Is Starbucks the rightful King of the Coffee Universe?

[KhunLA]

King of the marketing, for the Coffee Universe.

 

Starbucks (USA) & Amazon (TH) are 2 of the worst chain coffees I've sampled. 

I'd rather drink Moccona 3/1, before the above, or any instant coffee, except Nescafe, as that's just vile.

 

Dunkin' (USA & TH) one of the best, and actually one of 4 other chains I've sampled.   

 

Inthanin is just OK, along with another, always in Thai script.

Bon Cafe, shops, beans & ground coffee is quite good also, though been years since having.

 

I like ma/pa shops, and most are just OK, though occasionally have a very good coffee now and then from them. 

[bunnydrops]

I haven't been to too many SB in Thailand. I find they are a bit expensive here. In the States I have a Gold card. In my town in Oregon they are the least expensive coffee shop, and with the Gold card, you get a free refill that makes it super cheap. But I have to admit they have gone down hill. They used to have two coffee choices, their Pikes Place and a revolving choice (Kenyan, Honduran, etc.). Now just Pikes Place. They did away with the French press a year or so ago. Here I go to Amazon, their special Coffee Amazon will take the paint off you car.

[sherwood]

Never been inside a Starbucks and have absolutely no desire or intention of ever doing so.

[Mavideol]

17 hours ago, Keep Right said:

Anyone that has been to Italy and sampled the many coffee shops throughout the country will realize that Starbucks is watered down <deleted> coffee. My nephew worked for Starbucks for awhile while he was attending University and he also agreed that Starbucks waters down their coffee drinks. Do a search on the best coffee shops in Seattle and you will not find Starbucks listed. 

not only Starbucks, the majority of coffee sold in the USA is "brown water" not coffee,....espresso is coffee

[Mavideol]

3 hours ago, bunnydrops said:

I haven't been to too many SB in Thailand. I find they are a bit expensive here. In the States I have a Gold card. In my town in Oregon they are the least expensive coffee shop, and with the Gold card, you get a free refill that makes it super cheap. But I have to admit they have gone down hill. They used to have two coffee choices, their Pikes Place and a revolving choice (Kenyan, Honduran, etc.). Now just Pikes Place. They did away with the French press a year or so ago. Here I go to Amazon, their special Coffee Amazon will take the paint off you car.

real coffee has NO refills, watered  down brown water they can refill..., making coffee with a filter (1 liter of water with 10-15 grams of coffee)  and letting it down inside a bowl for couple hours and people going for refills, how can somebody call it coffee

[JimmyJ]

I"ve always found Starbucks to be very tasty cappuccino.

 

Insanely overpriced for Vietnam and Thailand, even given the a/c and that people can stay long.

[peter zwart]

SB is, in my opinion, heavily overvalued. But it must be said that not many coffee shops do better. Fortunately I found a small shop in Jomtien where they understand what good coffee is. So they're still here.
 

[Dcheech]

9 hours ago, Mavideol said:

real coffee has NO refills, watered  down brown water they can refill..., making coffee with a filter (1 liter of water with 10-15 grams of coffee)  and letting it down inside a bowl for couple hours and people going for refills, how can somebody call it coffee

Taken it upon yourself to declare coffee, ESPRESSO, & nothing else permitted, eh. Not Greek, French Press, Melitta drip or Indonesia  Kopi (others call that cowboy coffee).

FYI Lots of Starbucks in Thailand do not even sell drip style coffee. Shock, Gasp, Horror! Yes they are supposed to, but as espresso drinks are the main business at many stores, the Thai majority owners have an unstated policy to not brew up their big coffee canister containers, (if the demand is not there). That requires a lot of ground coffee per every brew up. Starbucks keeps brewed coffee no longer than one hour before dumping it and making a fresh pot. That is a lot of wasted coffee if you only sell a cup.

That said, at their most expensive stores, like the Nimmaen outlet in Chiang Mai & yes a number of independent coffee houses are now having specialty Melita drip brew ups. It's become something of a fad among upscale Thais, a separate bar where they brew it up in front of you using those porcelain Melita filters. Good presentation and as they use their best coffee, it definitely works. Of course its not Turkish coffee, nor espresso. 

