Because tastes vary, I am sure there were people who didn’t like Starbucks even back when there were fewer choices, but one never routinely heard complaints about them, especially not at the level of intensity that has become commonplace these days. I don’t get the hate-on people have for Starbucks, anyway–it’s a luxury item that can easily be avoided by, you know, not buying it.

The only thing I’ve ever liked from Starbucks is their cappuccinos. And those only after dumping a bunch of raw sugar into them.

And even here in Seattle in the 80s and early 90s there weren’t nearly as many choices as there are now; I believe Starbucks’ success hellped raise the coffee standard as much here as it did anywhere else. (By the way, until they became a huge company with shops all over the world NO ONE ever complained about their coffee.)

Coffee back then was pretty nasty. And then Starbucks popped up in Boulder. And suddenly, all these other indy coffeehouses started doing things like cleaning their machines, buying decent beans and grinding them themselves, and actually making what we now call decent coffee.

Yeah, SBUX burns the crap out of their beans. But 20-25 years ago, most people in this country thought “French roast” and “Vienna roast” were flavors of General Foods International Coffee. Coffee was either instant or Maxwell House.

SBUX raised everyone’s boat by convincing people that a $3 coffee was worth it while a $1 cup of drip wasn’t. Put that in your latte cup and drink it.

Plus, in other cities, you don’t see the plethora of indie coffee options that you see in Seattle. It’s pretty much Starbucks and then a bunch of podunk places whose coffee is even worse. Sure, Starbucks is predatory in staking territory, but the tepid competition makes it even easier for them.

When you have a strangehold on market share all over the globe, you might as well print money.