Coffee has become a very important part of our daily lives. The coffee industry in the UK has become a significant money-spinner – £730 million was spent on drinking coffee in the UK last year.
According to an industry source, coffee is the most popular worldwide drink, and although the USA drinks about one third of all the coffee exported in the world, Scandinavians drink more coffee per head than anywhere else. 400 billion cups are drunk worldwide each year.
Today The Reporter is in Starbucks, Hanover Street, Edinburgh
The good thing about Starbucks is that it is always the same.
The problem with Starbucks is that it is always the same.
But this morning there is a bunch of Spanish schoolchildren in one corner (too many of them even for three tables….) a happy, squealy baby in another and then they are belting out the latest CD which you can buy, just to add to the atmosphere. So don’t come here for a quiet coffee experience. The mix is always eclectic – business people, kids, mummies and children.
The coffee of choice this morning is a grande Americano in a takeaway cup – although I am sitting in.
Today was a little different from normal in that there was a maintenance man here. I show you this photo as it was alarming – not only was he on a working platform without another employee in attendance but he was simply cleaning the air conditioning fan onto the floor – or in one case on top of a child’s high chair….without cleaning any of the debris up.
Good points
1. Good coffee whether you opt for the Americano or the Latte – and they will do it for you in exactly the way you choose. So you can ask for the Grande skinny latte, to go, wet and extra hot! Also good for the teadrinkers among you – they offer a good selection of teas.
2. Array of seats available from comfortable squishy ones to tables with wooden chairs for working at.
3. The familiar layout is good. You know there is internet. (Except this morning when the BT Openzone is simply not playing ball. The internet is free if you have a Starbucks prepay card. Which is another way of making it very convenient to go there. You know what to order before you get there – and the quality is consistently good.
Bad points
1. Noisy environment not exactly conducive to work or rest….relatively cheap so it does entice teenagers and parents with children. So if you have become child-phobic in your old age then you should avoid! Also a little hot – so whatever the maintenance man did he did not help!
2. The food in Starbucks has never been great. The choice is universal worldwide. Muffins, granola bars which are pretty tasteless. Sandwiches which are simply expensive. No soup. The mugs in Starbucks are just too thick and clumsy. They are probably very robust for the purposes of the dishwasher. But in the Reporter’s view they need to change them. Too heavy. Too thick.
3. Staff. Everything depends on the staff. They are reasonably well trained in Starbucks but occasionally you get the odd rogue employee who is downright rude or slow…. And they are often to be heard having that important conversation that all employees now feel is essential. The post-date rundown of what happened and who said what to whom…. The conversation which involves all their friends by name. The other conversation which centres round the staff night out and when the next one will be. None of which includes you and none of which gets you served any quicker.
