Coffee Talk (or Cawfee Tawk)
Sep. 18th, 2006 09:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gvdubSo Starbuck's has bought out Diedrich's Coffee (their roasting operation will still be going, but all of the Diedrich's coffeeshops will be transitioning to Charbucks starting in December). Apparently the younger Diedrich is holding to the Hermosa Beach location (Kean's Coffee) for himself, but the rest will soon be more cookie-cutter, over-roasted, sugar-laden, "coffee drink" dispensing Borg outposts.
I admit to having mixed feelings about $tarbuck's. They saved us from Folger's and Maxwell House in the '80s, and I'm grateful for that, but they've created a culture of sameness that's not all that different from what they arose to compete with. There was a time when every town had it's local coffee roaster, and before that, when everyone roasted their own coffee at home (see Sweet Maria's antique roasters to see what folks used to use). Everyone drank freshly roasted coffee most of the time, and quite possibily more freshly roasted than much of what we drink today.
So, does big always mean mediocre? Is it simply not possible to be a Very Large Corporation and not compromise your product and/or your basic principles? I'd be interested in what others think.
I admit to having mixed feelings about $tarbuck's. They saved us from Folger's and Maxwell House in the '80s, and I'm grateful for that, but they've created a culture of sameness that's not all that different from what they arose to compete with. There was a time when every town had it's local coffee roaster, and before that, when everyone roasted their own coffee at home (see Sweet Maria's antique roasters to see what folks used to use). Everyone drank freshly roasted coffee most of the time, and quite possibily more freshly roasted than much of what we drink today.
So, does big always mean mediocre? Is it simply not possible to be a Very Large Corporation and not compromise your product and/or your basic principles? I'd be interested in what others think.
