Starbucks tried their infestation tactic in my own country, where they open stores on every street corner to try to choke out the oppositions. It was a tactic that failed miserably, and those dreadful places are now few and far between.

It's not a matter of taste, it's a matter of quality. The worst coffee on the planet is that coloured water that US diners sell; the stuff that lurks on hotplates waiting for servers to find a new victim to inflict it on. In these places, when I see a sign that says "bottomless coffee", I regard it not as a promise but as a threat.

As with wine there are standards that coffee can be judged by. I've stopped visiting the US for now, but I ceased drinking coffee when I used to go there, it wasn't worth the disappointment.