3 ms·

They make a reliable coffee, which is in many ways more important to me than it being "amazing" coffee. similar to OP, I travel constantly for work. seeing the

They make a reliable coffee, which is in many ways more important to me than it being "amazing" coffee. similar to OP, I travel constantly for work. seeing the big Starbucks logo is a huge comfort. I think one aspect is down to the training. Starbucks employers know how to serve up their mediocre coffee, and that appreciate. I can't count the times that I've been in a random city, decided to try a local place for coffee, and then had to explain why I didn't want to put raw sugar in my iced coffee. There's a pretty key attribute involved in quickly dissolving sugar in a liquid. The "ice" is not one of those attributes. Even places like dunkin donuts fail to train their employees on the sugar dissolving mechanics. Starbucks allows me to order a coffee and then actually drink it, rather than chew it... That's a valuable quality!

brk 14y ago
Agreed... I travel heavily as well, and I can't think of any trip recently that did not include a Starbucks visit (FWIW, Panera is my other go-to). I know what I'm going to get (and not get) when I go there, and the last thing I need on the road is more random variables. When I am at home, I stop in every day at a local small coffee shop that imports their own beans, roasts them, etc. The coffee is WAY better than anything at Starbucks. But independent places can be very hit or miss (as you note). I wouldn't go to an independent coffee shop on the road unless it came highly recommended by someone local. I don't go to Starbucks because it's the best possible cup, I go there because it's the best possible consistent experience.