Before I had ever been into a Starbucks I did not like it – the chain. I was living in Europe and maybe it was the idea of American big business getting involved in something as savoir faire  drenched as making coffee. What do those people know about coffee? I think another aspect of my previous antipathy was the choice. In France you go to a cafe and you order a cafe. Sorry can’t do accents on WordPress so just put them in yourselves. There is some choice. You could get a creme, or an expresso or an allonge but that was about it. What’s all this latte, macchiato, cappucino, iced pumpkin spiced latte, double decaf expresso, pike place roast? How vulgar.

When in California I gently changed my mind. The places were very welcoming, the staff were friendly and fast, there was always wifi and the coffee was great.  What’s more you could buy a tremendous variety of coffee right there and they would grind it for you and give you a free coffee while you were waiting.

Now I think Starbucks is just great and I worry rather about my previous pomposity. Maybe they don’t travel  well, as I realize that before yesterday I had never been in a Starbucks outside the US. Guess what?   Just beside my dentist, hub of all things Okinawan for me, is a Starbucks.

The dragon on the left has just had a cinnamon dolce creme frappuccino

The staff are even friendlier, a mixture of Japanese and Starbucks has to be the strongest customer service cocktail around, the wifi is good, the coffee is great and you can buy all kinds of  coffees which they grind for you.

Why don’t people like Starbucks?

I love Kenyan Coffee