mike10101

beastybeatsy

nolancolleen

i'm a black coffee fan myself, but when it comes to lattes and such, working at starbucks can really result in some interesting combinations. my current obsession is a tall 1 1/2 pump gingerbread, soym no water, super foamy, slightly stirred, with nutmeg sprinkles, chai. it used to be a ristretto tall orange vanilla, soy, extra foam latte. i'd never order any of these anywhere else than my own store though.

elisariveire

That starbucks shit tastes like battery acid. And the prices! Fuck upscale coffee. And the patrons, my GAWD, could that place BE any more pretentious. And the calorie intake. It's like: lets pay through the nose to drink battery acid and get fat. G-d bless america.

BreeKilledGeorge

Kept me up for three days during final year LS exams. No hangover. Nothing like it.

Rooo sez BISH PLZ

arirang

la.meuse.fabuleuse

BritneysBaldHoohoo

I hate working in a building with a starbucks in it.

tamarah

formergr

As for coffee, hat Starbucks because of the burnt taste, and have had some pretty darn good DD-- I think as others have pointed out that if you get it freshly brewed, it's all good.

Since moving to DC I've developed an unhealthy addiction to the coffee at Murky Coffee by Eastern Market. That shit is totally worth the usually long line!

formergr

ms.aggie

tastidelighttonight

Molly Bloom

Pyrovixen

jammiriffic

petuniacat

Cthulhah Bankhead

Scal

I used to live in Florence with an American housemate, who told me that if I liked coffee, I should really try Starbucks.

The only decent coffees I've ever had in the States were at a cafe in Nolita (which is run by some Aussie dudes), and a funny little yuppy deli in Oakland.

Scal

Lulubell

saskatchewangirl

srslyallie

Xylo

london_calling

Also, Dunkin' Donuts ICED coffee is great. For some reason, I find their hot coffee disgusting. Go figure.

VoxPopuli

I'll also enjoy a vanilla soy chai, usually made at home. I tried to order it once at Starbucks and got a blank stare, then:
I don't think we have that. What's in that?
Vanilla soy and chai, steamed. (while thinking but not saying COME ON! All of the ingredients are right in the title!)
Yeah, we don't have that.
Do you have chai?
Yes.
Do you have vanilla soymilk?
No.
Do you have soymilk?
Yes
Do you have vanilla syrup?
Yes.
(awkward pause)
Well, can you put those all together?
...Oh, I guess so.

vulcanized

Otherwise I like Caribou. Yes, kill me.

Nunya B

trescharmant

BraidMyHair

srslyallie

I drink tea- no sugar, no milk. I just love it! (Coffee just heightens my anxiety problems, plus gives me stomach aches)

BraidMyHair

JWest282

Can you please find it in your divine heart to take Rachael Ray from this world? I understand you don't want her either, but can we come to some kind of compromise...perhaps, just leave her in a coma for a few dozen years?

xox
me

dustyrebel

Lowti

Blue Skies, Golden Sunshine

Catie

Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts are on the same level in coffee suckage.

jeska

starbucks, independent shops, gas stations, restaurants...anywhere.

i prefer to make it at home using freshly ground coffee that i get at a place near my house with a little bit of half and half and dash of raw sugar.

but again--diners, hotels, school, mcdonalds--when im on the run (constantly) i will take it from wherever i can get it. and to put in a good word for d&d, they put in the cream and sugar for you, so i cant hate.

fancyxamy

Unfortunately I usually drink shitty bodega coffee cuz that's where my boss orders from.

Susan B.

Don't like what you're eating? Make it into CANDY.

braak

Oh, and when that doesn't work I shotgun Rockstar. And usually in the privacy of my boyfriend's car where I mutter with shame "please don't watch me do this."

midoriland

onesong

CarrieMC

valerina

Tales from ONTD: a poster won a contest to appear on her show and she told everyone how Ray Ray while nice on camera, snub her off camera screamed and yell at her.

cindel

TruculentandUnreliable

Rhody

xay

alrightnow

KarenWalker

whatdoyouthinkofthepie

erinlynne

bifteck-frites

rocknrollunicorn

"though the workers I knew were usually conscientious enough to keep it fresh. I never had a problem with their coffee, especially in my drinking days when I frequently showed up a 2-3am, which is why I knew"...the workers there quite well since they saw me and I saw them very frequently, it should've said.

@mbprice: Author's an historian, and not a lot of them are masters at prose writing. As far as pedestrian taste, I didn't take this as a guide for the connoisseur, which was I believe his underlying point, and why I didn't toss the book against the wall for being another snotty tome to what wuz good and what wuz bad, coffee wise. Granted, it's been a long while since I read it, so you're take on it might be more accurate.

