My biggest problem with Starbucks is that it is generally more expensive than the other alternatives and there is no guarantee that your coffee will be just as good as the last one you ordered (which also happens to other coffee shops). I always order the same drink and sometimes it is great and sometimes it is absolutely horrible. I can understand why this happen, but that should be a little bit more control. A lot of the time the cheap beans I buy to use at home make a more decent brew than Starbucks could ever hope for, which kind of keeps me from spending my money there, since the price of a Grande whatever with a few extra shots is probably the same price of a package of beans that will make me >30 cups.
You get a Grande with "a few extra shots?" That's like drinking 5 cups of coffee...?
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FWIW, in the US at most locations, a grande coffee at Starbucks is about the same price as any other coffee chain.. a little over $2.20 or so, depending on the region. This is comparable with Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Kreme (which is horrible), Seattles Best, and any dedicated coffee chains in the States. The non-coffee chains compete like McDonalds, Burger King, and so on, compete on price, so they can gamble on $1 coffee hoping that you'll also order food. Personally, I find Starbucks coffee to be remarkably consistent across the United States, whether you're in Massachusetts, California, or Florida, if you find a Starbucks, they're coffee is brewed consistently and will taste mostly the same. As recently as 2012, you couldn't say this about Dunkin Donuts, where a coffee in Florida would typically be disgusting, watered down, and luke warm. Mcdonalds still doesn't know that not all people drink their coffee with extra cream and extra sugar... I'm a "cream only" guy for hot coffee, and black for iced coffee, and "cream only" doesn't make sense to the McDonald's staff. They just assume everybody wants extra cream and extra sugar so that it's 'like a half-and-half milk shake.
Me? I like Starbucks iced coffee. It's stronger than Dunkin Donuts and I prefer it. I also prefer putting my own cream in the coffee, because it's still too much of a crap shoot whether "Cream" is going to mean "light" or "Extra extra" or whatever. I also go to two local coffee shops but not as often mostly because of consistency. If the owner is there, he coffee will be good. If the owner is not there and it's being run by one of the ~18 - ~22 year old hipsters, they're more interested in glazing their eyes over Proust than they are actually making the store run well.
Not surprised Sbux isn't doing well in Australia, but this line seems to suggest that coffee drinkers in Australia still owe a bit of gratitude to Sbux:
"I think we've got a lot to thank Starbucks for," says Mr Patterson. "They grew the category. They basically invented the lifestyle cafes that we know today.
"But then the competition saw this was a successful formula and copied them... so they really struggled against the... competition."