Coffee Nomad

This just in: Starbucks has recently changed their official policy about brewing coffee… baristas are now required to throw out and remake their brewed coffee every 24 minutes.  My initial reaction to this news is to feel sorry for Starbucks baristas who now have to throw away and remake the regular brewed coffee at least 100 times a day (in addition to their already hectic schedule).  My second reaction: Does this mean that, if I loiter in a Starbucks lobby for a little over twenty minutes, then I might get a cup of free coffee (since they were going to throw it away anyway)?

From a psychological perspective this new policy means that Starbucks is still striving to be the best.  They will throw away twice as much coffee as before if that’s what it takes!

Seriously, though, let this alteration in Starbucks corporate policy reminds us of the fact that Starbucks has probably done more than any other company in American history to increase our appreciation for coffee.  Of course this mindset has wavered between appreciation and snobbery, a phenomenon engineered by Starbucks masterminds to justify their exorbitant pricing.  But still, I grudgingly admit, they have transformed me from thinking of coffee as a tool for getting work done to something that should be savored… as well as a tool for getting work done.

But let’s also not forget that maxim, that you get what you pay for.  Ten years ago I would have never imagined myself paying two to four dollars for any drink, let alone coffee.  Now, in my new enlightened state of mind, I have to make a deliberate effort to choke down the coffee I once drank on a regular basis.

So I will continue with my love-hate relationship with Starbucks–that faded symbol of prosperity, faded from green to brown.  I will continue to drop in for the occassional chai or maybe a iced venti white chocolate mocha.  Though, I don’t love Starbucks as I did before, yet this company will always hold a special place in my heart as my first coffee love.