Starbucks, the Coffee that a Study Abroad Student Yearns For

When comfort meets quality and the two-tailed mermaid is as fabulous as Italy’s espresso

I loved everything about Italy, in fact- a piece of me will always remain in that little town of Trastevere in the heart of Rome. Coming from a Mediterranean culture, I had been to Europe several times and had no reservations about my semester in Italy. I thought I was ready to embrace all of what Rome had to offer me and never look back.

I must say, I did quite a fabulous job at loving everything Rome threw my way. While my roommates missed cheeseburgers and French fries, I was content with linguini ai frutti di mare and insalata caprese — not to mention il vino with every meal.

While they had no desire to give the Italian boys a chance, I found myself in a Roman love affair with a fellow student at the university.

While they missed shopping malls, I adored walking down Via del Corso and spending hours window shopping at Zara, Mango, and Sisley. Rome lived up to all of my expectations, and beyond!

While of course I missed my friends and family, I wasn’t homesick for the American culture that I had grown up in. I was truly immersing myself within the Roman culture and loving it for everything it was, and everything it wasn’t.

Except for one minor dilemma.

While I seemed to have an easier transition than some of my roommates with most aspects of our time abroad, I must say that even while having the best cappuccinos at my doorstep (and I truly do believe that)- I never knew such happiness until I traveled to Prague and was welcomed with a store that gave me a piece of home: Starbucks.

Practically running into the store, right around the big clock in the middle of town, I finally was able to have my Starbucks fix after two months of being abroad.

“How are you missing Starbucks when you’re in the espresso capital of the world?” Marina asks over Skype.

While I wasn’t so sure that Rome was the espresso capital of the world, I knew what she was trying to say.

I wish I knew what to say back.

I really wasn’t so sure why I missed Starbucks so much. It’s not like I didn’t enjoy the coffee in Rome, and I certainly took advantage of the coffee shop culture while abroad.

Every morning, I would get up at 7am, shower and do my hair, grab a mini cappuccino (a shot glass size) from the vending machine to simply keep my eyes open for the walk, and be on my way to find the next new coffee shop to write in and a different cappuccino to enjoy. Every morning, a cappuccino with zucchero di cana, a cornetto, and a new coffee shop. It was a routine I loved. A routine I replicated from my experiences at home in Starbucks, but a more authentic experience. In fact, it was a much more rewarding experience than my typical Starbucks writing session, with much better coffee! Each day, a journey filled with new coffee shops, with new people who didn’t know my name, and with a different language that I was eager to learn. All roads led to Roman coffee shops, yet something in me still was searching to take the path less traveled to a Starbucks from time to time.

Was it comfort versus quality? I really didn’t understand my need for Starbucks.

What I did know was holding that white and green cup of goodness in my hands on that rainy November night in Prague, with the beautiful mermaid smiling at me, was all I needed in that moment. (Side note: I know the world believes the logo to be a siren, but I full-heartedly believe that she is a mermaid.)

As cliché as it sounds, that grande cappuccino in my hand, with skim milk, warmed not only my hands, but my heart too. The smooth, silky grasp around the cup, the foam popping out of the sipping slot, the barista promise (in English), and maybe just the fact that I could actually get coffee in a to go cup bigger than a shot glass made the experience that much more satisfying.

Memories of Starbucks of my teenage and college years with my friends are endless: java chip frappuccinos before Greek concerts in Atlantic City (that our parents had to take us to), boy talk and gossip over vanilla lattes in the winter, passion fruit iced teas to kick off the summer fun, iced green tea lattes before driving down the shore, iced coffee with skim or soy milk during bikini season, caramel macchiatos during finals, and cappuccinos with skim milk in my most recent years before going to Italy (and today). So many different flavors, different types, and different tastes- yet still the Starbucks that we loved.

Maybe my addiction to Starbucks goes beyond the coffee itself, but rather its representation, its reputation and all the relationships I’ve maintained within the environment.

Pour Your Heart Into It…..

While I always had a liking towards Starbucks, I never knew much about its history or mission aside from its global push towards an eco-friendly environment — until the day I picked up Howard Schultz’s, Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time a few semesters after I came back from being abroad. Suddenly, it all made sense why I was drawn to this company: the mission.

It’s the passion you see in the baristas as soon as you order your drink, the friendliness when they ask your name, and the shame they feel if they get your order wrong because your experience was less than perfect. A happy environment produces happy customers who go out into the world and spread happiness, and Starbucks provides this mindset.

My friends and I live the mission of Starbucks each time we meet to catch up, as do my students and I when we meet to discuss the college admissions process.

