Starbucks To Start Serving Alcohol?
It gets “curiouser and curiouser,” this thing they call “coffee wars.” In the past year, we’ve been witnesses to all sorts of advertising campaigns from some of the major players in the coffee scene. Who could forget the slew of McDonald’s commercials blasting the supposedly uppity Starbucks? How about the blind taste tests that showed that Starbucks isn’t the first choice of many people?
Anyhow, Starbucks seems to be moving in a different, and somewhat surprising, direction. They are looking to serve alcohol in their shops!
If you think that it is quite strange, here’s another piece of info – the first outlet that will be serving alcohol is also changing its name. From a mere word, Starbucks, the store will be called 15th Ave. Coffee & Tea, inspired by Starbucks. I don’t know, but it reminds me of a beauty salon or a clothing line.
Experts say that this is actually a smart move on the part of the coffee chain, which is struggling with its revenues. In fact, they say that the move is targeted towards increasing sales at the later part of the day. Come to think of it, more people might go to Starbucks at night if they had the chance to drink something of the alcoholic kind.
What bothers me is the price. Starbucks coffee is not known for being cheap. Why would their alcoholic drinks be any different? If so, why should I go to Starbucks for a beer or a mixed drink if I could go to another bar with cheaper stuff on the menu?
What do you think of this development?
Look Cool In Wearable Coffee
Coffee grounds have been used for so many things in the past few years. Ever since it became the “in” thing to be conscious about the environment and our impact on it, every little thing has been scrutinized to see how it can be re-used. Coffee grounds were not exempt. Even Starbucks and other coffee shops came up with their programs to help get rid of their used coffee grounds and have them used for a good purpose.
But I never thought that I would live to see a clothing line based on material made from coffee grounds! This is the brainchild of Jason Chen, the general manager of Singtex Industrial Company, a Taiwanese company. Chen was having a cup of coffee at – you guessed it – Starbucks when the idea came to him.
Now, Singtex gathers used coffee grounds to use in their line of sportswear. So how do they do this?
I have no idea how fabric is made, but according to The Guardian, the process is much like how they turn bamboo into a viscose-like substance:
The resultant fabric is soft, light, flexible and breathable and can also be used to produce an outer shell that is water resistant. It’s impregnated with ‘activated’ carbon, derived from coconut, which makes it UV-resistant, wicks water away, keeps the wearer cool and binds to sweat to eliminate unpleasant odours.
I don’t know how they do it but it sounds good to me! Even better, they say that you only need about one cup of coffee grounds to make several T-shirts! Amazing, isn’t it?
Iced Coffee For Lunch, Please!
I prefer hot coffee most of the time. Unless it is very hot and I need something to cool me down, you will not really find me downing a glass of iced coffee. But did you know that iced coffee can replace one of your meals? Yep, you can actually have iced coffee for lunch and not have to eat anything else!
According to the World Cancer Research Fund, certain iced coffees have as many calories as a full meal. Alright, get ready for this (courtesy of BBC):
The “venti” or largest version of Starbucks’ Dark Berry Mocha Frappuccino, a limited offer for the summer, contains 561 calories – more than a quarter, WCRF notes, of a woman’s daily calorie intake.
Whoa! I never really think of calories when drinking coffee but this is crazy. Now how about if you choose the “healthier” alternative, like skimmed milk and such? This is what you get:
At Caffe Nero, the skimmed version of a Double Chocolate Frappe and a Mocha Frappe Latte contain 452 calories.
That’s still a lot isn’t it? Thinking about it now, I understand why I get so full off of a Starbucks mocha frappe. I don’t really get ventis – more like grandes – but I do not ask for skimmed milk and stuff like that.
Don’t despair, though. The same study shows that “basic” iced coffees contain much less calories. An iced Americano at Starbucks, for example, only has 11 calories while an iced latte with skimmed milk has 68. I guess we better stick to plain black coffee most of the time then, huh?
