re: #22 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

Also known as espresso. I’m sorry, but espresso is crap. Coffee beans burned to charcoal, ground really fine to guarantee over-extraction, and exposed to temperatures over ~195º F. Any one of these things would produce horrible coffee, all of them together are an abomination.

And mixing this witches’ brew with copious quantities of milk doesn’t help. I never order anything at Starbuck’s except their Coffee of the Day—which is real, properly roasted, brewed coffee—and introduced me to all the different varieties with their distinctive flavors. From what people say, it sounds like Starbuck’s foists inferior coffee on the public elsewhere, but here on their home turf I guess they figure they can’t get away with it. I’d hate to have to boycott them….

I’ve had mix results with them. I couldn’t find a Starbucks in NYC that could brew anything passable. Dallas, OTOH, had a nice one where I had coffee (and breakfast) almost every day.