Wouldn't you know it....

[Burrows]

Personally I have never had much of an issue with Starbucks around here.  Sure my favourite place to go is an independent, but the Starbucks close to my work always manages to make whatever I want an make it right.  The stores brew different types of coffee to provide people with more choice.  If anything this is better than TH.

People get it into their heads that Starbucks people are snotty, that they think too much of themselves because of what they do.  This is a ridiculous stereotype, and I'm pretty sure you'll find that most Baristas are down to earth people who do their jobs.  Really, it isn't the Baristas who are snotty, moreso the customers that they are serving all day.  The Barista at the counter doesn't really care if you want a grande bold coffee or a venti mocha something or other.  The people that care are the one's who are ordering the 10 dollar drinks to make themselves feel sophisticated.

As for ambience, size names, and the title Barista?  It's all a marketing tool - and it must work or else people wouldn't drop 5 bucks on a cup of coffee with steamed milk.

 

[Sig_Des]

Really, it isn't the Baristas who are snotty, moreso the customers that they are serving all day.  The Barista at the counter doesn't really care if you want a grande bold coffee or a venti mocha something or other.   The people that care are the one's who are ordering the 10 dollar drinks to make themselves feel sophisticated.

I can agree about the customers, but I've seen some pretty uppity servers

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

I can agree about the customers, but I've seen some pretty uppity servers

Show me an industry without uppity servers...have seen some great ones in Tim Hortons as well, its not just confined to Starbucks. :

 

[MedTechStudent]

Show me an industry without uppity servers...

Funeral Parlor?  *Sorry couldn't resist*

Yea its true though Starbucks really is known for having super happy uppity servers.  I think its a job requirement. 
Then again, the last time I went to Red Lobster, the woman who served us was freakishly happy and bubbly.  It happens everywhere, but I'm not complaining. 

 

[stryte]

Wouldn't you know it, Canadian Forces soldiers have a lot to say about coffee shops.

 

[blacktriangle]

At starbucks I prefer to point to the name of what I want and say "the biggest one please" as I really don't care to play the game.

Anyone ever go to second cup? I find it to be o-k but I tend to get hot chocolate or a specialty drink and save the real coffee drinking for at home

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

2nd cup as well as Perks are good alternate choices if you feel like Starbucks.

 

[2 Cdo]

2nd cup as well as Perks are good alternate choices if you feel like Starbucks.

The added advantage is Second Cup is a Canadian company, Tim Hortons is not.

 

[Harley Sailor]

The added advantage is Second Cup is a Canadian company, Tim Hortons is not.

Tim's is not???  That would take some convincing.  Being as it was started by a man from Hamilton Ont and a man from back wood Nova Scotia, who later bought out his partners.  Then used his shares in Tims to buy Wendy's of Canada.  Ok, so he later put Tim's up for sale, but it is still a Canadian Company.

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

I believe Wendy's bought up Tim Hortons IIRC.

 

[Harley Sailor]

I believe Wendy's bought up Tim Hortons IIRC.

Yes, a lot of people believe that.  But in fact the owner of Tim's (who bought all the shares from the widow Horton) sold his shares to Wendy's of Canada in return for shares of Wendy's

 

[Sheerin]

Yes, a lot of people believe that.  But in fact the owner of Tim's (who bought all the shares from the widow Horton) sold his shares to Wendy's of Canada in return for shares of Wendy's

Tim hortons is now a publically traded company on the NYSE and the TSX.  Wendy's used to own 82% of the shares but has subsequently given them away to Wendy's shareholders.

 

[Rishi]

Out west we have something called kickinghorse coffee....very good stuff.

 

[Harley Sailor]

Tim hortons is now a publically traded company on the NYSE and the TSX.  Wendy's used to own 82% of the shares but has subsequently given them away to Wendy's shareholders.

And that proves it is not Canadian as was the original statement????

 

[aesop081]

If you poor water on a  computer.........it stops working

who knew  ???

 

[Harley Sailor]

If you poor water on a  computer.........it stops working

who knew  ???

Does the same thing happen if you use Starbucks coffee

 

[aesop081]

Does the same thing happen if you use Starbucks coffee

I'm not an SME on starbucks coffee but i would think so

 

[Sheerin]

And that proves it is not Canadian as was the original statement????

Well it really doesn't prove anything.  What exactly makes a company Canadian?  That the owners all reside in Canada or that all the profits stay here or what?  Or if 51% of the share holders reside in Canada?

Does it really matter?  I don't think so, the coffee still sucks, the doughnuts are too small, the prizes for Roll up the Rim are cheaper and they charge far too much for what they actually give you.
Oh and for a so-called Canadian company, why was it that during the US' tomato salmonella scare that TH pulled all their tomatoes from their stores... oh yeah that's right, they don't use locally grown produce when it's available.

 

[Privateer]

If you want what I think is the best coffee in the Vancouver area, you have to go to Turks on Commercial Drive.  I've also found that their coffee - which is actually made by a related company called Milano Coffee - is the best I have found for brewing your own coffee at home.  I recommend the "Cafe M" blend.

A number of years ago I, like many other people it seems, felt that you had to order a dark roast (the darker the better) to have a "real" cup of coffee.  But a while ago I realised that I was getting a lot of over-roasted, burnt caramel tasting coffee.  I now avoid Starbucks drip coffee as it seems that Starbucks consistently over-roasts their coffee, and I generally order a medium blend.

Yes I drink a lot of coffee.

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

Serious Coffee in Victoria makes awesome coffee as well