Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by lu on September 18, 2008 at 3:09am

i must admit mike that starbucks has at least taught people that caps and lattes do take a bit of time to prepare. for every bad side there has to be a good!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by lu on September 18, 2008 at 3:10am

true , true.


Jonathan Meadows said:

We give Starbucks a lot of crap, but small business coffee shops do owe a lot to Starbucks. Starbucks paved the way, so to speak. I'm not saying I like their product, but I do respect their business. Also, if they didn't burn their coffee, they would fail to have a consistent tasting drink at every location. Many uneducated coffee consumers just want their drink to taste the same every time, and will most likely just ad cream and sugar to the drink...

In an ideal world, there would be no Starbucks and the average consumer would be into fine micro-roasted coffee.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dan Dean on September 18, 2008 at 11:40am

Starbucks has certainly opened the door for many independents. Thanks to many of the talented and unselfish professionals on this site and to those commited to educating new owners and inturn their customers - we can take advantage of the opportunity and make a go at it. I know I, as an owner, have a long way to go, and I am appreciative of those who share their wisdom to help this recovering journalist live out his second dream. We serve fresh micro-roasted coffee and are building our customer base daily - educating them as we educate ourselves. My wife and I are looking forward to our first barista jam in October - thanks to JP's Coffee Bar in Holland, Michigan.
Thanks again, to all the great information being shared ... and hopefully we are rewarding our customers with superior quality - who took a chance on one small indie - and who will forever more - turn their backs on the "mermaid" ...

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Joe Smith on September 18, 2008 at 1:41pm

You took the words right out of my mouth
Stephen said:

Since I recently got into the specialty coffee business I see these same blogs about every 2 months. What you have to understand is the majority of those here in the U.S. dont have an understanding nor the education for good coffee, sugar and milk tastes good, no argument there. But let me add this, do you all visit specialty wine shops? Do we all have the same understanding and education about wine like we do coffee? Same with coffee; so not knowing the difference a year ago, I took interest to it and now i have a decent understanding.

Ruth Chris serves great steaks but so do small privately owned steakhouses...

I believe we should continue, one person at a time to edcuate those who dont understand coffee then serve them the best cup of coffe they've ever had!!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Nikola Niki Zotic on September 18, 2008 at 4:30pm

Mandy said:

To Lu, I agree with you completely on what you were saying. I refuse to drink any coffee from McDonalds and places like that because I know that it's not quality. I mean I was in a cruise recently in July up in Alaska and I've never had such a hard time finding a decent and local coffee shop. Whenever we were at a port, first thing I would do is find the local coffee. The majority of people don't know coffee and are too blind to see where the good stuff is.

In Juneau,there is a Coffee Shop called "Heritage".They have their house coffe blend and well trained Baristas!!!I think,that is the best coffee in Alaska!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by lu on September 18, 2008 at 10:42pm

i totally understand what you're saying. myself (a graphic designer) and my husband (a sound engineer) are very new to the coffee business, but thankfully we are managing to pass on our little knowledge with a lot of passion to our staff. one, especially, has taken everything onboard and more so. he is looking forward to entering his first barista competition next year.

it's a domino effect. you love what you do and believe in what you're serving, thats passed onto the staff which is then passed onto our customers. and 'word of mouth' is the best advertising!

Dan Dean said:

Starbucks has certainly opened the door for many independents. Thanks to many of the talented and unselfish professionals on this site and to those commited to educating new owners and inturn their customers - we can take advantage of the opportunity and make a go at it. I know I, as an owner, have a long way to go, and I am appreciative of those who share their wisdom to help this recovering journalist live out his second dream. We serve fresh micro-roasted coffee and are building our customer base daily - educating them as we educate ourselves. My wife and I are looking forward to our first barista jam in October - thanks to JP's Coffee Bar in Holland, Michigan.
Thanks again, to all the great information being shared ... and hopefully we are rewarding our customers with superior quality - who took a chance on one small indie - and who will forever more - turn their backs on the "mermaid" ...

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next ›
• Page