"Come together" is just code for "Do it the Dem way" - ever more spending.

I´ll take over the fiscal cliff please.

Don’t forget, it was Starbucks that refused to provide water to the 9/11 first responders until someone paid, and who refused a request for coffee for the US troops in Iraq because Starbucks is antiwar. A pox on Starbucks and those who frequent them.

I´m sick of the latte-sipping iPhone junkies whose self-importance reeks from every pore.

I buy Starbucks coffe for a special half-and-half grind to take home. But this latest stunt is making me want to puke and is turning me off. Their coffee isn´t that good anyway, just convenient.

Perhaps it´s time to kiss them goodbye and give some conservative coffee entrepreneur a chance.

Howard Schultz is a big Øbamunist and has contributed big $ to The Won. Vote with your feet and stay out of Starbucks! Ditto Costco: the founders of Costco hosted a fundraiser for Øbama that netted The Won some $2,000,000.

Starbucks is ruthless to its competitors. They "cluster bombed" a local coffee chain and drove the local coffee chain out of business. The small local guy had four stores. Starbucks opened four stores around each of the stores the local guy had for a total of 16 Starbucks around the local´s stores. When the local closed, Starbucks promptly closed the 12 lowest-volume stores around the guy they had just driven out of business.

Schultz is another sanctimonious leftist who has milked the capitalist system while supporting politicians who will destroy the system he rode to success.

I hope Yoko Ono sues for payment of music royalties.

Starbucks coffee blend is so strong and bitter - I have never understood their popularity. There are many other places to buy coffee. Caribou Coffee, for one.

The only thing I buy at Starbucks with any semblance of regularity (it´s sometimes hard to find) is their marble loaf cake - and when I´m in NYC I can find better marble loaf cake, so I really don´t need Starbucks´ brand.

When they start writing "Choose Life" on the cups, I might stop in for a latte.
Until then, they can have their overpriced, over-roasted, liberal swill.

To quote a bumper sticker, "Friends don´t let friends drink Starbucks.

I bought some starbucks and regretted it, nasty, tasted like it had been scraped off of the floor. I like plain old Krogers´ half and half. Cheaper and delicious.

Buy a Keurig Coffee Maker.....I did....and I have´nt been to Starbucks since!!....The endless variety of Keurig K cups (from Starbucks similar coffee) to flavored coffee to hot cocoa to hot tea)....is enough to fulfill everyone´s needs, imo.---The endless variety and excellent taste is amazing!!

Starbucks serves nothing less than swill. Their pastries are mostly stale, too.

A few years back the editors at Cook´s Illustrated found out that lowly Eight O´Clock Coffee bested Starkbucks in their blind taste test for black coffee.

I haven´t been to a Starbucks in years. Dunkin Donuts has good coffee and it comes without the side of attitude.

I have used the same phrase and technique with excellent results for years.

A Starbucks was built in our little town in summer of 2008. It was open about six months. The building has been sitting empty all this time and is beginning to deteriorate. I suppose the market research that indicated we were dumb enough to pay for their overpriced coffee was a little bit off. We can go to the Huddle House and get a complete breakfast for the price of one of their ´lattes.´ (Whatever that is!)

#13, they have won numerous taste tests also for their coffee. We have a local coffee franchise in Oregon called Dutch Brothers that is so superior to Starbucks that I haven´t felt the need for a Starbucks in a long time. Their baristas are usually college students and are very friendly to the customers.

Of course it helped that Starbucks got rid of their valencia orange syrup which made a wonderful mocha. Their coffee always tastes on the burned side for some reason. You would think that Mr. Schultz would get the hint on that issue finally.

Americans dumb enough to pay $5 for burnt nasty coffee - economy doesn´t seem to be hurting that much. I hate their coffee - I think their cups are some kind of status symbol - I prefer MickeyD´s coffee when I don´t make my own at home.

