Strollerderby : starbucks

Starbucks: No Decaf for You! (After Noon)

KeriF — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:25:00 GMT

Is Starbucks dismissing decaf drinkers?

Starbucks announced that it would stop brewing decaffeinated coffee after noon as part of an effort to save $400 million by September.

Doesn't this seem a bit counterintuitive? I mean, if you're affected by caffeine, don’t you want less of it as the day goes on and you get closer to bedtime?

Well, apparently not. “For many of our stores, the demand for decaf is greatly reduced in the afternoon,” the company said in the statement. “With our current standard of continually brewing decaf after 12 p.m. regardless of demand, we have seen a high amount of waste.” Last year, Starbucks started brewing fresh pots of coffee every 30 minutes.

Never fear, decaffeinaphiles, you can still get your daily fix. Just ask your friendly barista and he or she will brew up a fresh cup, just for you. As long as you're willing to wait the four minutes it takes to brew.

When the Times Call for Frugality, What Goes? What Stays?

Shannon LC Cate — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 23:00:00 GMT

The Sunday Chicago Tribune reported responses from readers on what they would and wouldn't be willing to give up in tough economic times. (Interesting that they assume everyone can pick and choose, isn't it?)

It seems people are ready to cut Starbucks loose and the occasional automobile. I sympathized with a woman who couldn't bring herself to imagine giving up buying books. I have the same problem. I know the library is free, but I like to hold onto my books and squirrel them away for future reference. (Like the woman in the paper, I'm an academic too, which makes me feel entitled to own my books.)

One woman wouldn't give up her red wine. I found that interesting as my partner and I often congratulate ourselves on the money we save by being virtual non-drinkers. You go to library and drink your wine. I'll enjoy my own book and a cup of tea.

What would you give up? What wouldn't you? Do you have the choice, one way or another?

Palin: Women Who Don't Support Other Women Go to Hell

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:49:00 GMT

It's not a good sign when a potential president fouls up a famous quote, particularly when she's reading it off of a piece of paper and when she picked it up from a Starbucks cup earlier that morning. At a California rally yesterday, Sarah Palin told an enthusiastic crowd, "There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't support other women."

She was misquoting Madeline Albright, who once said, "There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't help other women." In this case, "help" and "support" may be polar opposites.

Palin goes on to wonder how "a comment like I just made, how it will be turned into whatever it will be turned into tomorrow in the newspaper." Well, I'm going to let you, the people, turn that comment into whatever you turn that comment into after you watch this video.

Photo: mlive.com

National Organization for Women President Endorses Palin

Church Sponsors 30-Day Sex Challenge, Parents Rise to the Occasion

Kelly Mills — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:40:00 GMT

Doug and Lorena Webber have gained a small measure of fame for answering a challenge at their church. The Relevant Church asked married members to commit to have sex every day for a month, while single members were supposed to abstain. The idea was marriage improvement and so on, and while I'm not a religious person, for once I'm considering a conversion. The Webbers have a toddler and a newborn, so you know, thanks for making the rest of us look bad, guys.

What was the response to their 30 days of marital magic? Their phone was ringing off the hook, which is the last thing you need when you are trying to meet a challenge. Doug was offered free coffee at his Starbucks, someone asked for his autograph, and people he hadn't heard from in years got in touch with him. It sounds like it was all just short of strangers forming a high-five line on the street. And the couple report that their marriage did improve, that they communicated better, and they learned about each others' needs (no, not like that, I mean the need for honesty and time together.) Hey, maybe we could do a challenge like that here! Um, but let's start next month, because we're tired.

Pregnant Woman Attacks Bartender

Kelly Mills — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 22:34:00 GMT

This is a super extreme case, and I'm totally not justifying this woman's actions at all, so make no mistake about that. I don't think anyone would recommend drinking in pregnancy to the point where the bartender cuts you off, or getting violent and seriously hurting someone as a solution, so what happened here is totally not right. But when I read the story, I couldn't help but think about how people are always giving you dirty looks for drinking coffee or tsk-tsking about what you do when you are pregnant, and how the hormonal rage makes your eyes cross, and so on...

