Wow. That's a lot of vindictiveness coming from someone who supports a corporate behemoth like Starbucks, which is interested in crushing local, independent cafe culture.

So many alternative places in this city to fillup on caffeine or Izzy and you choose Starbucks...

That's lame.

Possibly the first time L.I.Z. has used all-caps for a whole paragraph. And for good reason too. What a dumb way for the Starbucks employee to handle the situation.

If the news side were smart, here's another D@L worthy of a full front page story.

Somebody alert Al Gore.

Dear Jay C, Have you ever considered an anger management course?

As my local coffee roaster back in St. Louis used to say, "Friends don't let friends go to Starbucks."
For me it is never too hot for coffee. No cream, sugar, syrups, foams, or any of the rest of that stuff. Strong, black, hot coffee ground fresh with Indian Monsoon beans from Baltimore Coffee and Tea.

The point, j cee, is, love 'em or hate 'em, it's the corporate behemoths who can make an impact on issues like recyclcing. Remember that it took McDonald's 30-plus years to finally agree to abandon their styrofoam carry-out containers. Imagine how many hundreds of millions of those containers would not have been used had McD's decided to go to bags for carryout a couple of decades earlier.

Who cares if Starbucks doesn't recycle? I would have done the exact same thing in that instance. I hate to side with Starbucks, because the whole concept of paying $4 bucks for a coffee is a scam to begin with, but I don't anyone cares that they don't recycle. I don't recycle either, and I never will.

Nothing is wrong with going to starbucks, people start learning about getting better coffee from a place like starbucks then they go on from there.

ALSO

When you are trying to find a god damn cup of coffee that isn't in a gas station when driving long distances you will be damn glad to see a starbucks. There are some very awful stretches where the only coffee you can get is at a gas station.

But yep, gotta agree that Barista's behavior S***s.

Maybe the employee wanted to point out that fact so that the customer would say something. I've been in stores (and worked in them, too) where customers would be told about certain practices so that they could complain about them to have them changed.

Guys,
The 'Bucks does not care for much except profit. Support your small local coffee joints. Trust me, its better brew.
Swing by Patterson Perk or The Daily Grind to see what I mean.

My, my, my.....The sandbox is a little edgy today. (:

I would take the coffee at Sheetz over Starbucks.

And I miss those styrofoam boxes at McDonalds. The wrappers they use end up sticking to all the cheese. This was not a problem with the stryofoam boxes.

If I seem a little angry it is because I am. For those who remember, my Rockfish gefilte fish project was today. Not good....not good....especially when the rockfish I bought was $20 a pound.

Tell us more. EL

ONE WORD: zeke's.

Also when a starbucks moves in next to your local coffee joint it actually boosts the business of the local coffee place because people actually get tired of waiting at the *$ they go into the other place boosting their sales. So Starbucks actually fails at being a shop killer, they're a gateway drug to better more impressive brews.

My goodness I don't think Liz realized that we were going to get steamed (hah get it) about *$.

Patterson Perk's coffee is so-so (and they are so unfriendly in there). Continue on down Eastern to High Grounds. He roasts his own, and it is nearly as good as the stuff I roast myself.

(Starbucks got me started on good coffee, many years ago, but they've gone way downhill.)

EL- I believe it is time to revisit the rules, espcially #4.The barbs recently towards you, especially from the seemingly self-righteous
are not civil. I am sure you can defend yourself, but you are too decent and fair person to descend to the appropriate level. I therefore propose at the meeting of the Sandbox that we review the rules and make some amendments. Since anyone can have a blog, your blocking them would not be censorship.

I enjoyed the Kenya coffee (I forget what fancy name they had for it) Starbucks had a long time ago. But not a big fan. Stuff is too bitter.

EL, loved the post. It should be in caps.

And Jay C. should chill out.

