RSSclover what?
Dec 03
Why Starbucks Sucks Coffee Comments Off
Starbucks is now offering “clover coffee.” From what I can tell, because they no longer brew different blends on a daily rotation, they brew small batches of their different blends to order -- kind of what they used to do with the french press, but now with a different machine. A friend and I went down to Starbucks a few days ago for a mid-afternoon coffee. I generally don’t ask anyone in the office if they’d like me to bring back anything, because frankly, it ruins my chance to leave my windowless office and take a leisurely stroll when I have to balance three different cups on my arm while walking down Brattle Street. But, my friend decided to make the rounds, announce that we were heading to Starbucks, and was asked to bring back a clover coffee. After waiting in a 10 minute line (without the barista offering to start drinks for those waiting), my friend ordered herself latte and a clover coffee for our co-worker. Apparently, neither our co-worker nor my friend realized that clover comes in different blends, as clover itself is not a flavor, so my very loud friend shouted over to me, as I’m at the bar, “Hey! I don’t understand this! What is this? Are there different flavors? Help me!” Now, I wasn’t too excited that this person had tagged along on my midday walk in the first place because she’s really loud and I’m usually too tired to listen to her, and I really didn’t feel like going back to the register to explain the process to her, but the cashier was just standing there, not offering to explain the process, blends, or anything else.
I made my way over to the clover station and told my friend to get any blend. If our co-worker didn’t know clover came in assorted varieties, then she wouldn’t be picky. Apparently, it takes about 5 minutes to make a clover coffee, during which time my friend decided to chat up the barista. In their conversation, which I was not involved in because I would rather just let the poor girl do her job, my friend asked the barista if she liked working at Starbucks. I see this particular barista at least once a day. She never smiles, she never makes eye contact, and she generally looks miserable, so I wasn’t surprised when she answered with a VERY unprofessional “I hate my job… I wish I could quit.” Um, wow. Really? I will go out on a limb and say that none of us absolutely love our jobs. I hate my job most of the time -- but when a student asks how I like working at the university, I reply, “It is really interesting and I’m fortunate to work with such great faculty,” because my response, while ambiguous and not ridiculously positive, is at least professional. After spending 20 minutes in the tiniest Starbucks ever, my friend and I ventured back out into the cold. We made our way through the cloud of smoke on the sidewalk released by Shift Supervisor’s Newport Light, and delivered the damn clover coffee.