PapaLegba

Sassette

mocena

whatdoyouthinkofthepie

Coffee wise it's Douwe Egberts all the way, which I mostly make in my Senseo. Mmmmmmm. Senseo. *goes to make one*

haguenite

bifteck-frites

thegreenman

PantyWaist

olivia2.0

mko

PantyWaist

Lux Lisbon

Liz Lemon

sovereign_state

For me, preferably the fair-trade stuff, with plenty of milk and a little sugar.

katekate is squared

I'm not ashamed to say I like my coffee on the mild side. I think Starbucks people are like Charlie the Tuna, trying to prove that they have good taste (when they really don't).

PantyWaist

bigleggedwoman

Rhody

[www.amazon.com]

By the way, who is this Rachel Ray wench and how has she become a cultural arbiter of that which is acceptable. Yes, I am aware that she has a show on the Food Network, especially since every female member of my family has that network on when I'm in their house (and go easy, Jezzies, I'm the only male of 5 kids, and next to last in line. Probably why you see me here- I know girl talk as well as or better than boy talk, plus males tend to have limited topics for discussion. And it is true, my mother has it on when her quilting shows ain't on, and my sisters all watch unless something more important is on or the menfolk want to see something).

I do digress (no shit, Sherlock). Ms. Ray ain't even a cook or chef by trade, which Paula is, bless her heart. The bio of Ms. Ray was on the Food telly not too long ago, and she's just a TV "personality who's used this as her vehicle for success. More power to her, buuuutttt I don't see why this qualifies her as a cultural authority on cooking or cuisine. 'Cept her face is on the telly, and these days that's all the authority you need with the public at at large. Kinda Post-Modern, but I won't go there....

I'll shut up now.

PapaLegba

I think it would just make good business sense, when your alarm goes off or your robbed it would be nice for the men in blue to see you as on their side/supporters.

@PapaLegba: Hi

PICKLES

type_slowly

bigleggedwoman

moodyonceamonth

Enthusiasm...Curbed

andBegorrah

Pnkweetzie

CollegeBookworm

mbprice

mbprice

type_slowly

But then I went and got myself pregnant, so I haven't had coffee in about 3 months.

layladylan

arodriguez.romero

hatepaperdoll

Lollia

In the not too distant past, I was watching Book TV that C-Span2 shows on the weekends which concerns itself with nonfiction books; although the interviewer might have been Brian Lam, so it would've been C-Span regular, but never mind. The author interviewed wrote a book called "Uncommon Grounds", which covered the entire history of coffee (no shit), and when asked where you can get the best coffee available, Duncan Donuts was his first answer.

They use 100 percent arabaca beans, the good ones and if a coffee is called 100 percent Columbian, that's whats in it. People he said do go buy it by the bag of unground beans which DD happily sells, and I think the gentlemen said that DD's coffee was the bestselling in the US, also. They just ain't snotty like Starbuck's. The only reason it probably tasted like bongwater to some is because it had probably been sitting since 2 or 3 am and lacked freshness at, say, 9:00, though the workers I knew were usually conscientious enough to keep it fresh. I never had a problem with their coffee, especially in my drinking days when I frequently showed up a 2-3am, which is why I knew - if the coffee sucked, I would've vomited. I know bad coffee- when I worked at a certain parcel delivery company in the 4am-8am shift, I'd show up at 3am and drink the coffee out of the vending machine, black, too. Every time I tell my snotty coffee connoisseur friends, they want to vomit... used to not like coffee at all, but to be functional at 3 in the morning, you gotta do what you gotta do.

Convenience store coffee is another matter- Apu ain't as concerned about what goes in the pot and how long it's been there, and is probably using the cheaper, non-Columbian robusta beans, which are easier to grow and cheaper but which are more bitter. No fancy coffee shop or gourmet coffee would have robusta beans anywhere near their coffee.

So there.

PapaLegba

I like my coffee narcotic so I brew my own at home. I use Cafe Bustelo or whatever cheap espresso roast strikes my fancy at the grocery store, although my non-coffee drinking mother pawned off some DD Vanilla Spice or somesuch grounds on me after she won it in a Yankee Swap, and brewed double or triple strength it's not terrible.

At Starbucks, I like an Americano with an extra shot or two and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Yum.

Hell on Heels

arodriguez.romero

Enthusiasm...Curbed

Go Like Hell Machine

funnyface

mbprice

@type_slowly: The sixteen year old me is so jealous right now.

mallie

miele

Oh, Rachel Ray is an idiot. That's all I got.

bigleggedwoman

SouthernSatine

Lorem Ipsum

I can eat hard cheeses, like cheddar and parmesan.

tscheese

PinkSoxHat

mbprice

@mallie: My best friend's boyfriend in high school managed our Friendly's so we could stay until AFTER closing. Bad. Ass. I love their mozzerella sticks so much.

type_slowly

madamequeen will not let you sleep on the couch

Oh wait it's cause I don't live in a crazy metropolitan area where all the Dunkins suck.

