I drink Diet Pepsi. I wonder if there’s a similar deal for me? I also wonder what other stores have hidden items like this that could save us money.
Starbucks Economics – Solving the mystery of the elusive “short” cappuccino.
Here’s a little secret that Starbucks doesn’t want you to know: They will serve you a better, stronger cappuccino if you want one, and they will charge you less for it. Ask for it in any Starbucks and the barista will comply without batting an eye. The puzzle is to work out why.
The best way to get better cappuccino is to bypass Starbucks and get your coffee from a coffee stand that’s not a chain. ‘Nuff said.
I recently had a professional coffee buyer (not Starbucks) as a guest in my home and he would disagree with Floyd… as far the bean quality goes. He said that Starbucks routinely gets the better beans and it is making his job harder. To my surprise, when we were feeling like a cup of coffee he insisted on going to Starbucks!
A year ago I learned, by asking, that short drip coffees are available too. For me, this is the perfect size for an afternoon coffee.
I’m no coffee connoisseur, but my way of getting the coffee I want at Starbucks while paying less is to order a cafe miso (sometimes called a cafe au lait). Sometimes its on the menu, sometimes not. Sometimes the person behind the counter has heard of it, sometimes not. It’s half steamed milk and half coffee. It’s a lot weaker than cappuccino or expresso, but it’s just right for me. Tastes great to me. And the price is the same as coffee, usually $1.50 where I live.
The cheapest “coffee of the day” is awful. I found that the Cafe Americano is a much better choice although about 25 cents (remember when keyboards use to have the cent symbol?) more. In general, for value, Starbuck’s coffee sucks. The reason I go is that they have the best locations where I can sit down and take a break from Manhattan streets. Another interesting thing I noticed is that when I was in Rome a year and a half ago I didn’t spot not even one Starbuck’s. Actually, nowhere in Italy. I don’t know why, but Roman cappucinos are incredibly good– perfection in coffee.
This whole “fancy coffee” thing is unreal to me, but then I spent eight years at sea in the Navy (1960’s Navy) where I drank the real stuff. Even today, any departure from just coffee, black, no sugar, please results in an undrinkable mixture. I was always bemused by the fact that in the American Northeast I had to always order my coffee “black, no sugar”, else it would arrive in that disgusting shade of light brown that screamed warnings of “Don’t Touch, Throw Away!”
My favorite coffee shop has a big sign posted behind the counter that reads “Friends don’t let friends drink Starbucks!’
Nuff said.
g
I saw a great episode of Book TV on CSPAN2 on New Year’s day, where Tim Harford talks about this and much else from his book “The Undercover Economist.” Quit e entertaining. The book looks to be as engaging as Freakonomics, but on more traditional economic subjects.
Search for Book TV and Tim Harford on your Tivo or similar listings service. I’m sure it will be repeated again.
Coffee:
While we’re on the subject, I’d like to share my pet peave about he coffee craze in this country. Or more accurately the press coverage of it.
How often does a media story distinguish between espresso drinks and filtered coffee? They act like it’s the beans, or the marketting, or the decor, when it’s all about the way the coffee is made. Starbucks would not have been a hit if they just served brewed coffee. The European cultural angle is a part of it, but clearly the stronger tasting espresso, mixed with a lot of steamed milk or not, tastes a lot different than brewed coffee. Whether you like the taste or not, can we all agree that filtering method is the deciding factor in the coffee craze.
While I appreciate how important the concept of the “third place” is to Starbucks’ success, this article is part of the problem: dismissing the influence of the coffee drink itself.
I just don’t think Starbucks or Peet’s or any such chain would have taken off without serving espresso drinks. Brewed coffee was already everywhere.
It was the combination of the decor and espresso that said, and still says, “this is something different, hang out here.”
How many people in your local espresso bar are actually socializing, and how many are curled up with a book or laptop, completely oblivious to the world. Some come for the decor, some come for the coffee, some come for both, and so it took both for Starbucks to be such a huge hit. The socializing aspect of the “third place” is totally overblown, IMHO.
gregallen, although i’ve never been to italy, i know it’s not the environment that makes the coffee good, it’s how they make it. i deployed to iraq this past year with an italian who made the best damn coffee i’ve ever had. he used a hot plate and a really small kettle to make the espresso.
I first learned about the “Short” Starbucks cup at the original Starbucks in Seattle – it’s posted on their menu. Upon returning home to Northern VA I’ve purchased the short a couple of time – to the surprise of the cashier. They always question my order and tell me how small it is…but it’s the perfect size for me.
No one at any Starbucks around me has a clue as to what this is.