Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Starbucks vs. Tully’s

I keep trying Tully's for my morning coffee. Tully's has free wi-fi and a store on the most direct route out of my neighborhood. I'm probably the last coffee drinker in America who has to drive out of his way to get to a Starbucks. And yet I keep driving right past the Tully's and five minutes out of my way to find a Starbucks.

There are three reasons.

  1. Starbucks simply has better coffee. I don't know what Tully's does to mess up their drinks, but probably 75% of the time, a latte from Tully's tastes bitter and burnt. Their consistency seems to have improved over the last several years, but it's a long ways from Starbucks. A latte from Starbucks consistently has exactly the right combination of sweet and bitter.
  2. Starbucks has at least a few edible pastries that aren't guaranteed to give me diabetes. The Tully's selection consists either of "a doughnut by any other name", or inedible health food.
  3. Starbucks wants me there. This morning, I tried out Tully's again, because I wanted the free wi-fi. I sat down at one of the tables wearing a long-sleeve shirt, a fleece, and my ski jacket, but the AC was blowing at full blast, and it was so cold I couldn't type. When I asked the barista if they could turn off AC, he simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "Sorry, we don't control the heat."

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