Cold Brew

Seemingly overnight, a new drive-thru named 7 Brew showed up next door to our local supermarket.  A quick glance as I drove by suggested their slogan: “Come for the coffee, come again for the people” is on the mark, with more employees dancing around the drive-thru lanes than making drinks in the petite building itself.  7 Brew advertises an “experience” as much as it does a menu of coffee and energy drinks.  It’s just the latest concept to steal market share from Starbucks.

7 Brew

Did you know today is “Red Cup Day” at Starbucks?  Red Cup Day is the coffeemaker’s nod to the beginning of the holiday season.  Buy a Starbucks “holiday” drink and you’ll also receive a festive reusable cup – more distinctive than the usual white ones.  The red cups suggest Christmas comes early this year, and encourage the purchase of peppermint mochas, eggnnog lattes, and iced gingerbread chais.  Somewhere in all that there might even be coffee.

I admit, the Starbucks Chestnut Praline Latte really is Christmas in a cup.  The drink tastes of the same spices you’ll use with Grandma’s cookie recipes this season.  And on a recent trip through Chicago O’Hare, my wife and I caved to a couple of Starbucks’ ever-popular Pumpkin Spice Lattes.  But here’s my point.  Starbucks is no longer my go-to for coffee drinks.  It never was my go-to either, but there were plenty of morning commutes when I couldn’t pass up a Flat White and a couple of egg bites.  Now I drive by without pause, the same way I’ve done so with McDonald’s for decades.  It begs the question: has Starbucks become passé?

There are signs suggesting we’ve already put Starbucks in the rear-view mirror, even if 38,000 locations still dot the globe.  Like 7 Brew, Starbucks has always tried to deliver an experience as much a drink.  Come on in.  Hang out for awhile.  Even if you don’t, peruse all the “merch” while you’re standing in line.  Chances are pretty good you’ll spend more on logo items and baked goods than coffee.

This year, Starbucks features a 20-oz. “Bearista” cup.  It’s a refillable glass ontainer with a straw and it’s being marketed as a collectible.  You’ll find these bears at your nearest Starbucks for $29.95.  Or maybe you won’t, because they seem to be disappearing as fast as they’re put on the shelves.  If you’re a little desperate, find one on eBay for $500 or more (coffee not included).

To me that’s a good way to describe Starbucks these days… a little desperate.  They’re closing stores without drive-thru lanes, which suggests they’re trying to reduce the money they spend on leases.  They’re laying off retail and non-retail employees, the typical corporate strategy to try to do more with less.  And they’re coming up with bear-shaped cups the size of a Starbucks “Venti”, so you’ll purchase their largest coffee when you wouldn’t have done so with a regular cup.

If you think the “bearista” is cute – and would pay $29.95 for it – how about “Hello Kitty” products?  Coming soon, you can buy a “plush” wearing a Starbucks green apron, and any one of five Hello Kitty containers, from water bottles to ceramic mugs.  Each of these runs you $30 or more (again, without the coffee).  Cats and coffee?  It’s a desperate strange marketing strategy, perhaps aimed at a generation of consumer that seeks something more trendy than coffee in a red cup.

This year, the Pumpkin Spice Latte showed up on the Starbucks menu on August 26th; hardly what I’d call “fall”.  Their Christmas-y drinks debut today, fully two weeks before Thanksgiving.  That’s stretching the seasons a little.  But let’s say I still splurge for a Grande Flat White, a couple of Egg Bites, and a slice of Iced Lemon Loaf.  I’ll pay $20 before I even consider the purchase of a “bearista” or a kitty.  It may be time to move on from the red cups.  Maybe I’ll give 7 Brew a try instead.  $7 gets you their smallest size… even pricier than Starbucks.  No guarantee you’ll find any coffee in that cup either.

(Coming next week: more updates on the LEGO Trevi Fountain!)

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Author: Dave

Five hundred posts would suggest I have something to say… This blog was born from a desire to elevate the English language, highlighting eloquent words from days gone by. The stories I share are snippets of life itself, and each comes with a bonus: a dusted-off word I hope you’ll go on to use more often. Read “Deutschland-ish Improvements” to learn about my backyard European wish list. Try “Slush Fun” for the throwback years of the 7-Eleven convenience store. Or drink in "Iced Coffee" to discover the plight of the rural French cafe. On the lighter side, read "Late Night Racquet Sports" for my adventures with our latest moth invasion. As Walt Whitman said, “That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” Here then, my verse. Welcome to Life In A Word.

18 thoughts on “Cold Brew”

  1. Starbucks used to be my goto place, but in the last five years so many better alternatives have shown up, included a franchise here called, “The Human Bean.” I actually haven’t been in a Starbucks in about six months (and then only because I was on the road and didn’t have time to find something else.)

    My biggest complaint is that Starbucks stopped having raspberry syrup for my lattes. The only explination I can find is, “cost cutting.” so now their saving money not buying raspberry syrup, but have lost me as a paying customer. I went to a local independent coffee house and asked for raspberry syrup. They didn’t have it, but I mentioned how much I like it and the owner said she’d get a bottle just for me. She did and now when I go in and ask for a raspberry latte, the baristia says, “You must be Andrew.”

    I don’t miss Starbucks.

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    1. I’m all about the “local independent coffeehouse” experience, especially after our trip to Vienna and those timeless, elegant coffeehouses. Our local choices are so much better to hang out in – full of people and tasteful decor, instead of the colder, franchise approach like Starbucks. No coincidence, the coffee always tastes better too.

