Disturbing Development

October 4, 2010 at 4:00 pm | 2 Comments »

I’ve been a fan of Starbucks coffee for nearly 20 years. An art director who had relocated from Seattle to New York spoke about their beans with such reverence that I tracked them down through mail order. Understand this was a good five years before the chain invaded Manhattan. In those dark days, I’d sometimes resort to a “regular” coffee aka lightly roasted and bitterly weak then further disguised with milk and sugar in a futile effort to render it palatable.

Starbucks signature dark roast and pure arabica blends and varietals were a revelation. I never looked back. What’s more I’ve tolerated the proliferation and menu expansion because the underlying coffee has remained good. The fact that I now live in San Francisco and have stores with Clover machines readily available helped blunt the abomination that is Via even.

Now though Starbucks has crossed a line. Flavored coffee.

Not sickeningly-sweet syrup pumped into drinks but flavored beans. The classic bastardization used to mask substandard coffee and justify an obscene markup.

To say I’m disappointed is an understatement. Oh I know, the product managers involved will defend the move by saying customers asked for it. Customers also ask for super-size and artificial sweeteners.

The brands I spend my money on would say no.

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