I specify the temperature of my cappuccino all the time. Usually 130, 120 if it's hot outside. They always accomodate my request. Otherwise it is usually too hot and you have to wait 20 min before you can drink it.

Wonderfully unusual: In South Lake Tahoe, there's a Starbucks store inside one of the main casinos (can't remember which one), and it's the only smoke-free area in the entire casino!

I've never had so much coffee in one weekend...

nom de guerre is Sam. Mine and other 5,000 customers, that is...

I got a good cup of coffee in one once! It was the MOST unusual Starbucks experience I've ever had!

Give me the vast urns of Turkish coffee and samovars of sweet tea, available in trains and parks throughout Russia, over Starbucks any day!

certainly have a lot of dingle dorks working there

Stopped by my local work Starbucks and it was in and out in about 2 minutes. This is unheard of.

This location is awful; the lay out sucks so lines become masses of bodies blocking the registers and the waiting/pick-up area, the area behind the counter is too small for them to store everything they need for the rushes so they are always running to the back for something, turn over is kind of high so you can not count on the staff all being proficient. They try hard and are nice, but it has to be one of the worst stores around. I have actually quit going as often as I would otherwise go due to the hassle the store presents.

Oddly enough, it is the only one can get to quickly. Seems like in every other place I have lived/worked, there is the obligatory SBUX on at least one corner.

My most unusual was about 10 years ago, I was third in line. Guy at the front of the line orders 24 double caps to go. The barista slammed the cups in his hand down on the counter and said "are you kidding me?" No, he was not kidding.

I still want to know how he balanced six of those drink trays.

Not as far as I'm concerned. I would also have visited a Starbucks no more than about 3 times if the ones in Japan didn't offer their dessert in a cup concoction of Matcha Frapuccino (like a powdered green tea milkshake).

This means I only frequent the Japan Starbucks as this beverage doesn't exist in London.

So this brings me to my only unusual Starbucks experience.

Pleased that I could drink this in Toronto I made my order. What I got wasn't at all 'standard' but unbelievably vile.

Turns out that they sweeten it for the North American Market by adding Melon Syrup

They were kind enough to give me another one without the syrup, but it was still foul as the powdered tea had gone stale (by this time I didn't have the heart to complain). All this guff about being coffee experts and how important it is to keep the coffee fresh, but matcha in a frapuccino (which I understand as a much higher profit margin) is completely overlooked. And yet it's so obvious when it's stale as it gives off such an unpleasant odour.

To be honest, this wasn't even an unusual Starbucks experience

Just a a disgusting Starbucks experience

That's a nicer description than what I was thinking!

I went into one where some mean lady glared at me for talking on my cell phone! OMG like I thought this was THE only place where you could do that!

MM

Milk has different properties and does taste different if it is only steamed to 140 degrees. It is also easier to drink more quickly.

I would not be surprised if the barista re-steamed a small pitcher to his request as it is not that unusual.

BTW the regular temprature of steamed milk is 160 and no I don't work for starbucks.

slightly related to topic, I have always had a sort of love hate relationship with Starbucks.

1) the term barrista bugs me. Anyone I had ever met with that on their resume when I was a recruiter always seemed to come off like the type of person who would do really well in developing those canned responses we all hate getting from large marketing companies (and airlines) when we are, say, writing in to complain about missing miles or something, or why our bags are still lost.

2) it's always... well, calm-stressful in there. Lot's of people who NEED their coffee or else, but the place does have a sort of semi relaxed and cool feel to it, what, with all the couches and cool appliances displayed.

3) what's your apartment like if you need to hang out in an expensive and crowded coffee shop all day paying to use your laptop there? Then again, I always thought it was nice to smell coffee all day too.

4) My father in law actually said he thought the Starbucks coffee we got him tasted like real European coffee. He is Dutch, meaning coffee runs thru his blood (seriously, he does drink about 12 cups per day, even though those are non American sizes.) But my fear--and ultimately his even though he does not yet realize it, is that Starbucks plans to invade Holland and open stores up all over the place. Currently, the king of really great koffie over there is the very tastey Douwe Egberts (http://www.de.nl/) and lemme tell ya, a Holland that somehow allows Starbucks to win out over DE is not going to be the same tiny country! I fear for this. I really do. (PS: you must note that any faction of that brand sold in the US has never been as good as the real stuff you buy in Holland. I always pack in so many of those vaccum sealed boxes that US Customs has to stop and ask me questions every time. the stuff costs a lot less too, and I know I can get the imports here but they charge more than triple for it so I would rather fly over to see family again... to a land that is currently still free of the green Starbucks logo and style of doing business in the USA!

I actually got a "thank you" once for throwing my change (prolly $.80 on a single coffee) in the tip jar.

This was when I would actually tip those ingrates....

I'm glad you added the disclaimer. I've only tried it outside Holland. I wish I could remember where. I thought it was thin and bitter.

I feel the same ambivalence as you re:Sbux. In addition to your observations, my last job involved dealing with them as a customer. On the one hand, they were hell to deal with (they didn't like paying top dollar for software that only worked some of the time - imagine that). On the other hand, we'd have declared bankruptcy a lot sooner without their money.

yes, good coffee done wrong is like having a guinness poured from a tap that has not been cleaned or serviced for a while. Speaking of that, in FLA once, my friend who works for Guinness got us all a round of beers for free when he offered to clean the taps of the bar we were in. The bar manager tending there that day was very pleased!

As for Starbucks they follow rules too much and this also bugs me. It's a policy-ridden company, much like an airline. The dif is that they currently make money. But policies can stink. Here's one that bothered me on a recent experience:

"I would like to get to these coffees with no covers, please."

Well, the barrista put covers on anyway and when I said I did not need them, she shoved them on there anyway exclaimning to me that they HAD to put them on for liability purposes because, it's our policy sir...

Hmmm, what's worse: Them fearing me possibly suing them in case my hot coffee spills when I take it out, or them giving me a useless plastic top that makes some of my tastey foam stick to it which I will instantly toss in the trash, thereby doing my part to ruin the environment?

I would like to sign a waiver saying I wont sue but I guess companies like this are targets, eh?

I think like Microsoft, they do some of it to themselves.