starbucks ruules

[David Casseres]

Chris Stolz wrote:
>>I *like* starbucks.  You get reliably excellent coffee there.  Better coffee
>>than at all my local "independent" coffeeshops, who buy beans once a year
>>from unscrupulous traders over the phone and let them get rancid.  They pay
>>their employees better than independent places, too.  What I don't like is
>>all the crap they sell in their stores.

Chris Abraham replies
>I agree with the first part.  but not the second.
>The best part of SB is its great gear!
>The espresso machines are the best although Price-Costco
>has the same for much cheaper!

It all depends on where you live.  Here in the San Francisco Bay area we 
have Peet's, which has MUCH better coffee than Starbucks.  Peet's was 
founded by a Dutchman whom I met once.  I told him I liked Costa Rican 
coffee the best, having been exposed to its aroma at a very young age.  
Mr. Peet got a faraway look in his eye and said "The best Costa Rican 
coffee I ever tasted was in Hamburg... I think it was about 1936."  
That's what Peet's is still like.  Starbucks will never come close.


Cheers,
David