extra-extra: MALT is back
weekend
edition!*Big shoutouts to Marc, the Indian scout of NYCE, who went into Starbucks this ayem and spotted THE RETURN OF MALT. The gal at the Oak Lawn Sbux sez that the much-missed malt returned THIS Monday (June 13), and is available not just in the beloved, Oprah(ugh)-endorsed "chocolate mocha malt" frappuccino but as an additive to ANY of the frappuccino drinks. (Of COURSE this info wasn't released or issued by a publicist. god forbid sbux should officially inform anyone of new prods.)
*awesome "special edition" banner provided by marc
posted by TG @ 10:53 AM
36 comments
36 Comments:
maybe i'm missing a great treat, but two reasons to avoid starbucks: 1) not to fall into the silly we-are-what-we-drink status trap, and 2) its Wal-Mart-like labor practices. i also hate when the coffee shop "decorations" are displays of over-priced, logo-emblazoned products. I'll stay home with the latest Michael Connelly mystery and a cup of plain black coffee or maybe some jug wine.
boy, i don't get either of Ms.Ery's points. since when is starbucks a "status" drink?? doesn't everybody and his mother go there? as for the employment situation, is this like walmart: starbucks employees get at least $2/hr ABOVE minimum wage plus stock options (which perform amazingly) plus and health insurance for PART-TIME employees.
other reasons i like sbux: its sense of corporate responsibility. 10% of the profits are earmarked for charity, and the company's been praised for its promotion of "sustainability" practices so that coffee growers aren't decimating the planet.
jug wine, i like
do a google search on "starbucks labor."
wow, tg, had you heard that the brooklyn bridge is for sale?
people at work are boycotting starbucks because "they wouldn't send coffee to the troops in Iraq." amazing how many people will believe it just because it was sent to them in an email!
ms c:
I'd like your name so much better if you would break it into two words: claire voyant.
hadn't heard that rumor and it doesn't make much sense. how many grunts have the equipment to brew their own coffee?
anyway, i'm sort of with ms.ery on this, though i feel a bit like a hypocrite. my jeans are mostly by levi, calvin and dnyk. but mainly because target's sizes for adults stop at 6. well, maybe that's not really true. i do think some of the designer jeans are better cut, and it probably doesn't make it excusable that i buy them at a resale shop on oak lawn that benefits battered women. mea culpa.
anyway, coffee drinks are supposed to be the topic. i'd vote for vietnamese or thai iced coffee, presented with those little stainles steel gizmos that almost always stop up, til the server comes over and gives a knowing tap. the point is there is a server (you don't stand in line to order it), the drink is delicious and half or less than starbuck's price. the charm of the places is the cincher.
twisted:
you're probably right. i didn't read all the material closely; guess i am lazy and certainly starbx is better than wal-mart -- tho not the humble worker's guardian angel the co.'s story would have us believe.
i like the starbucks drinks; i do not like them. my animosity is in my bones. the first time i entered one of their places, i felt they were preying on people, on their need to feel hip, and that they were putting forth a false interest in their employees and ecology (just look at the sales displays). i have only been back as work required, twice i think in like six years.
her comments show ms.ery to have grown up during the '50s -- a commie symphathizer and, now, bitter because the coolest brand name her generation had was swanson tv dinners/
i've had oodles of thai coffee (delicious yes but -- $2.50 for coffee+condensed milk??) i remember having thai iced coffee at bangkok city, where, as i waited for the enjoyably ethnic server to bring it to me, a roach climbed across my table. how funky and "authentic" i felt! i chortled to myself about those sbux posers.
sbux: i was in austin for a trip where i hit the sbux @ 6th & congress 3 days in a row. on the SECOND day, the employees already knew my drink ("soy wet cap," if anyone's buyin'). that's no less personal than someone tapping your sludged-up thai. it's all what you bring into it in the first place. MY observation is that the people who call starbucks an evil manipulative corporation haven't actually spent much time there, otherwise they would know better
and emmjay, i recommend that EVERYONE's mother should go to starbucks every day
Teresa: Your fervor and loyalty are admirable (as is your giving us a bonus weekend posting). I think ms.ery is mean to pick on you for touting Starbucks. If only my pension were bigger, I'd go there everyday.
man, i just love everything about washington state
the new york baristas who are trying to unionize claim starbucks keeps them on short skeds, seldom more than 20 hours a week, and understaffs its stores. they want the option of full-time employment.
it's hard to exercise your stock options and live on 20 hours a week.
what's a wet cap? i assume soy means you want the milk substitute
To "too ignorant": There are several Internet site that give espresso/coffee drink terms. A good one re starbucks is www.callihan.com/seattle/coffee/htm. A caution, however: It may make you react like Dorothy Parker's Constant Reader.
