I’LL HAVE MINE WITH CREAM, PLEASE

I have been having a dilemma with my coffee as of late.  Finding the right cream for my coffee has proven to be more difficult than it should be.

I drink strong coffee, preferably a dark roast, ground fine for use in espresso machines.  I don’t always make espresso in the morning.  I generally use a drip system with a filter.  The finer the grind for the drip, the stronger the coffee.

I like my coffee with a fair amount of cream, enough to make it a golden caramel color.  This requires more than the “two tablespoon” amount listed as “one serving.”  Recently, I have purchased several different brands of half and half, based on convenience of shopping choices.  Once I had to purchase a non-fat version, which if you don’t already know, is non-fat because of the addition of sugar.  That one was horrible.  I am able to taste the different creams in the coffee, and the non-fat varieties are the worst tasting.  By far, the most reliable has been Knudsen, which is not sold at all major grocery chains.  The Brand X variety generic to the grocery stores comes in at meh.  Some of them are palatable, and some of them are not. I have to tell you, having horrible coffee, especially when I pay the extra for fresh ground coffee, is such a drag on my ability to get my day going. 

Today, I took a short bus ride to get some Knudsen half and half.  Made a cup when I got home.  Best cup of coffee this past week.

Bye Bye, Starbucks. I'm Going To Coffee Tea and Whatever the Name is

Coffee chain Starbucks Corp. is sticking to its policy of letting customers carry guns where it's legal and said it does not want to be put in the middle of a larger gun-control debate.

The company's statement, issued Wednesday, stems from recent campaign by some gun owners, who have walked into Starbucks and other businesses to test state laws that allow gun owners to carry weapons openly in public places. Gun control advocates have protested.

Courtesy of AMERICAblog.

After 16 years of drinking Starbucks coffee (despite my opposition to their business practices over which the consistency of the coffee won out based on my universal travels) I will no longer buy coffee from Starbucks.

I'm not about to "holster up" and "carry my weapon" into my local coffee shop, nor am I going to let the nutcases and the Supreme Court tell me that those that think the 2nd amendment to the constitution allows them to carry arms into my local shopping stores.

Fuck Starbucks and fuck those that think this is even remotely a good idea.

UPDATE 3/4/10: Again, courtesy of AMERICAblog:

IWW Starbucks Workers Union Statement Regarding Open-Carry of Firearms in Starbucks Stores

A healthy and safe work environment is the highest priority of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union. We also believe strongly that citizens exercising their rights under the law are entitled to respect.

Violence against fast food workers and customers is a common occurrence that cannot be overlooked, and Starbucks is no exception. We appreciate the vigorous debate taking place by principled individuals on both sides of this issue. However, to date we are not aware of any efforts by Starbucks to widely engage its workers who are directly affected by open-carry gun laws. We believe an appropriate solution cannot be reached without doing so. We remain open to all stakeholders working toward a positive resolution that respects Starbucks workers' right to a safe work environment.

It seems that the Starbucks corporate guys forgot to explain things to the Starbucks union workers! Safety vs. fucked up gun rights? I think in this instance, Starbucks is going to have to back down on it's latest policy stance of allowing people to come into their stores showing their guns. Stay tuned ...

Starbucks, Live and Learn

Starbucks is revamping, finally. And getting rid of the Breakfast Jack or whatever the fuck it was they started serving!

Originally, I hated Starbucks, mostly because of their business practices. I started out with espresso bars in the late 1970's, and by 1981, almost bought one in Cardiff (which is still there, and I kick myself in the ass every time I think about it). In 1984, I worked a friend of mine's place, The Go Between, in Silverlake (shout out to Deborah whom I haven't seen since then, and ran into at my uncle's funeral a couple weeks ago -- post on the funeral coming up over the weekend). Starbucks would open a shop up right next door to a competitor, for god's sake, and drive the independent out of business!

However, all of my travels in the late 90's and early 21st century presented a dilemma .. how to get the same damn quad espresso, half caf, over ice? I cannot tell you how many times I simply threw the drink in the garbage in front of the person who made it for me! I mean, come on, how hard is it to pull four shots, two of them decaf? And how many of those places actually bought cheap ass espresso beans? Sheesh. Finally, I had to cede to Starbucks. It didn't matter if I was in Atlanta, New York, Denver, Detroit, any fucking city in Florida, or even Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (which, by the way, my friends swore no Starbucks existed, but I found one!), I got the same damn cup of coffee ... four shots, two decaf, over ice! And it tasted the same everywhere (although it didn't cost the same, cough cough).

Yeah, in recent years, Starbucks turned into the Wal Mart of coffee, but glad to see they are going back to their roots. My bad for converting, but hey, I'd kill for good coffee, damn it!