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  2. The Starbucks near our house bought out an independent coffee shop that wasn’t making it. We were sad to see Corporate Starbucks take over but they are definitely our best option. We get take-out on Christmas mornings!

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    1. If Starbucks is your best option, who am I to argue? They still have a good product, but they’ve been spoiled by a lack of competition for years. Safe to say that’s no longer the case.

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  3. My daughter brings dog (gHosT) out to our place once a week for a day in the woodworking shop. On her way here she stops at Starbucks and picks up coffee for the ‘big’ people, and a fruit ‘refresher’ for me. The servers at this Starbucks drive-thru recognize her car and know dog will be with her, so they usually include the free ‘Pup Cup’ (a small cup of whipped topping). Excellent marketing!

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    1. Chick-fil-A does the same thing, Margy – treats for the dogs. Whether it’s a deliberate strategy to keep repeat customers or it’s simply employees loving on animals, I’m a fan. Of Chick-fil-A that is, not Starbucks 🙂

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  4. I think Starbucks isn’t much cheaper than specialty coffee shops these days so it’s not as appealing in that way too. I do like that I know what to expect when I get there and it’s a roadtrip/travel staple. A sweet cream vanilla cold brew is my favorite drink there. Every once in a while I crave it, but we have the Ninja espresso machine so we can make lattes at home without paying the extra dollar for Jon’s oat milk.

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    1. We love our Nespresso like you love your Ninja Lyssy, so it’s no longer the case where Starbucks has distinctly superior coffee than what we can brew at home. But I like your label of “travel staple”. When all an airport has to offer is fast food or Starbucks, we’ll always choose the green/white logo.

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  5. I haven’t bought a specialty fancy coffee in a Starbucks coffee shop since my boss and I moved out of the building where Starbucks was on the main floor. He would buy the coffee for our office, preferring the beans to be from Caribou Coffee Shop, rather than Starbucks. We had an electric grinder at the office and it was just as good. Nowadays, I buy what I call “treat coffee” that you mix with hot water and their flavors are wonderful, but I don’t have them all the time as they are loaded with sugar. I thought it was interesting that Starbucks workers launched their “Red Cup Rebellion” on such a big day marketing-wise.

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    1. Your comment is right in line with the message of my post, Linda. I no longer go out of my way to purchase coffee from Starbucks. There are better (and more affordable) options these days… including what I can make right here at home.

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  6. I must be way out of date as I had to google ‘egg bites’ and they sound good, especially the bacon and cheese one, although it is high is sodium it has 19gm of protein, and now I must visit our only Starbucks and check it out! We mostly have Tim Hortons coffee shops here, one on every corner, but only one Starbucks for the whole city. It’s just not that popular and in an awkward location, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it closed, as some of them are doing. I find their coffee too strong, and too caffeinated – I avoid all those other sugary flavoured drinks, although I did try a Christmas one once and found it too sweet. It’s all so gimmicky….just give me plain black decaffeinated (because of my heart condition) coffee! I really don’t know how those places stay in business now with coffee prices so much higher in the grocery store but maybe they get special volume deals. Did I read yesterday that Disney is giving you back the sports channel?

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    1. I agree with you on the sugary versions of coffee drinks, Joni – no thank you. The holiday choices are an every-now-and-then novelty but I always prefer my coffee strong, with just a splash of cream and nothing else. A well-made cappuccino is hard to beat. Whenever I order a coffee drink at Starbucks or elsewhere, I always get the “do you want flavoring in that?” question, which is a sad commentary on how most people order their coffee these days.

      Yes, YouTube TV restored ESPN/ABC after two weeks off but they lost my business in the process. I’m over on Fubo now, also because Fubo lets you tailor your subscription more to sports channels, which is pretty much all I care about with the network channels these days.

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  7. I have never gotten into the Starbucks habit, even though there is one quite convenient to me. I like plain, black coffee and found that McDonalds version was pretty good, and a lot cheaper than Starbucks. I also never got in the habit of any of their fancier drinks. In fact, I probably have over $100 in gift cards that I just never find the time to use. And if I do, it won’t be on some holiday collectible cup.

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    1. I admire those (you) who can drink their coffee black. I need a tablespoon of half-n-half, but that’s it. No sugar, and certainly no “flavorings” like Starbucks and others have made millions off of. When you’ve had the best coffee the world can offer (ex. Austrian coffeehouses), you realize anything more than a little cream really dumbs it down (perhaps the perfect descriptor of us Americans and our coffee).

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  8. I wonder how much Starbucks has contributed to the obesity problem in our country, what with the high-fat, high sugar drinks they offer? (Actually, can’t blame Starbucks. It’s the customers making the choices!) I also wonder if people ever added up what they’re spending on specialty coffee drinks each year? Give me a full-bodied black coffee, brewed at home–no sugar, no fat. We sometimes choose hazelnut or Highlander Grogg for a bit of different flavor, but I still drink it black–no calories!

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    1. A long time ago I would add sugar (and cream) to my coffee, but now my habit is simply a tablespoon of cream. Can’t quite go full-black. As I was telling J P above, when you get a taste of the very best (ex. Austrian coffeehouses), you realize anything added to coffee takes away from the pure pleasure of the roast. I’m sure Starbucks could remove the coffee entirely from its holiday drinks and most patrons wouldn’t even know! I do wonder how many people have calculated their monthly Starbucks habit and then changed their ways for the benefit of their budget.

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