Good Luck to Starbucks This Afternoon

There is a lot of fuss over Starbucks' planned closing of all its US stores for three hours this afternoon (beginning at 5:30pm) for the purpose of retraining some 135,000 partners on "how to make perfect espresso".

Maybe the training will make a difference. to the company's declining stock prices, maybe it won't. But that doesn't mean training is a bad thing.  Or, as some imply, a useless thing.

We think Starbucks baristas get pretty much precisely the training they need to create the drinks that Starbucks makes.  Which also happen to be drinks copied by thousands of independent coffeehouses nationwide - flavored lattes, Frappuccinos and the like.  Let's be clear about this - it's the espresso-based drinks that are getting the attention.  A barista isn't going to influence the taste of their drip coffee as that is a consistent formula of grounds to water (although it would be a major improvement if the coffee was ground fresh for each drip pot like better indie shops do).

Our own Johnny is only a year out of Starbucks.  And he just took fifth place in the recent Mid-Atlantic Barista Competition.  So it's not like Starbucks can't develop competent baristas in that atmosphere.  It's more like they need to remember their employees should act like baristas instead of clerks at an ice cream shop.

Blogging Stocks notes - in our opinion, correctly - that the problem with Starbucks' stock price is not the taste of the coffee.  Most of what they sell contains sugary syrups and other non-coffee ingredients to cover up the coffee taste.  It can be said they created the flavored latte/blended coffee drink category, which is now worth billions of dollars.

Rather, the declining stock price is due to the Sybil-like multiple personalities of the stores that went from coffees to "third places" to music stores to breakfast places as they reacted to short term stock fluctuations and rising competitors like Panera Bread and McDonald's new emphasis on coffee.

A Huffington Post article notes some of things the traning will cover:

Among the various lessons that will be re-taught include how to wipe the steamer wands and remembering to rinse the pitchers and shot glasses every time.

Let's take a look at these seemingly small things and explain why they're important.

There's industry a name for a dirty steam wand - "corn dog".  That's what a steam wand starts to look like as multiple layers of milk bake and cake onto it.  That caked milk continues to burn more with each succeeding use of the wand, imparting that burned taste to the drink being made. 

Now, not all Starbucks shops have dirty steam wands.  We're aware of many that do a very respectable job of purging wands before and after each use to prevent milk buildup both inside and outside the wand.  But some shops - including a few here in the South Hills - have issues with this.

If you're pouring into shot glasses - which is normal for go cup drinks that are too tall to fit under the portafilter, you should be rinsing the glasses after each shot to get rid of any coffee that might accumulate and leave its taste in the next drink.  The same applies to clean milk pitchers, which, as you'll see in the next paragraph, are essential for tasty cappuccinos and lattes.

Starbucks is also going to promote "free pouring" instead of spooning foam onto drinks.  Free pouring is the only way shops like Aldo pour their lattes and cappuccinos.  Latte and cappuccino foam should always be made fresh specifically for the drink being made at the moment.  It should not be reused, resteamed, or have cold milk poured on top of previously steamed milk as reuse negatively affects taste and quality of the beverage.  Yet, many shops (indies included) do this practice. We've seen it at the Starbucks in the Galleria (where we only order short cappuccinos if we're shopping there) where they've had as many as six steaming pitchers of various temperature milk sitting next to their espresso machine.

The Huffington Post article also notes that Dunkin Donuts will reduce prices to 99 cents so that "no coffee lover is denied a delicious espresso-based beverage." 

No word on whether there's a price break on Slurpuccinos at 7-11.

All of this doesn't mean Starbucks is suddenly going to make a superfantastic cup of coffee or an excellent latte.  They're not.  Most of the coffee, in our opinion, is still roasted too dark.  But many, many people find that taste acceptable.  And their espresso parameters are not what we'd consider "good".  But they work for the flavor profile of blended and milk drinks Starbucks makes, which, again, millions of people seem to enjoy.

So we wish Starbucks and its partners the best this evening and we hope that what they're doing tonight is reflected in better consistency at all Starbucks shops.  That should be a good thing for the coffee industry in general and for us in particular.  Like many quality-focused indie coffeehouses, we get far more regular customers from Starbucks than we do from Dunkin Donuts, Denny's or Eat n' Park.

Comments

[Cara]

Rich, since you and Melanie don't have an Aldo Coffee II in the Peter's Twp area, I occasionally stop at the Starbucks there for my fellow employees. I, for one, cannot drink Starbuck's coffee. Entirely too strong!! I'd rather have 99 cent McD's coffee. But when I do stop to order my friends' cappuccino and latte (and having been a barista and kinda know what to look for), it amazes me that the drinks are made with previously-steamed, used milk - sitting in pitchers next to the espresso machine! YUCK!! I really don't know how Starbucks can get away with that! There is nothing like the way Aldo Coffee steams their milk, pours their shots, and then combine the two. You and Mel really need to open a coffee house near my work!!!!