A wonderful "independent" coffee shop was taken over by Starbucks many years ago. I told the "barista" - or as I call them the guy behind the counter - that I didn´t like Starbucks coffee. He asked me if I knew why, to which I replied "no." He said they buy cheap under-ripe beans and then over-roast them. Bingo. Bad coffee, bad politics. I prefer to patronize "local" "independent" coffee houses (even if they are probably hyper-liberal fascists, at least they´re entrepreneurial)... A pox on Starbucks.

I never got into starbucks. Coffee tastes like crap and worse when it gets cold. I´ll stick with the Caribou cult.

Caribou Coffee is 25% owned by Arcapita (formerly First Islamic Bank of Bahrain). So find another alternative if you don´t want Starbucks.

Folks, if people actually read what is in any soda pop (and they do) and drink it daily anyway, they will literally drink anything. I notice a lot of Seattleites prefer the smaller, high quality coffee places. I found Christian family-owned place and they pack ´em in, right in Bellevue. Coffee snobs and libs love the place! Boo Starbuks.

Overpriced, over-roasted, and over-hyped.

The CEO may think he has a cult, but this is usually called "marketing".

There is nothing sinister about calling employees "partners". Many businesses use names other than "employees" to foster a sense of common purpose, even family. And Target calls its customers "guests". (Paying "guests".)

Ad men used to sit around in smoke-filled rooms and come up with these brainstorms. Now they have to go outside to smoke, but the rest is pretty much the same.

PS. Don´t like Starbuck´s too-bitter coffee.

We like Jose´s Colombian beans from Costco and grind our own. Delicious. And $15 for three pounds.

Is Starbucks a cult? Any more than Apple computers and devices are?

I like McDonald´s coffee, and Dunkin Donuts coffee.
Starbucks stinks.

#2, here´s a link for you:

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/01/25/savings-experiment-the-perks-of-brewing-versus-buying-coffee/


And, for you #7:

http://www.food.com/recipe/starbucks-marble-pound-cake-214055

Wow! Great thread of replies, LDotters! Looks as though you had your cup of (not Starbuck´s) coffee this morning!

I went into a Starbucks in California a few years ago and noticed they had one newspaper rack inside the store. It was the NY Times and I haven´t been back since. I do have these personal protests I keep in mind when shopping.

Starbucks makes the best coffee. It is their mission statement to make the best coffee, as was Horn and Hardart and Chock Full O´Nuts before them. All their French jazz, chat room computer friendly hangouts have a targeted American yuppie audience. They have the greatest marketing team since Robert Woodruff and Coke. Don´t confuse their product with their West Coast liberal politics. They just don´t get, like most establishment types, that Obama is the apotheosis of evil who has destroyed capitalism forever.

Starbucks has turned into the Ben & Jerry´s of the coffee crowd. Except that B&J used to be good. Funny but their politics affected the taste of the product for me after a while.

#2, as much as I dislike Starbucks, I must point out that neither of those stories is true.

Starbucks is a business. They sell products. Like any business, they have their supporters and detractors.

This makes me even happier that I don´t drink coffee.

StarBucks coffee is too strong and has a burned flavor. I think people buy it because it´s a vogue. I actually think it could remove paint.

I despise Starbucks. Here in Omaha we have a local coffee chain called Scooters. When I need a latte or a mocha, and can steel myself to pay $4.00/cup, Scooters gets my money. And then I cackle when I drive past the Starbucks, holding my Scooters cup high out my car window!

I had Starbucks coffee once and thought it was awful!

Is Starbucks A Cult?

Yes

Have consumed Starbucks only at:
1) Airports the first time I am in a new city.
2) Shepherd´s Bush in suburban London after arriving on a 6:30 AM flight over the pond.

Why? Consistency.

However on the second trip to anywhere I will have found a local coffee shop to satisfy my caffiene cravings. In St. Louis go with Kaldi. In San Diego go with Peet´s. Otherwise, just walk a little bit and open your nose. You´ll find great coffee in the strangest places.

Last trip to Scotland I grabbed coffee from a little cafe cart in Carlisle Station. It was marvelous.

The spiritual retreat for the spiritually empty.

It is ostentatious consumption, that´s all.

