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Taylor DworakLaura PerryEnglish 10010 November 2014The Starbucks Experience Starbucks has been happily serving customers for over 40 years and started as one single store in 1971 in Seattle. (Our Heritage) The company remains successful today attracting a diverse population, all with one thing in common, the love for a quick caffeine fix and the classic Starbucks coffeehouse taste. From the small quaint coffee shop feel, to the quick service, and a beverage guaranteed to be made your way, Starbucks keeps coffee lovers coming back for more on a daily basis. I explored the Starbucks on State Street to view Starbucks in a different mindset and uncover the hype. Upon entrance into a Starbucks café you are greeted with the aroma of freshly ground coffee and espresso beans, warm steamed milk, and of course a line. Depending on the time of day or the occasion the line can get quite long but that doesn’t hinder any Starbucks fans. In fact at times during my visit there were 15 or more people in line and all customers endured the wait for their caffeine fix. The service is relatively fast at this coffee house with warm and sincere workers, but your wait in line allows you to take a gander at the bakery on display. In a refrigerated case they have croissants, bagels, muffins, breakfast sandwiches, scones, tarts, Danishes, breads, cake pops, bars and beverages that include organic juices and milk and many other selections. Along with tempting bakery sides to go with your beverage of choice, Starbucks sells many of their own products such as mugs, cups, gift cards, signature Starbucks coffee beans and assorted blends, tea, and even Advent calendars. Once the wait in line is over you are brought to the register in front of the menu that spans across the back wall. The coffee, espresso drinks and tea, perhaps the most likely to be ordered, are dead ahead with the price and amount of calories next to the name. For frequent coffee drinkers the price can be a little steep. Mentioned by Charles Plassy in Starbucks Won’t Tell You from the Wall Street Journal, Starbucks has basically trained a generation of coffee drinkers who don’t blink at paying $3 instead of 99 cents for a cup of joe. About a three to four-dollar drink a couple times a week adds up quickly. Frappuccino’s, smoothies, and Refreshers are off to the side a bit with holiday advertisements of the famous peppermint mocha and gingerbread latte in between. The holiday drinks draw in customers for a limited time before they are off the menu generating more business, by allowing customers a short time slot once every year to purchase these drinks. After ordering the customer is asked their name and it is written on their cup. This makes for a more personal experience instead of, “number 23 your order is ready.” Then there is a herding area to wait for your drink. The waiting area includes numerous coffee essentials such as napkins, coffee cup sleeves, sugar, stir sticks, creamer and a large cork board advertising local concerts, events, volunteer opportunities and more. Once your name is called along with the name of your drink you are free to stay or go. Starbucks has many long tables for studying but it can be noisy at times with the baristas calling out people’s names, steaming milk or grinding coffee beans all floating through the air at once. The space can also double as the perfect place for a date or catching up with friends. The coffeehouse is inviting with its upstate, artsy, yet homey atmosphere it conveys with, “a design meant to make customers comfortable. Most Starbucks stores mix upholstered chairs and sofas with hard-backed chairs around tables.” (Larkin) This shop and many others offer free Wi-Fi as well. This particular Starbucks is a deep red with chocolate brown couches and wooden tables. The combination of the dim lighting and natural sunlight give it the classic coffeehouse atmosphere as well as a mix of furniture for those who wish to stay and chat, get some work done, or simple relax for awhile. And it only makes sense that this Starbucks displays their campus pride including a sign next to the waiting area featuring Bucky Badger that says “Welcome Back Badgers” and in addition an artsy Camp Randal plastered on the wall, but still sucessfully maintaining the classy atmosphere. It is safe to say there is no age limit for Starbucks who attracts students, parents, adults, children, teenagers, families, elderly and many different ethnicities of all age. Recent media has used Starbucks to popularize the phrase “ basic white girl” referring to any Caucasian teenage girl, preferably with Ugg boots, leggings, and maybe a scarf carrying the staple, a Starbucks drink (see fig.1) Fig. 1. The ideal outfit of any “basic white girl.”In BuzzFeed’s article 25 Things All Basic White Girls Do During The Fall, a visit to Starbucks to “get on that Pumpkin Spice Latte grind” is first on the list. The “basic white girl” is a frequent customer at many Starbucks including this particular one with many students on campus. Although I try not to think of myself as basic, I am guilty of being a Starbucks lover myself. The combination of the coffee drinks, atmosphere, and service make it a place worth revisiting.According to the official Starbucks website they also advocate for being “a third place”. Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman, president and chief executive, wanted “a place for conversation and a sense of community, a third place between work and home.” (Larkin) Starbucks seems to be one of the only coffeehouses that strive for this perfection and comfort for their customers luring them back one at a time. They also claim that their mission is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.” (Larkin) But can this be done with just one cup of coffee?Starbucks has mastered the art of brewing coffee and espresso drinks, and needless to say their classic recipes make it hard for other coffeehouses to replicate the taste and keep customers coming back, as I have tried my favorite drink at other cafes and none seem to compete with Starbucks. The official Starbucks website takes pride in telling you “exactly what is in your drink” on the official Starbucks website for example the Pumpkin Spice Latte, a holiday classic, has simply sweet pumpkin and the spices of fall with steamed milk, espresso and sweetened whipped cream. The website keeps their description very vague with adjectives that distract from the exact ingredient. The “sweet pumpkin and the spices of fall” from the pumpkin spice latte have been criticized by health professionals and food writers saying, “the drink features too many ingredients they consider unnatural and potentially harmful.” (Passy) Among the harmful ingredients is Caramel Color Class IV whose byproduct has been identified as a possible carcinogen. The broad descriptions of the drinks neglect to tell the whole truth about the ingredients and how safe they actually are for the consumers. Inspiring and nurturing the human spirit is done definitely not by handing out carcinogens in a cup marked especially for you. Though Starbucks may have a few things like this to fix we have become according to Caffeine and Conservation a “caffeine culture.” That being said, the United State is the leading coffee importer and the second leading export from developing countries, some of those being Brazil, Columbia, and Indonesia. When we import large amounts of coffee beans, it is taking a toll on these countries, because “expanding coffee production usually requires clearing forests for new plantations.” (O’Brein) Along with this organisms lose their habitat that live in these forests. Our coffee consumption is creating environmental issues outside of the country, but according to our current fads and trends coffee is not leaving anytime soon. The coffee industry is popular amongst many ages of people, which is working to Starbuck’s advantage for life long customers as they keep luring us in with the classics and holiday drinks. As long as we continue to overlook the price, a few chemicals here and there, and a little deforestation in foreign countries, Starbucks will continue to be a great success. So where your next cup of java will come from is ultimately your choice. Works Cited "Cute Clothes." Pinterest. 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 8 Nov. 2014. <, Stephanie. "What Makes The Starbucks Coffee Experience Special?" Food Editorials – The Yummy Food Guide. N.p., 2014. Web. 09 Nov. 2014.Passy, Charles. "... Starbucks Won't Tell You." Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition ed.Sep 28 2014. ProQuest. Web. 6 Nov. 2014.O'Brein, Timothy, and Margaret Kinnaird. "Caffeine and Conservation." Science Mag 300 (2003): 587. Print."Our Heritage." Starbucks Coffee Company. Starbucks Corporation, 2014. Web. 05 Nov. 2014."25 Things All Basic White Girls Do During The Fall." BuzzFeed. BuzzFeed, Inc, 04 Sept. 2014. Web. 08 Nov. 2014. ................
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