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Why do people feel the need to ruin a good cup of coffee?



The Most Expensive Starbucks Drink Ever: $23.60 Plus Tip
By Piper Weiss, Shine Staff | Shine Food – 14 hours ago


Logan Warren's super-sized Starbucks bill.One man. One coupon. Two baristas and 31 ounces of imagination. That's what it took to create the most expensive Starbucks drink ever made.

Logan Warren, a 22-year-old tech entrepreneur and student, can't afford to drink at the coffee chain daily. "At the rate I consume coffee, I'd be a pauper in a month," the Texas-based college student tells Shine.

So when he landed a coupon for a free drink, of any size with any additional add-ons, for his birthday (a company gift if you sign up for their rewards program), he took it as a personal challenge. What's the biggest, priciest Starbucks drink money can buy?

It all starts with a Trenta, the super-sized coffee cup introduced by the company last May.

When Starbucks announced the 31-ounce option, the reaction was largely dismay. Consumerist's bloggers discovered it was larger in size than the average human stomach. Esquire writer Todd Carmichael said the concept alone made him "shudder." But almost a year later, caffeine addicts are still forking over at least $3.45 for an iced coffee the size of a big gulp.

That's without the add-ons. Warren spent a half hour with a couple of "surprisingly cheerful" baristas devising the equation for the most expensive powders, syrups and shots to fill an entire Trenta cup.

Here's how his one drink bill broke down: one Java Chip Frappucino ($4.75), plus 16 shots of espresso($12), a shot of soy milk(.60), a drop of caramel flavoring(.50), a scoop of banana puree($1), another scoop of strawberry puree(.60), a few vanilla beans(.50), a dash of Matcha powder(.75), some protein powder(.50) and a caramel and mocha drizzle to cap it off(.60).

Altogether, Warren's Franken-Frap cost $23.60, making it the most expensive Starbucks concoction money (or coupons) can buy. That's not counting the well-deserved tip for his barista co-conspirators.

But how did it taste? "Tolerable," according to Warren, "but not good. Imagine a coffee-based health food smoothie that will put you in the hospital if you drink it all."

Warren definitely didn't drink it all. With 1,400 mg of caffeine and a seemingly incalculable amount of sugar, it's literally a recipe for disaster.

Still, Warren's experiment, though extreme, is a reminder that coffee is pushing our personal budget too far. A recent survey estimated that the average American spends about $1000 on coffee a year. That number is expected to spike in 2012.

In January, Starbucks announced it would be raising prices in parts of the country by an average of one percent. With coffee drinkers already splurging between three and five bucks on a morning jolt each day, that extra one percent isn't bound to make making the 99 percent too thrilled.

Read more on Starbucks' price hikes and which areas will be hit the hardest

While it still requires an obscene amount of espresso shots alone to inch up to a $20 Starbucks order, a few more price hikes and a creatively rejiggered recipe could change that. If you can build it now, does that mean the day will come when a cup of coffee will cost the same as two large pizzas? Start saving those coupons.

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I completely agree with the title of this topic. Why go to Starbucks and spend $5 when you can go to Speedway, add cream, sugar, flavorings, or even get capuccino instead of regular coffee, and it's only 89¢ for the smallest cup, and I think maybe $1.69 for the largest. I go there a couple times a week and get a dark roast coffee with hazelnut creamer. I can go there 3 times a week for the cost of one Starbucks trip.

footballguy51 wrote:I completely agree with the title of this topic. Why go to Starbucks and spend $5 when you can go to Speedway, add cream, sugar, flavorings, or even get capuccino instead of regular coffee, and it's only 89¢ for the smallest cup, and I think maybe $1.69 for the largest. I go there a couple times a week and get a dark roast coffee with hazelnut creamer. I can go there 3 times a week for the cost of one Starbucks trip.

I take in my BG travel mug and get the 20 ounce coffee for 89 cents

transfer2BGSU wrote:

footballguy51 wrote:I completely agree with the title of this topic. Why go to Starbucks and spend $5 when you can go to Speedway, add cream, sugar, flavorings, or even get capuccino instead of regular coffee, and it's only 89¢ for the smallest cup, and I think maybe $1.69 for the largest. I go there a couple times a week and get a dark roast coffee with hazelnut creamer. I can go there 3 times a week for the cost of one Starbucks trip.

I take in my BG travel mug and get the 20 ounce coffee for 89 cents

True. I bought one of their Speedway mugs, and when I remember to bring it with me, I also get coffee for 89¢.

I'm a snob...I buy my own beans and grind them either first thing in the AM or right before I go to bed. I'm thinking of buying a roaster and rosting my own beans (Brazilian Yellow Bourbon can be bought for $8 per pound unroasted) the night before.

That said...I don't go to Starbucks...if I'm buying coffee, I'll hit Tim Horton's drive thru.

Speedway needs to be added to the list of things from Ohio we love.

Because I was once in the US Army, I can speak on this topic, and all others, with wisdom and insight non-vets can only dream about. ....

Anyway, Speedway coffe is hot. Starbucks is decent, but way better than Speedway. I like local coffee shops but if I have to go to a chain I really like Caribou. By the way, I do not add sugar or cream or certainly not any of those horrid little flavored creamers.

Do you think 30 years ago the average guy, Joe Six-Pack, Johnny Bag-of-Donuts, Billy Hardhat, would have ever dreamed that someday there would be beer snobs and coffee snobs?

Bonus question: who is more annoying, beer snob or coffee snob?

Coffee snobs. Beer snobs at least get drunk.

I'm both...I tend to only drink micro brews... I eat at McDonald's at least a couple of times a week, so at least I'm not a foodie

Def agree with robbyfalcon re Caribou...I swear they ground up a Vivarin or two with each cup. it's like mainlining caffiene.

RobbyFalcon wrote:Because I was once in the US Army, I can speak on this topic, and all others, with wisdom and insight non-vets can only dream about. ....

I pulled CQ once and was told by the CO to have the coffee ready at 5:30 the next morning. Went into the breakroom at 5:00 and made the coffee (3 1/2 scoops). Capt. came in grabbed a cup of coffee, came out to the desk and sat down, and I gave him the overnight report.

He took a sip of his coffee, spit it out and told me that was the weakest $h!t he had ever tasted and took me to the breakroom and told me he was going to teach me how to make coffee.

He grabs the pot and tosses the coffee, refills with water, grabs the coffee can, and heads to the coffee maker. He opens up the lid to put the coffee in and screams "Where the f... are my damn coffee grinds?"

Evidently I had tossed THREE YEARS worth of grinds. I was never allowed to make coffee for Capt. Lavric again.

Not to hijack the thread or anything, but I heard on the radio (so it must be true) that popcorn air poppers from the 80s are great for roasting coffee beans. There was one specific model that had just the right size plate that was in demand by home roasters. It might be sold at a yardsale as a popcorn maker for $5 but to a home roaster it was worth $70 or $80.

Popcorn snobs, please feel free to weigh in...