[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

They should just name it Starbucks. Not coffee.

 

[SpeakerBox]

There was a very big uproar when they tried to get into Italy.
They opened one in Milan that has only tourist clients. No locals ever come there.

No surprise at all.

 

[ScubaMan2017]

ScubaMan-- a few years ago a friend was visiting and I was getting ready to grind the beans for a morning pot of some locally roasted coffee. He stepped in and said, "Let me show you a trick..." He took a well-seasoned cast iron skillet to the stove and fired up the burner, tossing the contents of my bean grinder in and shuffling the beans around the pan. He noted that adding a light roasting just before grinding the beans will improve the coffee.
He was right, and I have been doing this since.
Hats off to home roasting the beans! Eh!

I roast.
I roast well.
And yet.
I'll huff an XL coffee from McDonald's... Preet from Chicago.... or a TimHortons' double double (with a tbsp of Nescafe packed in the truck) on road trips.
Of course, a snort of Kahlua liquor won't hurt (at days' end).

 

[Whazzzup]

Starbucks gives good adrenal rush that’s it. It’s all high caffeine buzz

 

[belgiangenius]

They should just name it Starbucks. Not coffee.

Canadians seem to fall into two groups:

1. The group that thinks it's cool to be seen holding a $6 custom beverage from Starbucks (same group that drives Range Rovers anything German worth more than $60k); and
2. The group that doesn't understand Starbucks because Tim Horton's and McDonald's make better coffee for half the price.

 

[rkw]

IMHO, Starbucks makes the worst coffee I have ever encountered. Awful!

However, coffee in the US was even worse before Starbucks. Starbucks actually raised the overall level of coffee in the country.

 

[earnmyturns]

Canadians seem to fall into two groups:

1. The group that thinks it's cool to be seen holding a $6 custom beverage from Starbucks (same group that drives Range Rovers anything German worth more than $60k); and
2. The group that doesn't understand Starbucks because Tim Horton's and McDonald's make better coffee for half the price.

Best coffee I ever had in Canada (I go to BC a lot, to Ontario and Quebec now and then) was from https://osonegrocoffee.com/. I was skiing a stormy day at Whitewater outside Nelson, went into the old lodge there for warmth and food, noticed an espresso machine, got a double shot and I was "wow!" Asked where the roast came from, and when I got back to Nelson after the trip, I spent some time at the source, and bought a bag of espresso roast to bring home. Still hankering after it.

 

[porchwizard]

However, coffee in the US was even worse before Starbucks. Starbucks actually raised the overall level of coffee in the country.

As we say in my neighborhood, Friends don't let friends go to starbucks.
For those who aren't familiar with the reference it comes from a public service campaign against drinking and driving that used the slogan Friends don't let friends drink and drive.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

I still haven’t had European coffee that was better than I could get at a top flight Californien coffee shop

 

[Operaphile-]

IMO the average cup of coffee in Europe is likely to be pretty bad. Granted my experience isn’t exhaustive but I’d say Germany has the worst average where as Italy may have the best. I’ve found good coffee in most countries but the best cup of coffee I’ve found thus far was in Scotland. That you, bosie, find better coffee in California than you’ve found this trip does not surprise me.

 

[jimmers]

We've only had 34 coffee posts in a row in the last day and a half, I'm worried you are not as interested in caffeine as you once were.


Someone spoiled the run with a Crocs post, the heathen

 

[Derrick Swart]

There was a very big uproar when they tried to get into Italy.
They opened one in Milan that has only tourist clients. No locals ever come there.

i think there are even two. Google tells us that it is an iconic Seattle-based coffeehouse chain
This year in Canada a normal espresso was not even on the menu ... available though after I asked but was difficult for the staff to find out the pricing and administration ...
'Saudades' to the italian coffeebar with those lovely strawberry cream cakes and great espresso yummi! (saudades translates difficult from Portuguese but it means you painfully miss some)

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

I’m not trying to give Europe a handicap by any means. I check Foursquare for the highest ranked espresso in any given city, and try one coffee shop a day — in Paris, I even tried two on Tuesday. I desperately want amazing espresso. I will try tomorrow morning in Wiesbaden but I’m not optimistic.

 

[Operaphile-]

I’m not trying to give Europe a handicap by any means. I check Foursquare for the highest ranked espresso in any given city, and try one coffee shop a day — in Paris, I even tried two on Tuesday. I desperately want amazing espresso. I will try tomorrow morning in Wiesbaden but I’m not optimistic.

In Wiesbaden, for espresso, I’d say Kaufmanns and The Living Bakery are the two best.

Kaufmanns roasts their own beans whereas Living Bakery does not. That being said, I don’t find a noticeable difference in the end quality of the drinks served.

 

[ksorota]

Please forgive me for saying this, but I was young at the time...

Back in 2006 I was in Paris and the best cappuccino that i found was at the McDonalds on the Champs-Elysees...the bakery there was quite amazing. The other more legitimate location was a small cafe near my hotel in the Madeleine square that does not show up in Google maps.

I am sure it would be different if I went back today...but no promises