"Look at me! I paid $5 for a cup of coffee!!"

I have bought exactly 1 Starbucks in my life, in the terminal at PWM. I have had 2 other cups, free with coffee bags. That is IT.

#40 -- FYI, in London you can´t go wrong with Costa Coffee.

Starbucks home brew isn´t bad. I have connections so I get markoffs for free...at work I make Folger´s instant.

Our local Fred Meyer has a Peet’s coffee place. They sell a small senior cup for 90 cents. Best deal in town. The local Haggen store sells their own premium coffee in their Market Place for 99 cents. I have something like ten coffee discount cards from coffee watering holes around Oregon and not a Starbucks among them. Starbucks gets no bucks from me.

I´m with #26. I also like 7 Eleven. The one near my house (DC close in suburb) was really smart. Years ago they set up their little coffee area into something really sharp: larger, clean, 3 or 4 different flavors 9and decaf), well-stocked and they provided flavored syrups (yuck -- but people LOVE them), several kinds of milk and sweeteners. In short, they took great PRIDE in what they served and how, kept the prices low and provided very good customer service -- quick and polite. They do great business.

Starbucks is only for wannabes and other liberals.

I ain´t saying Starbucks is a cult..but...I think the one here in Buffalo (aka- Red Square) is now also selling Kool-Aid, Nike sneakers , and purple shrouds...???

As for the over-roasting - it´s not called ´Charbucks´ for nothing.

I buy coffee from a local which roasts right in front of you and the owners of which have visited and worked on some of the plantations where their coffee comes from. Their family run business is thriving.

Is Starbucks a Cult? yes

Hermann´s Boy, Rockford Mi. They roast very good coffee.

Starbucks is a place to get overpriced coffee. Some of their drinks are a treat for rare occasions. No one has to buy into the atmosphere or pay attention to the snootiness. The baristas are generally friendly, despite the tats and piercings.

I loathe Starbucks´ politics and dislike their coffee but Mr.Braincramp´s boss gives him Starbucks gift cards and I have used them to get a ´´Skinny Latte´´ (fairly tasty) and bring friends along to treat. But if I ever get their regular coffee, I ask them to leave an inch of space so I can add enough milk to dilute the bitter, burned flavor. (#49´s ´´Charbucks´´ is perfect!)

Our favorite coffee place is any Wawa convenience store. It´s the best coffee I´ve ever had and not too expensive. They don´t get into political spewing either. I´ll never understand why companies and Hollywood don´t care about offending half of their potential customers by pushing their leftist politics. Seems pretty stupid if you care even the tiniest bit about making money, especially in this economy.

Community Coffee is the best, and they don´t appear to be communists. Here in NOLA, Starbutts opened across the street from a local coffee shop. I knew it wouldn´t last long when I went into the local coffee shop and announced that I didn´t particularly want a cup of coffee, but that I wanted to make sure to give the local store my business. I was met with laughter from the man behind the counter and from the guy in front of me in line, who had just come in and said the same thing. The local place is still here. The building across the street is now a restaurant of some sort.

Yes, it is a cult of late teens to twenty-something yuppies who have no social skills and live only within their own head on the internet.
They go inside their local Starbucks to hook their laptops to the free internet.
They do this when they sense a need to see sunlight and movement outside of daddy´s basement.
They have no money except for the five or ten bucks daddy gives them daily, but,like, no problem, that will purchase them a cuppa so they can remain in Starbucks all day.
They never speak, and only move in order to to go to the bathroom.
They have free food and a bed at home and are on their parent´s insurance policy until they are twenty six.
But more and more are now pushing thirty and are obliged to awaken.
Thus, Starbucks has to seek attention via this type of political news-making in order to draw in new social misfits to take the places of the ones who have outlasted daddy´s stuff.

At our local mall there is a small Caribou Coffee kiosk, which Starbucks tried to evict from the mall when they set up their own establishment there. If someone gives me a Starbucks gift card, I will use it, but I won´t purchase their coffee otherwise.

#2--Thanks, that says it all.

Go Away Starbucks!!!

