"You can fool some of the people some of the time -- and that's enough to make a decent living." - W.C. Fields
this post was submitted on 01 May 2026
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Where are living in a time that having a coffee is considered a luxury, and people are falling for it
To be fair... Most of their beverages have very little coffee by volume. They're almost entirely cream and sugar syrup.
Even taking into account the density of espresso vs other brewing methods.
It's not even good.
That's the real problem. I make espresso at home and the quality (using moderately priced gear and beans) is far superior to what we get at Starbucks. Maybe for $9 they'll make something that can compare to our 50¢ shots.
To be fair, you aren’t paying for labor or anything overhead on your latte at home. Input costs for Starbucks is only about 10% (ie $0.90 on that $9 latte)
Which is probably less than you’d pay when you account for the beans and milk but deduct the disposable cup
It's interesting that the prices at Starbucks in Mexico are almost exactly the same as those in the U.S. This despite the fact their labor and overhead costs in Mexico are substantially lower and their competitors charge far less.
I think Starbucks prices are whatever the market will bear.
Yeah, CEOs that talk about $9 coffees are expensive.
It's bad, even
I know someone who works at Starbucks. Employees are offered a free 1 lb package of coffee every week as a perk. He doesn't even take it, and gets his coffee from a gourmet coffee club.
He still sometimes drinks Starbucks coffee when he is there (he gets them free) but talks about how they could improve the taste.
Ngl, I'm fucking blind because I saw the notification for your response pop up and thought "oh fuck yeah, I want a terabyte of coffee!"
Ahm. Yes.
I haven't had Starbucks in a long time, but most coffee places need to use lighter roasts, grind more fine, distribute way more even, pull slower shots, and probably shorter shots, too. Even medium roast to me smells like ash from the bottom of a fireplace, now. Once you smell it, it's hard to unsmell. Even if the other flavors are good, that overbearing ash is often too much. A little is okay, it gives it a toasty quality like a fire roasted marshmallow... But I don't want to have to mentally wade through a burnt peaty bog of musty old spiderwebs for a little tiny peak at hollow essence vaportrail of "coffee" with the sweetness of an off-season unripe tomato.
Unsure if he is just that out of touch, or completely lying out his ass. Either way not someone who should be running a company...
He commutes by corporate jet and forced RTO.
He's out if touch.
Woah there panda... Starbucks bought a private office for him near his house that's exclusive to him so he didn't appear to be a giant hypocrite. See fellow rto employees, I too have to commute everyday.
And I shall continue to boycott them for being horrible
“So, regardless of where you’re stationed in those income cohorts, we want to make that experience worth your while. And what we know is what’s definitely something that drives that value is to be able to have a great seat, have a great moment of connection with a barista.”
Really highlights how parasitic this company is. We need free public spaces and real community, not a simulacrum designed to wring money out of you.
If people can afford to buy their coffee at Starbucks, then it is an affordable experience by definition. No one is holding a gun to their heads to make them go there.
I don't care for Starbucks, I don't even like coffee, but people are free to make up their own minds where to spend their money.
He kinda looks like Neil Flynn.
I can get an entire container of instant coffee for $9 which makes over 30 cups. They are selling convenience, and people with poor time management and planning buy it. Every once in a while if you're doing something not routine I think it's okay, but if you're going to Starbucks every day then you're burning your money.