[bunnydrops]

3 hours ago, Dcheech said:

Taken it upon yourself to declare coffee, ESPRESSO, & nothing else permitted, eh. Not Greek, French Press, Melitta drip or Indonesia  Kopi (others call that cowboy coffee).

FYI Lots of Starbucks in Thailand do not even sell drip style coffee. Shock, Gasp, Horror! Yes they are supposed to, but as espresso drinks are the main business at many stores, the Thai majority owners have an unstated policy to not brew up their big coffee canister containers, (if the demand is not there). That requires a lot of ground coffee per every brew up. Starbucks keeps brewed coffee no longer than one hour before dumping it and making a fresh pot. That is a lot of wasted coffee if you only sell a cup.

That said, at their most expensive stores, like the Nimmaen outlet in Chiang Mai & yes a number of independent coffee houses are now having specialty Melita drip brew ups. It's become something of a fad among upscale Thais, a separate bar where they brew it up in front of you using those porcelain Melita filters. Good presentation and as they use their best coffee, it definitely works. Of course its not Turkish coffee, nor espresso. 

I can't say what they do in Thailand but in the States, the coffee is throw out after 30 minutes. There is even a red light that comes on the container that can be seen by the customers. In the Seattle airport Starbucks put up a table in the outbound waiting room where they put the coffee for another 30 minutes that you could have for free.

[Dcheech]

29 minutes ago, bunnydrops said:

In the Seattle airport Starbucks put up a table in the outbound waiting room where they put the coffee for another 30 minutes that you could have for free.

I have never seen, or heard of,  Starbucks coffee given away for free, especially at SeaTac. An 'outbound waiting room? That would be out at the Gates. Any other directions. Sounds like a mission next time I fly through.

30 minutes it is then, I stand corrected.

 

Edited March 20, 2023 by Dcheech

[brianthainess]

On 3/18/2023 at 10:12 AM, userabcd said:

How does tax enter almost every discussion online nowadays?

 

I think they purchase and sell goods and taxes are charged. They provide employment and employees are paid who pay tax.

I think they also must pay good wages as my step-daughter works for them and managed to get a Mortgage on a new house.

[brianthainess]

They now do a Starbucks instant 3 in 1  

[WorriedNoodle]

On 3/18/2023 at 9:23 AM, LaosLover said:

Starbucks costs more -600 delivered versus 500 in an ultra-slow Thai place around the corner. But it's a bigger serving.

You pay 600THB for a cup of coffee! Lol

[soi3eddie]

Starbucks likes to think they are "king of the coffee universe" but their product is poor IMO. Grossly overpriced too. As others said, it's brand marketing.

My go to coffee is self ground beans brewed in a cafetiere (French press) just a dash of milk and no sugar at home. Next is 7-11 AllCafe Americano which is decent and good value. Followed by Amazon or Coffee Club. Last on the list, and only in desperation, is Starbucks!

 

[bunnydrops]

2 hours ago, Dcheech said:

I have never seen, or heard of,  Starbucks coffee given away for free, especially at SeaTac. An 'outbound waiting room? That would be out at the Gates. Any other directions. Sounds like a mission next time I fly through.

30 minutes it is then, I stand corrected.

 

I wish I could give you a better answer. I found it several years ago while wandering around waiting for my flight and it was still there last time I was there and I saw it mentioned in a write up about SeaTac. You can't see it from the walkway, its around a bulkhead, no sign, just a table, coffee pump pot, Half/half pump, paper cups and stirrers. It has been a year and a half since I was there last. I live in Oregon and my last flights have been routed though SF.

[sidneybear]

Starbucks has all but withdrawn from Australia, except for a couple of outlets in the tourist areas. The local coffee is great, and cafés in Oz also sell decent food, unlike the vile offerings at Starbucks. 

[CLW]

The OP has never tried good coffee if he thinks Starbucks is the king of coffee...