I like our little local coffee shop. They make their own syrups and contract with a local bakery. Best salted caramel latte around. I don´t think Starbucks is a cult but I do think people get too caught up in name brands

I brew Foldgers at home every morning and take a Thermos to work with my coffee.

Besides, starbucks´ coffee tastes like burned kaka.

I get the best cup of coffee at Wa Wa here in PA. To me Starbucks is just making the drink that the greasy spoons do exept with all the concoctions the make it with. All can say had the coffee once and it tasted like it was burned sludge. Like the kind I got after standing the 0400 to 0800 watch and got the dregs in the urn in the after battery. Yum Yum...not. The below decks watch did´nt do his job. He is supposed to have had the fresh coffe ready at 0630...

I think Starbucks coffee is bitter, too, and agree that their pastries are often stale. Not to mention the prices, and the attitude of the servers (the few times I have been forced to patronize Starbucks, I refused to order with their terminology--grande, etc.)

I don´t need merchants telling me what to think about politics.

Hey, Schultz, how about asking your employees to write "Quit Spending!" on each cup -- a message to both Washington DC and those who spend $5 per day or almost $2000 per year on your worthless coffee.

Blechhh, who would want to drink from a cup that had been handled and covered with extra fingerprints?

But then, I´ve never been tempted to buy Starbucks coffee anyway. Now I never will.

Well, everybody on this thread is wrong. Starbucks coffee is generally pretty good (especially when they have a Clover machine), served in attractive surroundings, by friendly staff. People complain about attitude, but it´s usually the independent´s that have that stuck up hippie ambiance.

In my opinion, coffee is one of the few things in our country that has gotten better over the past half century, and Starbucks has been a big part of making that happen.

Having said that, I like Peet´s better.

This is one BIG reason I buy my coffee online from Mystic Monk in Cody, Wyoming. They are Carmelite monks who support themselves by blending and selling whole bean and ground coffee. Love the coffee, love the monks, and the price is quite reasonable. They also have excellent tea. mysticmonkcoffee.com

In December, our 912 group circulated a list of "Where to Shop or NOT" and Starbucks was high on the NOT list, due to their CEO´s Liberal pushing and donations to the Dems. I couldn´t find any figures on Caribou Corp Donations (believe the Co and CEO stay away from doing any) but they did a holiday coffee drive, asking customers to donate a LB of coffee to servicemen, encouraging us to write personal notes, with Caribou then paying to get the coffee to service members. I´m supporting Caribou #1, Dunkin Donuts otherwise!!

Yes it is a cult. A cult of stupid teens and 20-30 year olds. They have a SB in my local Farm Fresh and they are always there sipping on their high priced coffee. I always give them the evil eye whe they stare at me coming in. Also they have one in the nearby Barnes and Noble store that is much larger. All you see is the college kids and the 30 something slackers on their smart phones, tablets, laptops or reading some rag mag like The Nation, Time or Newsweak. Me myself when I go get coffee from a store I usually go to 7-11 or Wawa. Better coffee and you have people on their way to work in the mornings. Starbucks coffee sucks along with their braindead CEO Howie Schultz´s politics. The fact that this loathsome company did what they did during the Irag War earned them my undying scorn. BTW what idiot would pay 8 bucks for a cup of coffee? See the second sentence of this post. Have a Happy New Year my fellow L-Dotters. May you enjoy your cups of Joe from someplace other than Starsucks.

I used to go to Starbucks almost every day, now very seldom. I do like French roast coffee either by beans or ground for a French Press that I make at home. The recent coffee I had there did taste burned. Latte´s have gotten too expensive. When they stopped making their cranberry orange loaf, they lost me. It was good, not too sweet and a nice tangy flavor. Now I like their "morning bun" when I do go there.

Starbucks is not just about coffee, it´s about a place to hang out or meet friends or "associates" for a casual business meeting. You don´t have to order a meal or drink alcohol there. That´s why they´re there now. It´s a social thing like in Europe. You´re in Vienna or Paris or Rome. That´s my brilliant assessment.