Anyhow, a bartender refused to give a pregnant woman another drink because she'd had enough already, and when the woman sassed back, the bartender told her she wasn't supposed to be drinking anyway. The woman flew into a rage and smashed a bottle over the bartender's ear, then smashed a glass on her head and tried to climb over the bar to attack her and had to be restrained by another person. The bartender had to go to the hospital for serious injuries. So if you think you overreacted when you growled at the Starbucks barrista who refused to serve you your morning latte, hey, there's worse.

Kids and Coffee: Is Your Child a Ca-fiend?

makeitadouble — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:01:00 GMT

Since our oldest son was two and a half years old his morning breakfast routine has been the same: on the couch in his pajamas, the TV turned to PBS, a waffle or ½ a bagel in one hand and a sippy cup filled with PediaSure and a splash of coffee in the other. Initially the shot of Folgers was just a way to trick him into drinking the PediaSure since he’d been begging us for months to have some coffee.

At the time he was only in the fifth percentile for weight and the doctor told us it was an effective way to extra calories and vitamins in him so we figured we’d risk the caffeine addiction if it meant he might someday weigh more than Calista Flockhart. Now that he’s five years old though, his morning cup of Joe has become more of a habit than a surreptitious way to supplement his diet and I’ve recently been questioning whether I should switch him to herbal tea, decaf or simply phase out the dark roast flavor shot altogether.

Parenting Magazine recommends parents avoid giving caffeine to a child in any form until they are at least six as it is a more potent stimulant to children than adults with even the smallest amounts making them jittery and raising their heart rate and blood pressure even several hours later. Even beyond the Grande Skim Triple Shot Caramel Sippuccino we ply our child with during Curious George, Parenting Magazine reminds us that caffeine lurks in other places, like chocolate, sodas, coffee-flavored ice cream, and yogurt; And for the record Dollar Store Energy Drinks that taste like room temperature fermented apple cider cut with Triaminic also have caffeine in them.

Admittedly the boundaries of my caffeinated permissiveness with my brood (brewed?) were tested when Starbucks began offering new drinks and smaller sizes to appeal to a younger clientele and also when they marketed plastic kid cups that exploded into an adorable dirty bomb of bite-size polyethylene shrapnel when dropped, but it wasn’t like they were establishing kiosks in my son's elementary school next to the book return outside the library, right?

So what’s your position on coffee and kids? Bottomless Sippy Cup? No more for me thanks? Free Refills?

What's Next: Starbucks in the Classroom?

makeitadouble — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:06:00 GMT

Remember a few months ago when Starbucks proudly announced it was going to begin offering new drinks and smaller sizes to better meet the growing demands of its younger clientele? Aside from the apprehensions about exposing impressionable children to a Barista’s glamorous world of low-riders, tattoos, facial piercings and mainstream ennui there were legitimate concerns about the direct marketing of heavily caffeinated beverages and high calorie frozen drinks to kids.

It’s appalling, isn’t it? You’re appalled, right? I was like so appalled. When I heard this news I said to my barista, “Isn’t it bad enough that you sold me an adorable menagerie of plastic kid cups that explode into an adorable dirty bomb of bite-size polyethylene shrapnel when my toddler inevitably throws them on the floor? Now this? What’s next Maddisyn, huh? Will Starbuck be establishing kiosks in my son’s elementary school next to the book return outside the library?”

Well, Starbucks may never go that far, but the Mexican Government would. Beginning next school year, a U.S. company and popular Mexican coffee producer La Selva, with a tentative but enthusiastic green light from Mexican politicians, will be serving coffee fortified with folic acid and other nutrients to malnourished school children.

Some critics decry the plan saying it will cause nervousness, irritability, anxiety and a desire for free wireless internet access in the children. However, Jose Juarez, La Selva's director explains "We don't want to saturate them with coffee. One 150-200 milliliter cup a day is more than sufficient to give them the ~~addiction~~ nutrients they need."

I’m all for finding ways to get malnourished kids the food and nutrition the need to be healthy, but is coffee really the best means to do it? Something about this just feels like a backroom agreement of kickbacks, payoffs and political contributions that has nothing at all to do with healthy children. Did I say something? I meant everything.

