I have no beef with Starbucks. They are single-handedly responsible for making better coffee culture possible in America. As recently as when I was a kid, instant coffee was still considered a viable option. The swill that was served in gas stations and diners across the country was perfectly acceptable - as burned, weak, and vile as it was. People were drinking coffee for the kick, not for the taste.
Starbucks came along and made coffee cool. All the grungy corner coffee shops in the world couldn’t have done that. Most were primarily concerned with effictively expressing angst and making sure that every talentless hack with a guitar got a chance at open mic night in front of the piercing and tattoo crowd lounging about on used sophas and reading Nietzche and Camus.
Starbucks kicked it up a notch. They brought ambience, consistency, and the wonder of espresso drinks to the masses. They toyed with the varying flavors of exotic coffees from far away places like Sumatra, Ethiopia, and Brazil. Their drip coffee, the first time you had it, seemed strong enough to take the chrome off a trailer hitch. After a while though, you learned to realize that it was simply brewed correctly, strong enough that you could begin to sort out the unique flavors of different origins and roasts, and packing enough punch that the bittersweet taste would linger deliciously after every sip. Starbucks was baptism by coffee for many Americans, including me. Without it, I would never have taken another step.
Then I discovered Murky Coffee, the third-wave java stylings of one of the beautiful bean’s masters, Nick Cho. Suddenly, I had found the big leagues, and there was never really any going back. Coffee could be beyond bitter or bold, it could taste like sweet merciful heaven in every foamy sip of your latte. I could even handle espresso straight once I learned the magic of fresh, perfectly roasted beans.
CEO Howard Schultz announced the 3-hour closure starting at 5:30 p.m. local time Tuesday to energize 135,000 employees.
He wants baristas to share their passion for making espresso, or as he says, “to pull the perfect shot, steam milk to order and customize their favorite beverage.”
I hate to laugh, Howard. You’ve done good things for the coffee lovers of this world. But your baristas are not baristas. They run super-automatics that do everything at the push of a button. They don’t grind, tamp, and pull shots one at a time the old fashioned way. They don’t understand that beans should never be served beyond two weeks after roasting or they become bitter and flat. They don’t realize that the signature Starbucks “burned” flavor hides many of the sweet subtleties of the coffee, subtleties that can only be nuanced out of the finicky stuff with the right grind, pressure, water temperature, and finesse.
Starbucks can’t meet these meticulous standards because Starbucks is too damn big. It takes a local, small, specialty producer to get the soul of espresso. Stick with what you’re good at. You’re never going to be pulling perfect shots.