The closer I drive to Boston in the morning the worse the coffee at the Dunkins gets (along with the parking.)

Terri Ann

@KLondike5: Amazing.

Also: anyone else love the smell of coffee, especially in bookstores? Oh gosh it's awesome. I think smelling coffee in bookstores makes me feel smart. It's like the best, most pretentious aroma ever.

lalaland13

itchycoo

I would love to roast my own but I am way too lazy. I have a coffee press that has been sitting in my cabinet for years which I am also too lazy to use.

fabulousrobots

Between the two of us we own five separate coffee makers. They are all unique and special in their own way.

Blue Skies, Golden Sunshine

I love that it's the coffee thread that finally brings me out to post over here.

filmsnack

Charlotte Corday

PinkSoxHat

petuniacat

type_slowly

lolly71

petuniacat

Nothing beats the Bustelo though. Cheap and delicious, the way I like most things in life.

BrooklynBeats

Charlotte Corday

petuniacat

@treecut: Yup, we had two options- drive 15 mins over the river to Vermont or drive 30 mins to a town south of us. We usually went to the one in Vermont, cause it was extra badass to drive to another state. We were tools.

I hate coffee with a burning passion, so I drink coke to start my day. I must have frail bones.

mallie

AmazonRedheadedUberVixen

Splenda is nasty, with the worst aftertaste ever!!! I can't eat any product with it in it. Eww.

I take my coffee with a little milk, no sugar. Or a Diet Coke. If I must go to Starbucks, I get a little fancy to mask the burnt taste: Sugar-Free Hazelnut Skim Latte. I'm sure it isn't really sugar-free, but a girl can dream.

hfree

Re. artificial sweeteners.... ugh, diabetes runs rampant in my family; there's quite a good (bad!) chance that I'll get it one of these days... if so, I'm off sweeets permanently, sad though it may be. Years of choking on the fake stuff that my dad buys has convinced me that that shit HAS to be POISON!!!

cryincrawdaddy

@treecut: Friendly's Dark Chocolate Ice Cream with a Raspberry Sorbet chaser used to be the highlight of my summer evenings.

brendastarlet

demetria23

AbbyNormal

Rhody

embobly

BlondeGrlz

elitza

mbprice

SpicyTamale πβɸ

treecut...will cut a beech

unfortunately, coffee like that--not so easy to find on the fly.

thus, i end up with diet coke every morning instead!

GeektasticallyDelicious

Inkymonkey

msb2: blue balls machine

Yes, I have a coffee strategy.

tscheese

motokitty

FemiNuisance

mbprice

xay

BlondeGrlz

Also: 8 glasses of H2O per day is an absolute myth.

funnyface

Leiakat

Oh yeah, on Sundays I get real sugar and a real breakfast. Eggs, toast, and bacon. This probably isn't healthy?

goldenmonkey

FemiNuisance

Emmie of Doom

DarlingMagpie

pferde_schwanz

The reason I know this is that I, too, drank a lot of coffee and have a stressful job. My doctor told me I had to quit the coffee and start pumping water and work out, or it was all going to come crashing down on me.

brendastarlet

mocena

BlueMorpho

TriedandTrue

stoprobbers

@petuniacat: Every time I switch my coffee, I get pretty bad stomach problems, and it usually takes me about a week to figure out why. I shouldn't drink the shit in the first place, but it's good and I am not a morning person.

TruculentandUnreliable

That being said, the Quick Chek across from my office has better coffee than either of the bigger chains, and it's only $1.25 for a medium. Can't beat that.

spacepenguin

PICKLES

cupcakesofdeath

Archetype

Grind the beans myself in the morning, boil water in the electric kettle, and add the grounds to the french press. Let it steep 5 minutes, press, and pour over turbinado sugar and heavy cream.

This is heaven in a cup.

The rest of the day I drink Yogi green tea with Kombucha.

Used to drink coffee made from orange scented beans from Fresh Market...now that was heaven. Sadly, I have yet to find those beans in Alaska.

Twaddle

I'm not averse to "regular" coffee drinks, either, but after everything good I'd heard about Dunkin' Donuts, I tried their iced coffee during that promotion last year and was really disappointed.

AnnaTwitch

petuniacat

Archetype

That said, I did love to add a little bit of mint and chocolate syrup to my lattes every once in a while. And cold press with a little shot of chai in it is pretty good.

@rose0red: The only chocolate soy milk that's good is Soy Dream.

TruculentandUnreliable