Monday, October 09, 2006

Dear Mr and Mrs Starbucks

After hearing one of my coworkers rave about the pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks, I was compelled to try it, despite not really liking pumpkin pie. My favorite fall drink from Starbucks has always been the hot caramel apple cider and will always be.

I give the pumpkin spice latte(i got it with nonfat milk and minimal whipped cream) a B for accuracy. It tastes like a cup liquid pumpkin pie. Every Thanksgiving since I can remember, I always think I want to like the PP, but then two bites into it, I think...man, this is gross. It does smell delicious. This year I am sticking to the pecan pie...well, probably no pie. I am a little sad that I will not be with my family for Thanksgiving or Christmas this year. Due to distance and work requirements, I am averaging making it to Christmas every other year and haven't been to Thanksgiving since I graduated college.

As for price and service, I give the latte a D. $3.75 for a tall(Starbucks smallest advertised size) latte? Ridiculous. I could have gone to Subway and gotten a 6" sandwich with change to spare...a much healthier and filling choice. Also, I requested a SHORT pumpkin spice latte...a cup size that Starbucks does not advertise but offers most of their drinks in for a cheaper price and lower calorie count. And really, most of their drinks are so sweet that I can't drink all of a tall. Well, the man behind the counter(baristas is how I believe they refer to themselves) informed me that a short was not an option. Well, dillweed, the sign for how to make the latte is on the side of the machine which is in open view to me and in fact gives the instructions for how to make it in the short version...2 pumps of the pumpkin flavor and a shot of espresso.

I will not be buying another pumpkin spice latte anytime soon and might return to my boycott of Starbuck's ridiculous prices. Bring Java House to Chicago. I like the independently owned coffee shops much better.

And what is their logo. Is anyone else creeped out by the mermaid-ish girl that is the center of their logo? I AM!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I happen to love Starbucks, so this was a little hard to read, but I do agree with you on some points. They are quite expensive, and sometimes their employees aren't the brightest.

I only wish I would have drank coffee in Iowa City and could have enjoyed Java House.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE the Java House! I was just there on Sunday :) I don't drink Starbucks, and it hasn't been a problem for me b/c Madison has a lot of independently owned coffee shops. I would think that Chicago would have a lot of them too, and I KNOW you can do "research" so locating an independent coffee shop should not be a problem for you.

Starbuck's logo is derived from Moby Dick and she is a two-tailed siren. In recent versions of the logo she has been cropped and you cannot see her tails :(