So what if these kids may be increasing their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's later in life, right? At least they’ll be healthy.

Things Fall Apart: Starbucks Kid's Cups

Karen Murphy — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:28:00 GMT

It's not every day your kid can choke on a cup. Aren't cups by definition bigger than the mouths of kids? Therefore not being something easy to choke on.

Unfortunately, no. Not when you're a cute but oh-so-breakable cup from Starbucks.

But, um, hello Starbucks? Maybe you don't have kids because you're a 19-year old community-college dropout barista who delights in sneering at me when I disdain the Pumpkin Spice Latte and instead opt for the Caramel Macchiato (skim) and probably spit in it when I'm fumbling to scrape loose change out of my pocket to pay the 6-fricking-bucks for such a delight, but last time I checked, kids drop things. And throw things. So here's a little piece of advice from me to you: make stuff for kids unbreakable, wouldja? Or less breakable anyway? Because the face on that cute little ladybug shatters in a zillion pieces that are oh-so-tempting for my toddler to pick up, choke on, or get lacerations from.

Yeah, and thanks, Starbucks, for the offer of a free beverage (probably plain coffee only, whatever) when I trundle my kid into the car, park, get out, and schlepp into your store to return my recalled cup for a full refund. Whatever. Love, me.

If you caved and bought your kid one of these cups (admittedly rather cute despite their lethalness) from May 2006 through August 2007 for an astounding $6, you're among ~~dozens~~ the 250,000 or so people who did so, so don't feel bad. Just try and get out of there without another such impulse purchase when you make that trip back to Starbucks to return the cup. They don't make it easy.

Starbucks Cries “Mercy!”

Madeline Holler — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 20:30:00 GMT

As its customers get younger and younger, Starbucks can no longer ignore the pile of gold that is kids ripped on caffeine. The guys in corporate have decided to accommodate their growing kiddie clientele by offering new drinks and smaller sizes “that better meet the needs of kids or teens.” I’m sure they don’t mean Dixie cups of water.

The mega-chain’s brand engineers also say they’re not yet ready to market its high-calorie, caffeine-heavy lifestyle directly to children, but it will include more pictures of families in Starbucks ads. Judging from the story, though, parents are doing much of the heavy lifting of instilling Starbucks brand loyalty for them – twice-monthly Chai tea lattes for one four-year-old.

Corporations have every right to chase the (Star)bucks where they can. But that sure piles it on for parents who’d rather their kids develop addictions in college, not grade school. How soon will baristas be frothing breastmilk for Baby’s first Piccolo Mocha? Personally, I prefer my local coffee shop’s hostility toward anyone under 26.

Fast Food Joints Get Healthier, So You Don't Have to Feel (As) Bad

Alisyn — Wed, 02 May 2007 15:01:00 GMT

Did you know that Burger King recently announced that it was only going to buy and serve humanely raised and slaughtered animals? Me either. Did you know that KFC and Taco Bell recently followed through on their promise to eliminate trans fats from their menus? Me either! But I know it's good news.

Quick-serve chains around the country—from McDonald's to Subway to Chick-Fil-A to Starbucks—are finally paying attention to what scientists and health experts have been saying for years: that you don't have to sacrifice taste for nutrition. First they got rid of that horrible styrofoam packaging, then they started serving grilled chicken sandwiches and salads (some even serve veggie burgers!), and now they're kicking trans fats to the curb. Fast food is getting positively modern! Can serving serving antibiotic/hormone-free meat and dairy be next? (Fingers crossed.)

I am not above feeding my kids fast food from time to time, but if a healthier option were as quick and convenient as the McDonald's drive-thru, I'd gladly go out of my way to grab it (I'm thinking Whole Foods needed a drive-thru, like, yesterday.) I try to pick the healthiest fast food options, but that's not enough to make me feel good about eating there. So it's good to know everyone from Ronald McDonald to The King is thinking about how to change that. The will is there —now they just need to find the way.

(Via Quick Serve Kids, a fabulous parenting blog for "guiding kids through the fast food world.")