Starbucks — Restaurant in San Jose

Long, my friends. Long has been my quest to find a Starbucks that did a true and proper pourover.

I visited 19 individual Starbucks locations to see if the baristas there knew how to make a real and true pourover coffee.

A few came close, but not that close. Your comic is deep, very, very deep in the lore and laws of coffee. About the bean, he does not make a scene.

However, when you have been getting swill for years and years and years, you kinda want to shout when you find something unswill. That is a word.

And the big chains have been serving us swill for a very, very long time.

You just don't know it until you have had a coffee so clean and clear and round you hesitate to put cream and sugar in it - for it is sweet and creamy all by itself.

Yes, specialty coffee association professionals know the time has come for the coffee revolution, and you can find a taste of it here at this location.

Now it has been tough educating Starbucks baristas Bay wide they were making pourovers wrong. In fact the corporation won't admit it. Because it takes time, precious time to make a pourover properly, and time is money. So you won't get a proper pourover at Starbucks no matter what people, even the guys in the black apron tell you.

Because they've been (gasp!) indoctrinated by the corporation.

That never happens!

But for you, I persevered. I pitched and reasoned and wheedled and begged and at this location and this location alone, I was heard!

And it all began with Chris the assistant manager following with actual interest, as opposed to the couple dozen baristas that didn't want to work any harder than they wanted to. Sound familiar?

A great cup of coffee is work, but you can break that work down into the scientific steps necessary to obey the laws of coffee physics and brew something most of you have never tasted before because you didn't know it existed.

Yes, it is time to break out of the lull cream and sugar have traditionally lulled you into and climb to the heights of the coffee taste future.

Your comedian commands it!

Go there, find Chris, ask for a pourover. The word has spread. Other baristas at this location are taking an interest and paying attention because they are learning from me what you should also know..

Coffee done right, is better than wine. Goes bigger than wine. Tastes better than wine. That's right, I said it. You heard it here first.

Let the pourover liberate you from sugar and cream and fruit syrup driving you straight to diabetesville and cut your annual coffee budget in half!

It's true. Pourovers are the future of coffee. But only, and very only, if they are done right.

One day, you will say, "Thank you Lone Comic. I never knew coffee could taste that way and you have made me happy. I will buy your strange, dark comedy albums now.."

The LC

UPDATE 12/6/2018

Chris and the other employee who worked these drink processes to perfection have left. Most likely to the Hypergamic toxic environment created by the manager who simply doesn't know, and doesn't care how to make a proper pourover coffee.

I have come to this store a few time since they left and have had what I would call "Standard Starbuck's Service" slow, apathetic, lack of engagement and all the other things that mark the decline of a corporate culture.

I now have to go to my old store to get halfway decent coffee before work. I am downgrading the rating on this store to what it deserves until I see improvement worthy of an upgrade but like the Alameda store at South Shore, all the good people have left and the airheads they have hired simply can't grasp the subtlety of making good coffee.

But, they can follow corporate guidelines and make mediocre coffee. My only upside is that these kinds of lame stores chain wide for Starbucks reinforces the Specialty Coffee Indie movement of which there are but few locations in the Beast Bay worthy of...

I came to this Starbucks and ordered a venti green tea. The initial transaction and customer service was good. (Thank you beautiful redhead). Before leaving I asked to refill my cup with iced water. They asked if it was ok if I got just water because they were running out of ice. I complied. I understood. I went to the restroom and realized when I took a sip that the water was way too warm and thought maybe I could ask for a just a bit of ice. The employee called out for Owen and I realized that Owen received a venti cup of ICED water! So when I asked for a bit of ice I was met with hesitation. And was told just a little. I said "yes, yes just a little. Just like Owens. Just a little is fine". I think that everyone should be treated equally. If you're running out of ice don't pick and choose which customers get cold iced water. It's 100* outside. Just a suggestion. I believe in equality. I would understand the bad customer service if I had asked in a rude way or if I was just being completely mean to them but that was not the case. I believe it's important to respect all employees and service workers. I simply would like to be met with the same type of...

I’ve always loved the friendly, welcoming vibe that Starbucks is known for—which is why today’s experience was so disappointing.

As I walked into the Cottle Road location with my dog, I was met not with a smile or a “hello,” but with a sharp, immediate, “Dogs aren’t allowed in the lobby.” There was no pause, no greeting, and no question about whether my dog was a service animal—just a cold dismissal.

To the employee who said that: I understand policies are policies. But there’s a way to enforce them with basic kindness and respect. You never know someone’s situation, and jumping to conclusions or speaking with attitude doesn’t reflect the Starbucks standard of hospitality. I wasn’t trying to break any rules—I would’ve appreciated being treated like a human being first.

The interaction left me feeling unwelcome and embarrassed, and I ended up walking out without placing an order. That’s not something I ever expected from a place like Starbucks.

I hope this feedback encourages more empathy and professionalism in how you approach customers—because the way you speak to people really...