Reading Roars!

This week, Starbucks, the McDonald’s of the 21st century, did something extraordinary. On Tuesday, its US outlets were closed for 3 hours so that all 135,000 baristas could be retrained. Staff were advised on how to make the perfect espresso, cappuccino and latte.

Customers now entering one of its 7,000+ stores will see the notice “Your drink should be perfect, every time. If not, let us know and we’ll make it right.”

Will they?  I don’t think they can.  Like McDonald’s with their burgers, they can strive for perfection all they like.  Their products range from passable to good, but never great and certainly not “perfect”.

In Starbucks’ world, convenience is king. Starbucks outlets are fast food outlets, quickly producing and selling drinks for impatient customers. A perfectly produced coffee requires the eyes and hands of an artist who can give it attention, time and care.

In addition, I more readily associate Starbucks with overpriced syrupy lattes (with or without ice), not coffee. They don’t simply don’t specialise in the black stuff. The last I checked, Vanilla Latte, so sweet you can hear your teeth fizzle, was listed first in the menu. It wasn’t always thus. A former sales and marketing director at Starbucks explains in The Times (”Foodie at large: The dark art of coffee making“):

“Quality shot up in the Nineties, but the American market has commercialised it,” he says. “It would be difficult to sell a small 6oz cappuccino, the traditional Italian size, for much more money, so to make a viable business out of it, they started to make the drinks bigger. And how do you do that without overdosing everyone on caffeine? You add more and more milk.”

So, no, Starbucks isn’t about the coffee.

If you want “perfect” or near-perfect coffee where small really is small (rather than tall), you will have to look elsewhere (and I don’t mean Costa Coffee, Caffe Nero and other American-style chains).

Monmouth Coffee House, opposite Borough Market in London, is my favourite place for coffee in the country. Their coffee is simply stunning and they even offer free samples (why can’t other places do that?). I also strongly recommend Algerian Coffee Stores, again in London (Old Compton St), a shop that sells a huge variety of coffee beans from around the world.

And closer to home? This afternoon I was in rampant west Reading. The need for caffeine drew me to Workhouse Coffee, a place I have mentioned before.

Owner Greg Costello loves coffee. You can see it in his eyes. He takes his time, gently pouring a cortado like a painter dabbing paint on canvas. Today, he poured me a rich Guatemalan. Intoxicatingly strong and silky smooth, it was a treat. The Brazilian that followed, though less strong, was equally polished. Two other options that I didn’t try this afternoon were Colombian and Ethiopian.

The music playing in the background was a melody of chillout tracks (I believe it was the DAB station Chill), a refreshing change from the usual jazz you get in popular cafes (literally - what is it with coffee shops and jazz?).

Greg was understandably concerned about the opening of the new Tesco store. My suggestion would be to customers of the supermarket: give the in-store Costa a miss - superior coffee can found just across the road!