It's risen to the top of the list of my all-time favorite headlines...
"Starbucks closes to learn how to make coffee"
Let your coffee cups rejoice!
Today at 5:30 PM, a day that Scott's dearest dream is fullfilled. At that hour, our nation will be - ever so briefly - Starbucks-free. For three hours, our nation will have to order 20oz things as... 20 oz things. No Vente, please, just gimme 20 ounces of sweet nectar of freedom! Yes, they are all closing. For only three hours, alas, but it's a start. Americans will be forced to seek their caffienation elsewhere...
So. WAKE UP AMERICA!!!
There's coffee out there that's... you know... actually good.
Three whole hours where no one will sell you a coffee drink under the name of a different and unrelated coffee drink. Go to a real coffee shop and order a macchiato. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
Take the time to discover that there are places where the beans aren't roasted to nubbins in the interest of removing all trace of regional characteristics so that every cup tastes the same as the last. Coffee isn't supposed to all taste the same! Every cup should be a different experience! The flavors should evoke the flavors of the region, and that region is not Seattle!
Wake up and realize that Starbucks isn't gourmet anything, it's the coffee equivalent of Budweiser or Franzia in a box!
Go out there and spend those three hours exploring the neighborhood, find the small roasters and hard-up locals. Need help? Try the yellow pages. Or go here or here.
Oh... and one more thing. If you happen across anyone claiming they're "Seattle's Best"... keep walking. They're not. Trust me, I live here. They're just one more tentacle of the mermaid, trying to entice you into running aground on the shoals of burnt, characterless coffee beans that lurk under the cool waters of her siren smile.
Keep looking, there's good coffee out there if you're willing to find it.
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2 comments:
espresso macchiato or latte macchiato? i bet not one star$$ employee in a thousand could tell you the difference.
i love your comment about "that region is not seattle"! As I sit and enjoy my own home-roasted sumatra mandheling, i shudder to think what those who have fallen to the Mermaid's siren song think "varietal distinctiveness" is.
in short, if anyone is curious, contact us at coffee (at) enigma22 (dot) com. You'll be glad you did.
--the coffee philosopher
I'll vouch for that.
Amen, brother Chris.
I was surprised to discover just how many Clovers there are in Seattle that were ignored in the NYT article.
Time to go on safari. If you don't hear from me in three days, send in the Marines.
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