1. Starbuck's coffee s***!!!

2. Recycling glass isn't really "green."

3. OTH... Recycling plastic or aluminium saves energy AND money!!

Well, call me a Philistine, but I don't think Starbucks coffee is bad, especially when there is one right next to my gym--so handy as a post-workout reward (and a tall skim latte is only 90 calories). I don't know if they recycle glass, but they do recycle their used grounds this time of year by bagging them up for customers to take home to use in their gardens. And you don't have to pay $4 for a cup of coffee--there are cheaper options. I do patronize an independent coffee kiosk M-F, but there isn't always one nearby when you want your daily jolt.

Fransesca,
Do you have any facts to back up your statement? Any examples here in the Baltimore area? I find your comment interesting because of a conversation I over heard at Baltimore Coffee and Tea the other day where a customer was complaining about the wait for her fancy coffee and stated she wished she had gone to Starbucks because they are much faster.

RoCK sorry to hear your rock gefilte fish adventure was not good. Under another thread someone suggested a thread for food items that are better bought or home made (oh, that was me.) This seems to be a great example of an item better bought than cooked. Prime rib of beef (especially if you're cooking for one or two) is another better bought item.

The definitive take on Starbuck's was delivered by Jackie Mason who compared the chain with the coffee shops of his New York youth where a waitress would come with a steaming pot for refill after refill -- at no extra charge. At Starbuck's, he pointed out, you wait in line (that costs more,) sit on an uncomfortable high stool (that costs more) and clear your own area (that costs still more.) If they made you brew the coffee yourself, Mason observed, they could make a fortune.

I have to laugh out loud at the people who think I'm the one who should "chill out." Sorry folks, but I'm not the one who's YELLING in this thread.

Seems that a certain number of you wear rose-colored glasses and profess a certain amount of idolatry for Ms. Large that prevents you from any sort of critical thought regarding her writings.

Unless all you want is just a love fest...

Regardless, I will continue offer a critical voice.

So, I had my usual workout and trip to Starbucks this morning, and I asked if they recycled. The very nice barista explained (apologetically) that because they are in the city, it costs them to recycle. Does anyone know if that is true, and if so, what can be done to change it?

Even if it does, you'd think with the image the company is trying to promote, it would do it anyway. Whole Foods does. Very strange. EL

Mr. Jay C., I just posted a nice comment about you (I'm reading out of order) and then I come to this 10.23 post. What you consider a critical voice is little more than a snipping, bitter voice that is not offering any useful thought or information. Yours must be a singularly unhappy life and I have real pity for you.

I think Jay C's tone is more acerbic than "angry" and it seems he is critiquing a behavior (patronizing a mammoth chain instead of a local business), not making a personal attack on EL.

I have to admit that my first thought on reading this blog entry was, like Jay C - "Gack! What is EL doing at Fourbucks!!?!" not concern as to why Starbucks doesn't recycle.

If we all agreed on everything, and if we all wrote in the same style, this would be a boring space indeed. I often find Jay C's lively style and direct critique refreshing and thought-provoking.

Please continue to offer "critical advice," Jay C. It makes for livelier reading, even if it may seem a bit peevish at times. But understand, as well, the reason for this "love-fest." A good journalist has created a fun-filled, free-wheeling blog on a subject that interests a lot of us. She keeps coming up with intriguing new threads. And she monitors our comments regularly (presumably at the expense of her own free time) so that we all get to speak our piece. What's not to "love"?

My problem with some commenters is when I am unable to find any posting with a positive tone. If every posting is negative then people just start discounting what you have to say,even when there is some validity to what you are saying. When that happens it is time to "lighten up." This blog is a big sandbox and there is room for everyone. We don't want to frighten people from participating because they are afraid that they will be attacked for having a different view. And now, that being said, I must add that I like the regular coffee at just about any purveyor, even Mcdonald's. Doesn't say much about my taste buds...rofl....

Does Jay C. have a competing blog?

Mark unfortunately as a newbie to Baltimore I don't have any examples but I did see it happen at where I lived in Texas at a place called Common Grounds. Bucks tried to buy them, then tried to put them under and the Commons is still a happy little place with a fantastic cowboy coffee.

I've also read several articles as to what they call the 'Starbucks effect' which is the failure of the bucks to put places under but rather boost them instead.

