Singing Starbucks Praises

There is often little to find charming about taking a coffee at Starbucks. Before I left New York I went to Barnes and Nobles to read and often had a coffee to justify my reading books and magazines I had no intention of buying. I noticed that unlike during the surge of Starbucks popularity however many years ago, when their coffee slogs steamed giant vats of skinny milk and pumped serving after serving of espresso grounds into scoops Starbucks baristas were now sticking a cardboard coffee cup on a ledge and pressing a button similar to what they do at McDonald's when you order a medium coke. I also noticed my cardboard coffee cup felt lighter and when I opened the lid to add sugar there was hardly anything in there. Bummer, those expensive coffees were overpriced but at least they were American style super-sized. Today, at least in the States you get a European sized coffee in an oversized cardboard cup.

But not so in Paris. I never dreamed it possible, but in Paris, Starbucks is where you go for cheap, ahem, yes, I said it, I meant it, cheap coffee. Or should I say inexpensive? When Rebecca and I met we had a coffee at Starbucks instead of going to the typical Parisian cafes that sell coffee for 5 euros in a coffee cup the size of a double espresso. At Starbucks you paid the same 2.80e but you got three times as much. And unlike in America, they're still making in the old style fashion by hand- no button pressing which means my cup felt heavy and the foamy milk was pushing out through the drinking whole.

It's not that I want a huge coffee, I don't need a huge coffee, but I value the value- half the price for three times the size. Does it tickle me a little that Starbucks is as popular in Paris as it is in America, well, a little. Remember when I wrote about the American Valentine's cynics- it seems even here the Parisians bear no burden by camping out at Starbucks and enjoying a corporate coffee. The French, ugh, gotta love em.