Yes. Even before I moved to the Seattle area I had coworkers that came in every day with their double expresso mocha latte or whatever.
Every day, a double tall non-fat. One for my S.O. too.
Stop by a little drive through espresso place on the way to work.
$5.40 per day plus tip.
Why?
I work in a coffee shop and a TON of people get a drink or multiple drinks every single day. Often lattes.
It may sound douchey, but it’s just adding a little milk and sugar. For some people it gets them through the day at the office (and costs the same as the ‘real’ coffee and donut others are having, especially since it is basically breakfast). For people who work at home, it gives them an excuse to get out of the house.
Me too, though it’s a walk-up. Medium non-fat latte, every day. And a large for the S.O.
Every workday I have at least 1 latte maybe two from the Starbucks in my job or the better coffee shop next door. It’s part of my morning routine. Get into work and check e-mail to make sure there are no emergencies and then head out for my first smoke of the day and get a coffee on the way.
ETA: Cost of large latte = €2.20
I’ll admit I do the latte thing 5 days a week. Espresso, sugar-free vanilla syrup and skim milk. Since I don’t eat breakfast this gets me through to lunch.
Yes, it’s an $80/month expense but my monthly expenses are less than many people I know. I have no monthly cellphone expense, I’ve been driving a paid off car for the past 4 years so I have no car payment, I drive a Corolla less than 4 miles a day so my monthly gasoline expense is minimal, etc.
So I can’t really relate to my co-workers who drive their 2008 SUVs 25 miles to work with their I-phones and blackberries then comment “How do you afford a latte every-single-day? Must be nice.”
My personal expense is lower, but none less excessive. I can easily go through half a 12 pack of soda in a day (diet, I don’t want those calories). This is nothing though, because before I got married and had a woman tell me I need to control it, I would drink a 24 pack on a saturday (only if I had a glass with ice though, drinking out of the can takes longer for some reason).
In my experience it does highly correlate to living and/or working in an urban setting or having access (because your suburban office building has one). I now live in the burbs and work in the burbs - and a run to get a latte involves a stop in the car - its a rare thing. And for the people I work with its a rare thing
When I worked downtown and their was a coffee shop (of whatever type, often a Starbucks) in the lobby of the building, I drank a lot more of them and for many people it was a daily habit. The smokers would take a break about ten and huddle outside the building, the coffee drinkers would go get frou frou drinks at Starbucks.
Why? It’s just coffee with milk in it.
Wawa is the reason I drink coffee at all. Their french vanilla cappuccinos are reason enough to live. They don’t have a latte bar per se, but their machines do some damn fine specialty coffee drinks.
I guess technically, but when I think of a latte, I think of what people around me tend to get, which is some sugared up bit with sprinkles and whipped cream. Basically, liquid candy, and drinking one or two of these a day seems a bit excessive.
That makes a bit more sense. I just get coffee and steamed skim milk in my latte.
That might be what you think of, but it isn’t what most daily latte drinkers are probably going after on the way to work. The word latte has been corrupted a bit.
Ditto. All I want is something a bit stronger than coffee (espresso) and some protein (milk). No whipped cream, no sprinkles, no cookie crumbles or chocolate/carmel stripes. They do make those “dessert” type drinks but a basic latte isn’t one of them.
I shit you not, this sounds exactly like what someone was drinking at work yesterday. I asked her, “Are you *drinking *an ice cream sundae?” She informed me that the pile of brown liquid with whipped cream, chocolate chips, caramel and chocolate swirls was a latte. The thought of consuming that makes my stomach hurt.
I usually get two XL Tim Hortons coffees most workdays… cost-wise, it’s not that much more than one regular-sized latte.
I did try to bring coffee from home for a while, but since I ride public transit during rush hour, carrying anything in my hands is just asking for trouble, especially a container full of hot liquid (my morning commute could be likened to squishing myself into a sardine can for 15 minutes).
I figure the cost of dealing with perpetual coffee stains would be far more expensive than my $3.50/day habit.
I drink my coffee unsweetened, so none of their specialty drinks work for me. It continually surprises me (though it shouldn’t) when I go somewhere to get a coffee beverage and find that either the default is sweetened or that unsweetened isn’t even an option. I’m obviously not counting anything with a specialty name in this, just a plain latte or iced coffee.
A latte in Starbucks, no, but tons of coffees from the machine at work, or breakfast of “a pastry and a café con leche in a bar” rather than the same at home, or breakfast from McD’s instead of at home… yes, I know quite a few people. The first two cases are from Spain, the last ones American.