceRomancer: Working here for 30-90 more days (depending) but I can tell you people here are apeshit for coffee. I am surprised they don't gnaw on beans during meetings.

CM: I am told it is gone as well as any memories you may have of Cap Hill being urban pioneering.

Maybe they're just brewing it wrong, but I had some this morning, and hooboy was it weak.

@belltolls: I fully expected Seattle's obsession with coffee was a myth until I saw the many drive-up espresso stands no larger than a Fotomat along the highways for buzz bumps on the go. Too bad about Coffee Messiah, their Disco Inferno bathroom was a revelation.

"To us, coffee is a goal, and a dream"... Uh, yeah. I guess this explains why they are so bad at making an actual cup of it...

Had this today, because it was after two and my only options for brewed coffee were new coffee regular or new coffee decaf. I put milk in it and it tasted like hot water with milk. ick!!

@belltolls:

There is no coffee god but Vivace.

No amount of barista training will help if the beans are over-roasted to begin with...but having said that, my patronage of Starbucks has always been more about the atmosphere of their stores than the taste of the coffee.

I also used to think their "bold brew of the day" was toe-curlingly strong, and then I moved to Sweden.

"Its about the farmers as well. We help their children eat, and the farmers take great joy into working with us."

It's about punctuation and correct word usage.

Change? The Pike Place blend is something Starbucks releases every year like clockwork. At least in the Seattle area.

Talk about an attention whore.