[champers]

On 3/18/2023 at 10:20 AM, markclover said:

No Seven Eleven is the best.  They have a wide range of coffees at the self service area and a fully working bar as well.  That's some serious coffee dedication.  14 baht for a strong coffee.

 

One tip is to add a few ice cubes before you put the coffee in.  Now it is perfect to drink.

 

The Americano is good as well.  Super strong and as black as Jesus.

In Pattaya 7/11 now have 2 outlets with upstairs seating overlooking the beach where one can enjoy a coffee and a cake  .. or two. The small custard tarts, the lemon cheesecake and the banana bread slices come highly recommended. Their coffee is the best too, IMHO.

[Kwasaki]

13 minutes ago, champers said:

In Pattaya 7/11 now have 2 outlets with upstairs seating overlooking the beach where one can enjoy a coffee and a cake  .. or two. The small custard tarts, the lemon cheesecake and the banana bread slices come highly recommended. Their coffee is the best too, IMHO.

Overlooking the sewer outlets. ????

[AmySukwan]

I like Starbucks but it is more the ambience of feeling like I could work there without being disturbed. Now that special place is Wat Muang Mai!

[wombat]

Starbucks failed when they tried to opened in Oz.
Skippy him not easily fooled.
they couldn't compete with the Italian & Greek coffee shops who sell proper coffee.

So in answer to your Q...they aint that.

[LaosLover]

On recco from here, I tried an Amazon coffee, specifying make it very hot. Warm as usual.

 

I think Non-Starbucks places don't heat the milk up. Also: foam off the charts, also room temperature. A brand new indie opened up on my corner, also blah and room temperature.

 

There's a near-hot indie five feet away, so I say let the madcap Thai game of trial and error continue to play out while Starbucks runs over all of them all like a tank. Just by belaboring the obvious and providing hot coffee.

 

Special mention to the terrible coffee of Roaster8 here in Chiang Mai. It has a sort of plastic taste, but at least approaches tepid+, heat-wise. The sitting area is all low, hard, backless benches. No global nomads lingering there. Chinese tourists love the hype that you pick your own coffee beans to order.

 

Reading comprehension award goes to the guy who crows that I paid 600 baht for a coffee.

 

Again: that's for 2 medium coffees, with extra shots, and two breakfast items.  Breakfast items at Starbucks are def substandard. I remember hearing of a Pret A Manger/Starbucks merger and thinking this will rule the world.

 

Poll: Who here eats a western breakfast out/delivered in every day? I suspect that I will eventually go to home meals for health reasons, but on my early trips over here in the 90's, I recall English people eating "all day breakfast" all day.

[asf6]

On 3/22/2023 at 9:06 AM, LaosLover said:

On recco from here, I tried an Amazon coffee, specifying make it very hot. Warm as usual.

 

I think Non-Starbucks places don't heat the milk up. Also: foam off the charts, also room temperature. A brand new indie opened up on my corner, also blah and room temperature.

What they do is warm up/heat up the milk using steam to create a foamed milk, so the milk contains a lot of air. 

 

Another reason it might not be as hot as you would like is because they are probably trying to prevent the milk temperature from reaching a certain level, probably about 65C. That's because the flavour of the milk deteriorates when it is very hot. That's what I have learned from reading about coffee making and watching quite a few videos on YouTube about it.  

 

There are lots of videos on YT about coffee making. A good place to start is with James Hoffman, but there are plenty of other coffee making videos to watch if you don't like his style.

 

https://www.youtube.com/@jameshoffmann

[McTavish]

Sarin Coffee shop in Ubon Ratchathani has been consistently excellent over the 12 years I have visited.  Located on a main road west of the Police HQ and Hospital, Sarin is located at the rear of the Shell servo.  Nice cakes and sandwiches + fast wifi in aircon comfort.

[LaosLover]

Checked out the vids, thanks. I love Ubon, so will def look in on Sarin Coffee.

 

Currently dodging the smoke in Chiang Mai in Kuala Lumpur. So far coffee is hotter than Thailand in 4 out off 4 occasions. 

 

But I just spied a Starbucks around the corner......