You say sommelier, I say barista

[David A. Daniel]

>Ron's message greatly reassured me; I was afraid I'd been victimized (once
>again) by my white-trashy lack of taste!

>I too find Dunkin' Donuts coffee superior to Starbucks coffee--and (of
>course) considerably less exorbitant.

>And here may be the "American language" connection that Ron was searching
>for: Now that Baskin Robbins is frequently "bundled" with Dunkin' Donuts,
>one can accompany a cup of the good coffee with a DONUT A LA MODE!  The
>phrase "donut a la mode" gets only 8 Google hits, "donut ala mode" 5,
>"doughnut a la mode" 4, and "doughnut ala mode" 1.

--Charlie

Now that the American language connection has been established I feel I can
safely opine on the list... As some on the list may recall, I live in
Brazil. We have really great coffee in Brazil. I have always considered
Starbucks to be an economic manifestation of the Emperor Has No Clothes
syndrome. Their coffee is totally ordinary*, overpriced, marketed 100% to
snob appeal (sort of like most Napa-Sonoma wines) and completely lacking of
any substance whatever - as the Emperor was lacking of clothes but no one
dared say so. However, Starbucks and their competition in myriad other
expensive-coffee joints, are my only, even imaginable solution to getting a
drinkable cup of coffee in the USA. I go into a Starbucks or similar, do not
look at the menu, disregard the frou-frou, and simply ask the attendant:
Give me a double of whatever your strongest, blackest coffee is. It is
always a disappointment, but it is closer than anything else.

*Not many remember that Starbucks was caught out a few years ago as having
been duped by Central American coffee suppliers who were selling them very
ordinary coffee for very expensive prices, etcetera and such: even the
Starbucks people could not tell good coffee from bad. What a scam...
DAD


_____________________________________________________________



>
>In a message dated 8/1/08 11:59:03 AM, laurence.horn at YALE.EDU writes:
>
>
>> And they really do make better, stronger coffee than dunkin donuts, or Au
Bon Pain, IMHO.
>>
>
>IMHO, Starbucks is the biggest joke in American coffee history. The
emphasis is on the BUCKS, and the methodology is pretentiousness. Their
sense of how to make "better, stronger" coffee is to overroast it until it
tastes burned, having us believe that that charred flavor is sophisticated.
McDonalds has better coffee, on the whole, and Dunkin Donuts is right up
there with Gevalia (in many cases better). And one can buy D.D. at Costco
(who also carry Starbucks as well).
>
>Not sure what that has to do with American language, but then half of what
is said here is pretty irrelevant, so there you are.

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org