the coffee is usually swill because they pay their baristas so shitty that they rarely care to make it properly. the beans are just fine, swipe a bag when they ain’t looking and try some at home. Or try this, go in when it’s moderately busy, take a bag off the shelf and when you get to the counter say “hey, i’m sorry these were given to me as a gift, but i don’t have a grinder… would you mind? ..it’s for a flat bottom filter.(or cone or whatever) thanks.” you win.

Mind you, there is a very wide variety of coffee beans and coffee from latin america tastes a hell of a lot different from coffee from africa or the asian pacific. pay attention to what kind of coffee you are drinking, everyone has different tastes. And a bold roasted fresh ground coffee is a lot different from freeze dried pre-ground canned coffee.

Those $5 drinks are the ones bought by bimbos, queers and yuppies …triple decaf venti five pump suger free non fat xtra hot caramel mackiatty..

I worked there for a year, hated it. evil heartless company that might look good on paper buts fails in practice (look at their stocks). I stayed as long as I did, because caffeine is a very addictive drug, and my co-workers were hot. I recommend ya’ll find your local roaster and buy beans from them. get a grinder for $10 bucks, and forget the homogenized artificial culture that greasy snakeoil salesmen howard shultz is peddling.

Granted, like Kero says, if you happen upon a starbucks where there is a Barista in particular who knows what they are doing, and actuslly cares about coffee, they will make a good pot of java. but the intelligent and conscientious folk who work there, usually move on pretty quickly, and just the bubble heads remain who don’t care or even like coffee. When I was there, I was the only one who even liked coffee. everyone else hated it, just liked the frappacinos and sugery milk drinks.

Oh, and as far as the logo/viral sigil goes.. ignorant people pipe up immediately with those words “satanic” and “pagan” ; but sigil magic has been around since we first drew pictures on cave walls. a brand logo, EVERY brand logo, is a spell of massive Intent. sent out into the world by a group of people with a shared will towards it’s outcome. Every time you see the logo, feel a desire for the product it’s connected to and act upon it; You fall victim to the spell.