Re: Liza on coffee
On Jul 6, 2006, at 4:23 PM, Jim Devine wrote:
Starf*cks burns their beans in order to increase the caffeine content — and then uses milk to cover the resulting bitterness. Peets or Coffee Bean would be a better example here.
Still, Starbucks raised the standard for coffee in the U.S. I’d
rather go somewhere else, but it’s a lot better than the crap you can
get at diners, which was the pre-Starbucks American standard.
I’d say something similar about Barnes & Noble. Yes it’s sad that
it’s put some indies out of business, but in most places, a B&N is a
massive improvement over what existed before. Even on the Upper West
Side of Manhattan, the Shakespeare & Co. that B&N killed was a pretty
crummy store - poor stock, unhelpful staff. The B&N has a huge stock
and gets good authors at readings. It’s a net positive for literacy.
We met the chain’s principal politics buyer a couple of years ago and
found her to be a smart person with good politics.
Doug