They do it all the time, ignoring their customers and focusing only on the bottom line (which counter-intuitively is not always good for the bottom line). They have taken other brands on in the past that are unknown or unsuited to Swiss tastes, because they can save a few pennies per unit, and end up with space on a trolley that never turns product over and just sits there, until they have to un-list it six months later, when they then don't replace it with a better selling brand because they got burned on the category already. It's a joke.
I negotiated with them myself, they knew nothing about the retail market and what products were out there, and they had no research about their clients and no criteria for brands other than the purchase price. Look at their own outlets in the train stations, they are always the least busy of various operators- limited selection and often random brands.
I agree in some ways. I didn't say Arabica has less, I said acidity itself is one of the main criteria.
A good blend is a good blend, and can be achieved with a mixture of the two or wholly Arabica, IMO. My favorites tend to turn out to be 100% Arabica, but that's just my own personal preference.
Tastes aside, I can't really see anyone defending Starbuck's coffee from a quality stand point, not at least as quality is understood in the industry.
I believe Italy is generally recognised to have the best coffee in the world and the fact that there are no Starbucks in Italy tells us something about how good Starbucks is.
They also hire the cheapest staff they can get and don't give them adequate training. So the minbar guy on the train will either ignore you, slipping past quietly when you're looking the other way, or pester you to exhuastion, but rarely meet the right tone in the middle. I think they don't ask their staff to report back on customer reactions either, so they don't have a clue what people ask for that they don't have, and when something isn't selling they don't notice until they see it in their books at end of the quarter.
The type of tree the bean came from is an indication that it was subsequently roasted properly and used promptly??
As the other poster said - 60% of global production is Arabica and 40% is Robusta. Just makes me smile that either term is used as a badge of exclusivity
No, it's as if you are trying to misunderstand me. I said as long as it is roasted properly and used fresh it will probably make a good cup of coffee, hence the word 'if'.
The fact that a company is using these more expensive beans IS probably an indication that they are taking care to make a good product, though.
Apologies - I misread it on your first post (tiny screen) - sorry
I think I'm just allergic to this masturbatory tone that coffee lovers sometimes share with wine bores - its just a freakin' beverage. It hasn't been squeezed from the horn of a baby unicorn and filtered through the stockings of Costa Rican virgins. Either you like it or you don't. How the hell people can criticise others for their choice of coffee outlet is amazing to me...Its a subjective thing, not objective
Can't stand Starbucks coffee and their huge thick mugs- but hey ho, each to his/her own.
At a tangent though, many people in the UK are currently boycotting Starbucks for choosing to pay (much lower) taxes in CH and none in the UK. Does anyone know where Starbucks CH pay taxes to - the Cayman Islands??
Costa on the other hand seem to be paying fair taxes in the UK - and their coffee is marginally better.
To be honest I couldn't care about the tax situation. When in the UK I've given up with finding decent coffee, and will just hit the first place that can give me a relatively high caffeine hit.
While I tend to be less fussy about coffee in the UK I do draw the line at certain points, one of which is that 20 year old jar of Red Mountain that still lurks in my mothers kitchen, and bless her, she still can't understand why I'd want to drink coffee at one of these "posh" places.
Well, as a whisky snob, I reserve the right to disdain any non-single malt as, yes, every taste is individual, but there is a difference between a peaty malt and jet fuel...but I suppose someone has to drink the jet fuel to leave the good stuff for those that appreciate it.
With coffee, though, if you ever get a chance to have coffee in Turkey or, say, Tunisia, you may just find religion in a beverage as every other cup of coffee you ever have will be measured by the amazing quality. I still think about the coffee in North Africa and I'm not even a coffee snob.
Being a coffee pleb, moi, I can drink anything with enough milk to not make my stomach hurt. And Starbucks was at the time the only place to change a baby, in a decently cleaned toilet. So, yay for that and their cheesecake. Their coffee is ok, but their baristas often kill it. It tastes better at home.
Yeah....i used to think I was a whisky specialist, but fell out of love with it when I visited a flavour company. Don't push me for details if you enjoy the mystique of it, but my magic fell away then.
Don't get me wrong....I enjoy good coffee....I was on Java two weeks ago drinking coffee as the Javanese do.....but some of the opinions here reek of snobbishness. If you enjoy Starbucks or Nescafe instant, it doesnt mean you know nothing. Just your tastes are different
Do not forget that quite a lot of coffee served in Turkey, on Cyprus and in the Arab World is "filter coffee". At the other hand, many Italian coffees are really good.
Starbucks coffee is too expensive but good. Sure, Starbucks already was anti-smoking before the bans came into effect. Smokers who wanted to drink outside got and get it in paper cups, while normal people get it in the nice real cups.
Starbucks only had to close its outlet in Zürich-Altstetten where they were offmarket due to their prices.
The best about Starbucks is that since they arrived here, the coffee in most places has become clearly better. Do not forget that the coffee machine often is more important than the stuff you use.
I don't know whether this has been discussed here before but apparently, SBB and Starbucks are teaming up and there will be a pilot launched on 2 trains (St.Gallen - Geneva), where you'll be able to purchse Starbucks beverages and snacks. I welcome such an implementation but would like to see such Starbucks counters on more than just 2 trains.