I like 7-11 coffee.

This is for the most part true (except for which fictional character the chain is named after). The only advantages that Starbucks has over Tim H.'s is a) better high end supecoffeerbeverages outside of the coffee, and b) I would sit down in a Starbucks in a way I would not do at Tim's.

I had $75 in Starbucks gift cards, so I've been drinking it for the past month. I'll go back to Dunkin Donuts when I run out.

agreed. when i worked at starbucks in the city, there was another shop right across 42nd. i drank the coffee since it was free, but i'd never pay for that shit again.

i liked it much better living in a small town that restricted franchises and chain stores from setting up, where, while there were starbucks in the neighboring towns, small, independent restaurants and stores thrived.

When I was living in Manhattan ten years ago, there wasn't any decent coffee in my neighborhood except for Starbucks. Believe me, I hunted high and low. So when coffee shops complain that Starbucks runs them out of business, I have to ask: was your coffee any good? Or were you just playing the "they're a corporation and we aren't, so you should drink our coffee even if it sucks" card?

Sorry, but I just have no patience for that.

I think the reason Starbucks wins out as often as it does is because their coffee is consistent. If I already have a coffee shop I love, there's no way I'm going to go to Starbucks instead. But if I don't know what coffee shops are good, and I'm just visiting a neighborhood, I'm not likely to take a chance on an unknown coffee place, because my chances of getting better coffee than Starbucks are maybe one in ten, even though Starbucks' coffee isn't that good.

The worst thing is that when someone says a coffee shop is good, I generally don't believe them, because they often don't know the difference between good coffee and bad. I mean, there are people who actually *like* flavored coffee beans.

7-11 coffee IS suprisingly amazing. I just wish they'd get rid of the styrofoam cups.

Also, I love Dunkin Donuts. We don't have them here in L.A. but I grew up on it back in Boston. I usually just buy a bunch of beans when I'm back East. But lately the coffee taste of DD has changed. I know they got bought out a while back by some Bush-esque evil corporation...wonder if it's to do with that or I'm just dead wrong?

*sips on Starbucks coffee, ground at home*

I'll go anywhere for coffee, there is a place here that I support partially, but only because it gets way to damn busy... hence not worrying over it closing down.

I generally get my tea from a local spot, and my coffee beans from starbucks.

if I'm randomly walking late, I'll hit up a Tim Hortons.

I will admit it, I think Starbucks does NOT know to roast coffee properly, yet their espresso drinks are worlds above the competition in my area. Their ordinary coffee is trully wretched and I can't figure out for the life of me why people willingly drink such swill... Like pop novels that hover around #8 on the New York Times bestseller list, and dispassionate Liszt renditions, burnt coffee makes me sick.
There truly are NO real coffeeshops here and it sucks! I used to drive 45 minutes to drink espresso made by hot lesbian punk girls (German ones oddly) and then drive home and then I got tired of it after like a year. Now, I order Batdorf & Bronson and Peet's coffee beans, and only drink Starbucks when I don't have time to brew coffee at home. B&B are truly gods, it is, I think, the best coffee beans available in the whole of the U.S... Go to www.dancinggoats.com and order some up. I know not every body can be a "rich" graduate student and live off frozen pizzas and $30 a pound coffee, but we must take a stand against the forces of sameness, commonness and smug middle-class mediocrity

That Gregory Peck movie?

starbucks are too expensive..

i think in the UK, the cheapest thing they do is around £2, which is $4...
just for a basic coffee...

so i drink bottled water instead, that is local, and not from a different country... i try..

I don't like coffee. I've been to a Starbucks a few times when I've wanted a tea or something and it was the closest thing by. It's alright, but there are better places. It seems a little corporate. Not in a terrible way, but enough to be slightly annoying (I like a little uniqueness). Tim Hortons I find hilarious how everyone is so obsessed over their coffee. I don't drink it, so I don't understand. I'm lucky where I live because there are lots of choices. Several chains (local and national) and then other smaller places.

In Portland there are over 700 independent coffee shops and some of the best baristas in North America.

They all do well because many people CHOOSE to keep their money local and support a locally owned small business.

Starbucks is here too but their coffee and espresso drinks suck and people here know it. The beans are poorly roasted and they have moved to an automated system so there is no skill involved in making their crappy drinks.

It is up to the consumers to STOP BEING SHEEPLE and start THINKING about the effects of where you spend your money. BE responsible adults people and shop smart (shop S Mart ... had to do it )

Starbucks is disgusting. I can't believe people still drink that shit...ESPECIALLY in a city like Seattle, where I am still dumbfounded to see the packed Starbucks down the street from the amazing independent coffee shop.

I don't think anything is more funny than seeing a parent say to their child "I need a coffee to wake me up, and you can't have any, it's a grown up drink. Yeah, I'd like a venti half shot whole milk caramel macchiato with extra caramel drizzle, 2 pumps chocolate, and a half pump of vanilla."

Such a grown up drink. Enjoy your bucket of diabetes.

I like my coffee cups like I like my hats...lined with tinfoil!