Anyway, you're right that soy refers to the milk sub. Wet simply means that you don't want it foamed. In my admittedly slender understanding of all the terminology, I think TG may have been ordering a vegan latte.
And I think those Austin baristos might have got her drink of choice down quickly because, face it, how many customers do they get with blue hair?
does anyone think labor unions are still a good idea? meanwhile, here's a profile of the brand new sbux CEO. gasp: he worked at walmart!
www.sptimes.com/2005/06/18/Business/ A_taste_for_concepts.shtml
soy yes = soy milk. but i have no vegan goals. everyone says we gals should drink soy so i'm doing what i'm told.
wet cap is "wet cappuccino," which means more liquid and less foam than a regular cappuccino (which is about a 1/3 foam - 2/3 liquid ratio. latte has no foam at all.)
but this week the drink of choice is a mocha MALT frappuccino (which starbucks fitfully removed from the menu last year!)
Yes, yes, the MALT. I am salivating for one. Can you get a burger & fries to go with it?
tg: as usual, your postings lead to wide=ranging discussion. nyce is a great blog.
you might want to check on your friend scott at dallasfood.org. i've been checking into the blog pretty often because i was interested in his maple ave. crawl, but he hasn't posted anything since june 13. maple is not the safest street in dallas.
gads. cap and cappuccino; so obvious, i had to miss it. guess ya have to spend around 100 hours and mucho more dollars to really get sbux lingo
Teresa Gubbins: For your comment recognizing that labor unions are completely outdated,I am recognizing you as Texas Citizen of the Week. My close and long-time friend George also congratulates you.
not to worry, cup of joe (may i call you cup?) - just follow the lead of red ennk, who may be a wee bit confused re: exactly what they serve at sbux, but who nonetheless grasps the word of the week: malt
mr. perry, good to hear from you! you got a poker game going on there with j. hoffa? i remember sitting next to you at a swanky foodie event back when you were secty of agriculture. "this pretty boy's going nowhere," i said to myself. do i know how to call 'em or what
LOL, exactly!
twistedlink knows about that maple ave roundup cuz he was a hired gun/iron stomach. too bad he couldn'ta also used his fotog skills to get some cheezy closeups like the ones posted on dallasfood.
we didn't have any trouble on maple cuz of twistedlink's macho stare; he sent the cockroaches running for cover. (if only he'd been along for my vietnamese coffee at bangkok city.)
has anyvone seen my hoosband, donald?
melania: he was here a minute ago. think he ran out to get a sbux malted.
on behalf of archie and his billions of relatives, i want to protest you always placing him/them in a minority restaurant. archie sez he's been to plenty of swell places, and has even followed his newspaper friends into sbx.
if god had wanted us to have more unions, he would have let kerry win last november
i'm a bit surprised by the anti-union stance of nyce contributors. also i doubt that many baristas could make it in the construction business, as suggested by twisted. last time i went in for a latte, a skinny young woman prepared it.
Starbucks' benefits package, especially for health insurance, for part-time employees should be applauded. But if you want to put it to The Man, order a Misto (grande, $2.28). It's regular coffee with steamed milk (or soy, should you be of that persuasion). You get all the panache of a branded cappuccino at half the price, along with the lovely logoed cup that might impress and influence friends, the decorative but useful slip-on corrugated holder to insulate your paw and the egonomically designed plastic cap that conforms ever-so nicely to your pie hole. You can even raid the coffee condiment bar for stir sticks and sugar (or the evil substitutes).
panache is important
is panach like a danish?
My great-aunt Pola had panache, and she was Polish.
where is tg when we need a new subject?
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