And Jay C I don't think its the critique that people are taking umbrage at, its the tone. We all try to play nice in this pool.

I am new to the Baltimore area also. Maybe for us newbies a top ten of local coffee roasters, who sell retail, would be a good resource.

I know in St. Louis several local roasters have survived the Starbucks invasion but I don't know of any whose business has increased because a Starbucks opened next door.

When I read Francesca's comment about Starbucks being good for indie coffee joints, I immediately thought of an article I'd read some time back. Seems reasonably logical to me.

Ooo! Coffee talk. All opinions are based off of either 1) Drip coffee black (0 calories for those of you counting)
or 2) the occassional macchiato (with none of that crazy flavor syrup crap).

Places that are good and I like

1) High Grounds - Roasted on-site by people that are passionate about it, if maybe a bit wary of being compared to Starbucks when it comes to the espressor drinks (I've yet to get a macchiato without being warned that it doesn't come with caramel, to which I always respond that it's the crema I'm looking for).

2) Daily Grind - not entirely local, but very good - also, the Canton location sells Dangerously Delicious Pies, and there's nothing wrong with that pairing.

3) Patterson Perk - Cool place, they didn't kick me out for reading the copy of The Watchman sitting on their shelf. Good cup of coffee, my wife adores their hot spice chai tea latte.

4) Zeke's - It's the brand that everyone seems to know in Baltimore. I think they might trend towards the darker side of roasting than I exactly love, but I'd never turn down receiving a pound of Guatamalean from them. They can easily be found on Sunday mornings at the JFX farmer's market. Just look for the only line longer than one for the Pit Beef.

To kind of tie in to the drink & recycle threads:

Retirement Planning

If you had purchased $1000.00 of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth $49.00.

With Enron, you would have had $16.50 left of the original $1000.00.

With WorldCom, you would have had less than $5.00 left.

If you had purchased $1000 of Delta Air Lines stock you would have $49.00 left.

But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer/wine one year ago, drank all the beer/wine, then turned in the cans/bottles for the recycling REFUND, you would have had $214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to Drink heavily and recycle.

Let people you care about know... And tell them to Start Now!!!

I wonder how much you'd have if you had purchased $1000 of Starbucks stock?

Rosebud - very attractive numbers there, but what recycling refund? As far as I know, we don't have one of those here in Maryland. And if you've ever seen the Seinfeld episode... the numbers don't work on trying to redeem out of state...

Recycling refund? You mean all those bottles and cans we set out every two weeks are worth hard cash? Why aren't enterprising souls beating the county trucks to it and rolling in the dough?

Seriously, there was a time when someone stole the leaf bags set out in the fall--guess they really wanted to make compost.

I know of several restaurants in town that would like people to believe that they're "eco-friendly" (including a fairly new one that's been discussed quite a bit on this blog) that don't bother with recycling. It's time for this to change. All restaurants and bars in Ocean City have been required to recycle cans, glass and plastic bottles for at least 12 yeards now. Maybe Mayor Dixon should get a little more bold than just selling pretty yellow cans with her name prominately displayed on the side...

Dahlink - Do you in/near Lutherville. My mother may be the culprit. She use to make me and sibs. comb the neighborhood and "steal" leaf bags for her compost. It was very embarassing. She also made us pick dandelions (flower and leaves) and then we had to eat them. Gack.

Kitkat (love the name, btw), not too near Lutherville, but in Baltimore County. Tell your mother that I was told that once the recycling bags are set out by the curb, they technically belong to the county, so you could get in trouble for helping yourselves! I was also told that it's illegal to include food scraps in the composter in Baltimore County unless you have special worms. I am still wondering if the worm police will come and inspect my compost bin.

Now being made to eat dandelions might be good for your health (I think it's considered a "tonic") but I'd gack, too!

Do you think the County would really have a 7, 8 and 10 year old arrested for "stealing" bags of dead leaves. Maybe not 40 years ago, but certainly today. Maybe Mom knew this fact and it was her easy way of getting rid of us and if that didn't work, knock us off with dandelions.