Hi,

To throw in my two bits worth, I travel a fair bit and have had coffee over most of the world. Brazil is probably my best, closely followed by Vienna and parts and of France. I must say that Starbucks is not coffee - I don’t know what it is but it doesn’t even taste like coffee. However it is more palatable than a lot of the stuff dished out in America and maybe that is its appeal. You can pretend youre drinking coffee and at least not being poisoned by the overbrewed bitter offering that is often served. I should add I haven’t been to Seattle and although I think I remember seeing Peets in San Francisco (or somewhere), I haven’t got around to trying it.
Anyway I have nothing against Starbucks, it just isn’t coffee.

Paul

I am not a coffee snob. I like Folgers Hazelnut (the one that’s pre-ground, artificially flavored and difficult to find in many places). That’s all I drink at home and I’m careful to avoid making it too strong. To me, Starbucks coffee, in all flavors, tastes like engine sludge mixed with battery acid. I can’t imagine a more vile substance and there’s NWIH I’d actually pay money for anything that nasty. I can’t speak for Peet’s, I’ve never been there (I don’t think they have any places here in Central Texas) but I can, with complete confidence, say that they need do no more than serve decent coffee to beat Starbucks all hollow. Yeah, that’s just my opinion but it’s one I’ll stand by.

Americans and their coffee.
I can understand why this man is so disappointed with Starbucks coffee. I am from Sweden / Europe and we take coffee very seriously over here. Sweden is the second largest consumer of coffee in the world. I was to Las Vegas for an IT convent. My first breakfast at the hotel was a really bad experience. To eat there was nearly nothing good for you. Fat and sweet products but that is another story. I ordered coffee to my breakfast, and when the waitress served the “coffee” I truly said to her “I am sorry, I asked for coffee not tea”. “It is coffee sir” she said and just left the table. I looked at my friends around the table and we all agreed that fluid in my cup was anything but coffee. Later in that day my body was calling for a really hot strong cup of coffee and my eyes fell on Starbucks. They must have a real cup of coffee I was thinking. I even asked the person behind the disk if it was strong real coffee. “Oh yes, sir” she promised me. Full of expectations to get real coffee at last I took a sip of the coffee I just bought and how disappointed I was. That was not coffee as I will call it. Coffee shall taste coffee and not hot water. I gave up getting a descent cup of coffee the rest of my stay. I will try Peet’s next time. Just one more thing. Why do they ask if I want decaffeinated coffer or not? Why would I have my coffee decaffeinated? The whole point with drinking coffee except for the taste is to get the caffeine kick.

Does Peet’s deliver? Say…to NY? Don’t worry, I avoid starbucks and make my own crappy coffee. I’m thinking of buying my own beans so they are fresh and have some flavor to them.

For the best coffee, go to Puerto Rico. Even the smallest cafes & restaurants have a professional espresso machine and they know how to use them. Some of the best coffee is also grown in Puerto Rico. In the meantime, I’ll stick with Peet’s and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaves. The different coffee joints vary in their ability to brew, so try more than one place. I haven’t tried the new close-by Peet’s yet, but the one in Manhattan Beach is great (and 10 miles from me over surface streets). Peet’s is careful to only use freshly roasted beans, unlike Starbucks.

My sister lives in Guatemala City, and having been there many times, can happily say that I think I finally know what coffee is “supposed” to taste like. Many of her in-laws own their own coffee plantations (and some, amazingly enough, sell their beans to $tarbucks), and I can only say that having a “just picked, just roasted” cup of coffee is nearly orgasmic. I’ve never had anything like it here in the states.

You can tell you are growing older, you are getting mean and ornery! Pretty soon you can join us seniors.

Tom

Thanks Chris,

I now have a come back to all the IT caffeine snobs in my office who think flashing a Starbucks gives them status quo. Me, I just chuckle at them. No one does coffee like Peets! Although I’ve heard Dunkin Doughnut’s coffee has a caffeine high to die for. LOL.

We’ve been drinking Peet’s coffee since they opened their first store at the corner of Walnut & Vine in Berkeley. We buy their beans, grind them at home & make our own wonderful coffee. We also purchase beans from another local coffee roaster as well. I’m with Chris: Starucks beverage is hot brown liquid, it’s not coffee. I tried Starbucks coffee once and it was awful!

WHOA… Peets fanboys are to coffee, as Apple Fanboys are to computers. Sensitive to a fault. Dare question MY favorite and you are a blasphemer!

I worked in SF for 20 years, during the great coffee wars. Where I worked (Montgomery and Bush) there were 2 Starbucks, 2 Peets, a Tullys, a Cable Car (literally a cart, tucked between 2 buildings), a Torrefazione Italian, and numerous sandwich shops with an espresso maker, within a one block walking distance. As usual, the Peets fans were the loudest and most vocal. I think they have an inferiority complex. Probably has something to do with Howard Schultz having left Peets to start Starbucks, and becoming so successful.

Coffee lovers, realized that the coffee stores had different strengths. Peets had a selection, but like any store that tries to do too much, unless you were there first thing in the morning, when they were busy, the coffee could be old, and rancid. Starbucks was the best for espresso drinks. Probably because they were fanatical about keeping their espresso machine clean. For dark, rich, robust coffee, Torrefazione was the best. Torrefazione also had the best croissants, all the rest seemed to buy them in bags so they were soft and doughy. Tullys was… OK, as long as you got there when they were busy and the coffee was fresh. Those sweet milkshake like drinks, are better at Dairy Queen, and do not appeal to real coffee lovers. They are for people who really don’t like coffee.

Sadly, I left SF in 2002, and now live in the desert southwest. The local coffee chain here is called “Mountain Mudd”, so you see what I am up against now. Happily, my daughter bought me a good espresso machine several years ago, and I can get my fix by making my own. I also understand that Starbucks acquired Torrefazione a couple of years ago, so I don’t know if they are still around or, if they are, what their quality is today. I do know that being a fanboy bigot, only deprives you of opportunity and choice. So, unless you own a Peets franchise, or have a majority position in Peets stock, get out of the pulpit, and taste the world. You might find that Mountain Mudd is eminently quaffable!

I completely agree with the other Paul (1st commenter above). We have a Starbucks kiosk in a local mall and, as I walked by, a customer carrying a cup of Starbucks (coffee?) was muttering about having to pay over $3 for a gallon of gas. I asked: But you don’t mind paying $50 a gallon for that crud you’re drinking?

For myself, I buy my coffee from a local roaster, have it ground course and prepare it in a French press allowing it to steep for 6 minutes before pressing it down slowly. The beans come from Sulawesi. It’s the most delicious coffee I’ve ever come across and I’ve never found such a wonderful brew in any restaurant.

I thought you quit drinking coffee a while ago. Did I dream that?

I will not drink any $4+ cup of coffee - it’s water and beans.

I will not drink Starbucks coffee - Howard killed my basketball team.

Anyone who has a multiple paragraph opinion on coffee is probably drinking their coffee alone.

You want real coffee, got to Turkey and drink the stuff nomads brew. One or tow lttle cups and you’ll be up for dayze.