Last year I experience the Starbucks gingerbread latte for the first time. As much as I rag on their coffee I have to admit that they can come up with lattes and macchiatos that will knock your proverbial socks off. The gingerbread latte is one that I like a lot.

Thing is, I can’t get them anymore. They closed the Starbucks locally that was good and left the one where all the really lazy people work open. Not sure how that worked but it did. Anyway..I figured it was time to learn how to make my own copy cat gingerbread latte.
If …read more

First of all..yes I do rag on Starbucks a lot.  I have reasons for it besides personal, middle aged angst and the need for a scapegoat. So if you are feeling all Starbucks-Warm-Fuzzy then you probably just want to move on…

Starbucks Red is an awesome idea. It is an African blend and for every (::cough:::overpriced::::cough) pound of it you buy they send a dollar to support treatment for adults and children with Aids in Africa. This is not the only way to support that cause, nor is it the best way. So if that is why you are buying it …read more

The Pumpkin Latte at Starbucks is one of the few drinks of theirs that I really like. Personally I could drink it all year (and I do because I recreated the Pumpkin Latte recipe) but they bring it back in the fall. I got an email this week that it had returned so I may have to go hunt down a Starbucks just to enjoy it. I just like other people making it for me!
Oh, and don’t forget the extra whipped cream!

Here are some cool recipes for the Pumpkin Spice Latte:

MY Pumpkin Latte recipe
Crockpot Pumpkin Spice Latte which is an …read more

Did you have to look twice at that title?
Starbucks has announced that it will raise the prices on some popular drinks like Macchiatos and Fraps and lower the prices on coffee and some latte to continue to try to compete in the new economy driven coffee wars with the likes of McDonalds, Sonic, Panera, and others. You can read the whole article at the NY Times.
For a lot of people this is where the rubber will meet the road. I figure three things will happen:

You know, I just realized that I don’t think I have mentioned that we have a Starbuck’s at the VA hospital.
You have to understand that the Veteran’s Admin. Hospital in Dallas is the size of a small nation. In fact, I think my whole family could fit in there. Sadly, the parking lot only has five parking spaces (warning:gross exaggeration) but that is another story for another time.
What they do have is a Starbucks, and a food court, and a department store, and a couple of boutiques. Yes Virginia, the VA Hospital is the ultimate in Super-Stores.  You can meet …read more

Do you remember the old movie, The Three Faces of Eve? It was about a woman with multiple personality disorder, and if I remember correctly it was based on a real woman.

It seems to me that Starbucks is either experiencing adolescent angst or a corporate wide multiple personality disorder…or maybe they are grasping at straws.

Starbucks has just released a news thingie (yes I know, very professionally put: thingie) that they are removing the artificial ingredients from their baked goods and replacing them with all natural ingredients.

Just remember folks, all natural is NOT the same as organic. However they are promising the following:

No artificial flavors
No artificial trans fats (LOL! ALL transfats are artificial)

No artificial dyes
No high-fructose corn syrup

I think that is a great step for them. They are even giving recipes for a couple of their items. You know what I would like to see them do? Seriously? I would like to see Starbucks and …read more

I just learned that Starbucks is having to recall 530,000 coffee grinders. Apparently they are defective and they fail to turn off, or turn on unexpectedly and the result has been some pretty serious hand lacerations. You can find out  if your grinder is one of them at the Consumer Product Safety Commission. They go by the names, Seattle’s Best and Starbuck’s Barista.

Let’s play three guesses where these are made. Ready? When I count three just shout it out….one…two…thr…….Yep China.
Now, I don’t want to say that the Chinese government has a furtive terrorist plan to subdue the entire  United …read more

I was reading this article about Starbucks in Reuters with great interest, Green or Greenwashed?
Frankly, I am not sure that any large company can ever be green. No matter how much they try their very existence as a corporation will preclude them being environmentally friendly.

Green belongs to the small, local coffee shops that use “for here” cups and buy their organic, shade grown, bird friendly coffee from a local roaster or roast it themselves. Green belongs to small, family owned companies that operate in communities, support the local communities, and refuse to grow past a certain, controllable point.

My family and I watched Bride Wars last friday night. We thoroughly enjoyed the movie.  I was reminded how people can get really bent out of shape from silly things that seem important at the time.

Well, move on from Bride Wars to Coffee Wars.  Starbucks, Panera, McDonalds, and Dunkin Donuts seem to be in a hand to throat battle over your coffee dollar.  Don’t you feel important?