Um, you know, kabbes has already mentioned that you can get plain black coffee at Starbucks. You can just get other stuff too.
–John
Yeah, but it doesn’t taste as good as the stuff from the diner across the street that comes in one of those blue-and-white cardboard Grecian-motif “It’s a Pleasure to Serve You” cups.
There should be a service charge for any coffee order complex enough to require written instructions.
I’m always sympathetic to the baristas, and I often have to tell BF to chill when it’s busy. Lately, though, I have been avoiding Starbucks
A. because the coffee, which used to be so good a few years ago, tastes different now
B. because of the lines (Have you tried getting into one of the Starbucks in Dupont Circle? It’s brutal!
C. and because of the lack of sitting space.
so now I’ve been giving Xando my java business.
HA! For once my non coffee habits give me a win!
I get hot chocolate. (skim, whipped cream, thanks.) Its just complicated enough to get respect, but not so simple they will ignore it and not “make another pot”.
Mmmm…hot coco…
(Oh and before anyone starts whining, I like skim milk. I’m not being hypocritical with my skim and whipped cream combo. I like both of them. Shush. Thanks.)
As a simple soul who has two modes of coffee (breakfast - triple espresso, rest of day - coffee, black) can anyone tell me where I can a website with a breakdown of the above orders?
Have you seen (or worse, paid) the prices at some of these coffee shops?
When the coffee costs more than a whole breakfast at the local diner, I think we can assume the service charge is factored in. Along with the atmosphere charge, and the attitude charge, and the …
If you want just plain JAVA, Dunkin Donuts gets my vote: $1.40 +/-
Oh, and minty green, my advice is just don’t play their game. I just ask for “large” and let them make the translation. No problem on either side of the counter.
Ain’t that the truth Uke. The best coffee I’ve ever come across is from the “4 in 1 cafe”* - a greasy spoon a good few streets away from the high street in my town. I put it down to never cleaning the coffee maker, myself.
pan
*No, I’ve absolutely no idea what this means.
wireless - but what happens when you ask for “regular” and they interpret that as “small”?
This, sadly, is a bastardisation of language that seems to be near-universal in chain-service joints across the globe.
pan
My buddy, who works in a starbucks in the mall, brings me hot chocolate whenever he’s on a break, free of charge. 
Which is a good thing, because I’ve never been able to dechipher the Starbucks sizing system, let alone any of the other options they fire at you.
Besides, I dont drink coffee.
The same holds true for tea; scrubbing the inside of a teapot is just not a good idea if you want good tea. It takes years to break in a teapot just right. [/Hygiene hijack]
(ps - TwistofFate, there’s no such thing as too much Denis Leary. :D)
Personally, I would prefer a half double decaffeinated half-caf, with a twist of lemon.
You can have too much Denis Leary when you learn his rants and are able to fire them off at will.
Hell, I actually went onto the Internet to find out who Marv Albert is so I could laugh at Mr. Leary’s routine.
"Maple nut fucking crunch. Are you gonna tell me that Juan Valdez is down in Bogota is fielding a field full of Maple nuts? In fact, I’ll bet my left Maple nut that he’s not.
Pull up your pants."
I’ve never done this before, but may I quote you and use this as my sig? That was Brilliant!
If you want good retail coffee, folks, Tim Horton’s beats them all.
I think Starbucks has to sell the complicated coffee because the regular plain coffee there is terrible - probably the worst I’ve ever had in a coffee shop.
OK then, I want a discount every time I order coffee that does NOT require written instructions. I don’t think it’s fair for my coffee price to subsidize other idiots’ labor intensive requests.
I can’t wait for Mc Leary’s to open.
I stopped going to Starbucks long ago. Inept counter staff, incomprehensible menu choices, long lines, and too expensive, not to mention that they over-roast their beans. I’ll take a $1.10 cup of coffee (coffee-flavored, with sugar and half-and-half, please) at the mom-and-pop coffee shop near where I work, thank you.
Have you seen the price of coffee at a Starbucks? That is the the service charge.
Marc
I miss my Dunkin Donuts coffee, none better and at a reasonable price.
It’s too bad we don’t live in demand based economy where you could take your business elsewhere, say, to local cafe where plain black coffee is half the price of Starbuck’s. 'Cause that would solve your dilemma nicely.