Starbucks' Closing Of Stores Is 'Just The Beginning,' Says CEO

Unions are like any entity that get too big to have proper oversight. The same people railing against unions and political money had no problem with the Koch Brothers shoveling money to other states political campaigns. Unions at their fundamental core protect workers and processes. At the end of the day people griping about Unions and leadership are the same as people who keep electing their crooked ass politicians. "You are the union" is the same as saying "the people get the government they deserve. "

 

I think Duncan donuts makes a really good cup of coffee.

 

This doesn’t really make sense because the macchiato doesn’t use the same beans as if you order a coffee. The macchiato uses shots of espresso (not sure which roast). The coffee uses a drip machine. If you want a good cup you ask for a pour-over that is whatever they don’t have already out (I.e. if the sign says dark roast, you ask for a French roast, if it says French roast, you ask for a dark roast).

I do find them mediocre overall but over years were consistent. I’ve had a few recent cups that indeed were bitter or “off” tasting as you describe, but my guess is they are having issues with supply chain like everyone else or someone is messing up in the store. I don’t think they intentionally make it bitter for these other drinks, or if they do it would only be the one roast.

On a related note, they used to have quite a good selection of different roasts and a special brewer that could brew single cups. I think they called it the “Clover” and they had all kinds of small batch coffees to try. Unfortunately nobody must have bought those, they no longer offer such selections (except maybe in a few rare stores) and they generally got rid of those machines to make room for “nitro cold brew”. Not long after that they started doing crap like the unicorn Frappuccino and it was all downhill from there.

 

I may have taken a liberty calling it a macchiato.

 

Yeah, my son is a Duncan man

 

You might have meant Frappuccino, some of those are straight up candy. Not sure what they use to make those frozen things. Not a fan, although they do have one that is just straight espresso and milk (no whipping cream or any nonsense), if you make it a Triple shot it’s pretty good on a hot day.

 

I actually almost did call it a Frappuccino but I wasn’t sure it had a hint of a bean in it.

 

It's hardly unusual for SBUX to close stores and prune the herd year over year, especially during a downturn.

Starbucks to close 400 stores

Starbucks to cut up to 12,000 jobs, close 600 stores

16 stores isn't even a rounding error at this point.