In Praise of Starbucks!

I love Starbucks. This article is a simple interpretation of why I love Starbucks, along with some pretty cool facts about Starbucks and coffee in general. I'll try not to get too evangelical, I promise.

Originally I was able to experience the rare excitement of a Starbucks visit only occasionally, whenever my travels would take me to Seattle. In those days, the only stores they had were in their inaugural city of Seattle. I really looked forward to those trips! From those days to today, my Starbucks experiences have been fun and comfortable.

It's a bit hard to explain, but I get a deep sense of internal satisfaction whenever I walk into a Starbucks store. It takes me back somehow to my years growing up, when the smell of brewing coffee held a promise of good conversation and relaxation with cherished friends and relatives. Interestingly, I never actually drank coffee myself until after leaving home for college. Yet that promise existed in those earlier days anyway, just from that coffee smell alone. Entering Starbucks gives me an instant rush of that same feeling: an impression that comfortable good times and good conversation are about to happen. That, at least to me and apparently to a lot of other folks, is the "Starbucks Experience."

I know there are a lot of people out there who don't care for Starbucks - I often wonder why. There is so much to enjoy even if you don't like the coffee. Of course, we all have our own opinions ("flips and jollies," my fellow broadcaster Bob used to say). If Starbucks isn't for you, I'm not here to challenge that, only to offer a possible alternative observation.

Starbucks gets it's name from the coffee-loving first mate on Captain Ahab's ship in Moby Dick. It has become a worldwide social phenomenon. The Starbucks experience has changed the way people perceive coffee. Young and old alike see Starbucks as a home away from home where one can enjoy a premium non-alcoholic beverage along with friendly interaction with business colleagues, friends and acquaintances. Starbucks made drinking coffee more than a beverage. It turned coffee into an experience, complete with a comfortable atmosphere and a variety of coffee and alternative beverages to choose from.

The concept of an "experience" as opposed to simply an activity has almost mythical power. People have asked me "Why on earth would you hang glide? It's dangerous!" or "Why do you ski? Looks like too much work to me." Well, in both of those cases as in so much of our extra-curricular lives, it is not the doing that is the appeal, it is the EXPERIENCE! Hang gliding is floating above the earth in a world of your own, and skiing is enjoying the incredible beauty and awesome silence of snow-covered mountains. Neither has much to do with thrill-seeking or physical exertion. It all has to do with simply being there....

Want to become a millionaire? All you need to do (even in today's awful business environment) is invent a new Experience for customers. If you think about it, all sorts of businesses, from MacDonald's to The Gap to Disney World to a bazillion others, made their mark in the world by creating an Experience! Starbucks is just another example of that paradigm in action.

Coffee originated in Ethiopia long ago. A goat herder noticed that his goats couldn't sleep after eating a strange berry. If this "goat insomnia" had not happened, fresh roasted coffee might not exist in the world today. Coffee is now one of the world’s most widely traded commodities. Starbucks imports coffee beans from all over the world.

Coffee really became popular in the middle of the twentieth century. By 1940, large coffee processors such as Nestlé, Kraft General Foods and Procter & Gamble had developed instant and decaffeinated coffee as well as regular ground. Brand names like Folger's and Maxwell House became household names. Supermarkets were the distribution channel for almost all coffee sales in those days.

In the succeeding years, and especially aided by the "Beat Generation" of the 1950's, the Mom-and-Pop type coffee shop slowly began to emerge, including espresso based establishments. These independently owned coffee shops adhered to a specific, comfort-based business model that encouraged stay-and-relax instead of buy-and-run.

Starbucks saw an opportunity to apply a corporate spin on this "comfort" business model. Within the Starbucks world, stores operate as owner operators within a defined niche of the market. Starbucks saw the potential for a corporate interpretation of the small-shop environment, and explores that potential very successfully to this day. Starbucks Annual Report has talked about realizing threats in the market - larger corporations with established lines of distribution and lots of money. This rising threat is actually one of the reasons Starbucks persues a corporate strategy of constant expansion. They are also quite aware that their success is due in large part to their excellent job of promoting the distinctive Starbucks brand, those fabulous Espresso drinks, and of course, world-class employees.

You would think the coffee is Starbucks' greatest asset, but that's not true - it's the employees! They are trained to be friendly, courteous, and willing to admit when they're wrong (a rare phenomenon in today's retail world).

I still get an occasional urge to go down to my local Starbucks and fill out an application - just because those employees seem to be having so much fun!

Ever wonder about the differences in those Espresso drinks? By the way, it's eSpresso. not eXpresso, although today the error is so common that both spellings are beginning to be accepted.

Espresso drinks can be divided into four categories: Espresso, Latte, Cappuccino, and Americano:

• Espresso shots served alone comprise the first category - the hardcore stuff.
• Latte is a composed of espresso shots that are mixed with steamed milk, then topped off with frothy milk foam.
• Cappuccino is a latte with less milk and more foam, combined more homogeneously.
• An Americano is espresso shots and hot water mixed, with no milk at all (unless you add it yourself).

To the Starbucks barista (coffee preparer), pouring espresso is something of an art. If poured too fast from the spout into a shot glass, the espresso’s will have a weak flavor and a thin consistency. A shot poured too slow means the grind is too fine, and the flavor will be bitter. The perfect shot looks like syrup pouring from a spoon. It is dense in consistency and has a caramely sweet taste.

You don't really have to do coffee at all to enjoy a Starbucks experience. Chai Tea and Green Tea Lattes really taste fabulous. In the tea drinks, concentrated tea is substituted for espresso. And of course, there is always regular coffee, as well as bagels, cinnamon rolls, biscotti, and other snack and lunchy type foods.

This article looks a bit like a Starbucks commercial, but that isn't my intention at all. It's simply a description of what I consider to be an unusually pleasant experience from a business establishment. When the experience reaches a certain personal level, it is no longer business (just buying a cup of coffee), it is a mini-adventure onto itself.

That's what Starbucks is to me.