Boutique coffee is all about nuance- it's like Scotch, or bourbon, or tobacco. You get this particular sack of beans from this tiny coffee producer in the middl

Boutique coffee is all about nuance- it's like Scotch, or bourbon, or tobacco. You get this particular sack of beans from this tiny coffee producer in the middle of nowhere and you've roasted 5lbs of it just so and you then grind it just so and you then prepare it just so with an exacting process and carefully controlling your variables of time of extraction and water temp. Starbucks cannot and does possess the ability to harness that subtlety because they operate on a huge scale. They roast their beans to burnt in order to drive out the differences between beans sourced at different plantations because they have to offer a homogenized product across all of their stores and all of their retail offerings. Every cup of coffee at every Starbucks across the entire world has to taste exactly the same because that's what customers expect[0]. If I want nuance I go to a local coffee roaster and ask the owner what's good that day. If I just want a caffeine fix I can go to Starbucks or, better yet, just drink the crappy stuff at work that's free and load up on the sugar and cream. I don't go to a college rager and expect to find Springbank (fancy single-source Scotch); I go and expect to find Natty Light and Yuengling and, in fact, I expect those offerings because I'm not going to stand around and compare tasting notes, I'm going to get drunk and have a good time. Similarly, I go to Starbucks as a mid-morning break at work so I can have an excuse to get up and walk around and get something caffeinated I can sip at my desk while doing other things; I'm not expecting the coffee experience nor do I want it, I just want to get my buzz on and go about my day. Additionally I think this move by Starbucks is putting even more pressure on small boutique coffee shops and potentially marginalizing them even further because now casual consumers can just go to Starbucks and get what they think is a "boutique experience" when, in fact, their money and their time would be better spent going to the actual boutique coffee shop (Edit- amyjess pointed out that this is NOT the case! http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/hey_wait_a_minute/2007/12/dont_fear_starbucks.single.html http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/hey_wait_a_m...). Not to mention a potential ripple effect in coffee pricing where Starbucks could be able to strong-arm the market and drive small specialty coffee growers out of business like Wal-Mart and the enormous pickle jar[1]. [0]https://www.reddit.com/r/Coffee/comments/119vnt/question_regarding_consistency/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Coffee/comments/119vnt/question_reg... [1]http://www.fastcompany.com/47593/wal-mart-you-dont-know http://www.fastcompany.com/47593/wal-mart-you-dont-know