What is this mission? “To inspire and nurture the human spirit- one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time,” which shows why they have received the World’s Most Ethical Company for the ninth year in a row, as the company website reads. Starbucks hopes to do two things: “share great coffee with their friends (customers) and help make the world a little better,” and not only do they do that, but they enable their customers to do so as well.

It was in 1971 when Starbucks first opened as a single store in Seattle and the founders were far from your typical businessmen: a literature major, an English teacher and writer, and a History teacher. Doesn’t sound like the classic group of people to build a business empire, does it? Well of course not, but it wasn’t about business.

It was about coffee (and tea).

“They founded Starbucks for one reason…they loved coffee and tea and wanted Seattle to have access to the best,” (Schultz).

It was the passion that fueled Starbucks, not the desire for profit.

Upon Starbucks’ first opening, the classically nautical environment (which supports the two-tailed mermaid/siren logo) and devotion to whole-bean coffee set the atmosphere for the store. Back then, Starbucks did not brew and sell coffee by the cup, but often offered tasting samples which were served in porcelain cups as it made the coffee taste better (sounds a lot like Italy, huh?).

The goal of the company wasn’t to maximize sales, but rather to provide people with something they ought to enjoy: good coffee.

In the beginning, Starbucks ordered its coffee from Peet’s Coffee and Tea in Berkeley, California which was founded by Alfred Peet- a Dutchman who brought dark-roasted coffees to America (Schultz). He was willing to teach anyone with a genuine interest about coffee and tea, and was a huge resource to the Starbucks’ founders from the start.

Within a year, the founders assembled their own roaster with only a guide in German to help them. Quality was the key and quality was accomplished.

With no surprise to me, but much surprise to them then, Starbucks sold way better than expected and gained a loyal clientele. It was obvious that the young company conquered an excellence in coffee, as Starbucks remained profitable year after year- even when the economy was down.

Starbucks’ potential is what led Howard Schultz, a well-paid, prestigious businessman in New York and the author of Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time, to join Starbucks. “It had immediately captivated me with its combination of passion and authenticity,” Schultz says. He saw a vision of what Starbucks could be and joined the team in 1982.

A year later, Schultz traveled to Italy, and just as I explored a variety of different coffee shops, he also became fascinated by the Italian coffee experience and the romance behind it. The Italian coffeehouse: a place for community, conversation, and relaxation, was a tradition that Schultz yearned to bring back to the United States.

The Italian coffee shop is reflective of the culture as a whole. It is somewhere you can go to relax, escape your worries, truly be present in the moment, and indulge in coffee that reminds you that you’re alive.

That’s what the Starbucks experience does in the United States and similarly in its international locations (at least it did for me in Prague).

It provides. It relaxes. It nourishes. It reminds.

It strikes an emotional chord, just as Schultz says in his novel and just what he envisioned Starbucks would do before joining.

Nowadays, Starbucks has grown into a company that offers much more than just coffee, tea, and passion to its customers and employees. Started from tasting samples in Seattle, to over 20,000 stores worldwide, offering health benefits and a College Achievement Plan to employees, and becoming mobile friendly are just few aspects to name.

Not to mention the Starbucks Rewards card. There’s something exciting about getting a free drink on your birthday, or a reward after twelve stars (gold members exclusive of course) that makes you keep coming back for more. It’s exclusive enough, but still obtainable. A club every customer wants to be in.

Now as for the debate between Roman cappuccinos and Starbucks…

Is the coffee truly as good as Italian cappuccinos handcrafted by little old men with passionate accents and long mustaches? Maybe not. In fact, probably not. But that’s like expecting a sequel to be better than the original. It’s a rare occurrence. Did you watch the sequel? Probably. Did you love the sequel? Probably.

Now what if you watched the sequel first (which people like me do)? Naturally, you have no choice but to love it first.

It’s just a matter of firsts that we are prone to loving: our first car, our first John Green book, our first job (if we’re lucky), our first love.

Starbucks was my first love, and each Roman cappuccino was another Italian love affair to add to the mix. You can’t help but miss the taste on your lips of something familiar, but the new groove tastes similarly sweet.

And now miles and miles away, I yearn for that Roman love affair — the coffee one that is. It was exciting; it was authentic; it was limited; it was the original to the sequel. But it wasn’t my first. I’m lucky enough to still have my first love: Starbucks. I’m lucky enough to have experienced a loss of it in Rome, to know how much I missed it. I’m lucky that each day a barista greets me with a smile and knows my name and drink order without me saying a word. I’m lucky to find a “third place” as Schultz mentions, a place between home and work. I’m lucky to find an environment to sip coffee, write for hours, and truly be present in the moment. I’m lucky to have a place like Starbucks, which is the closest thing I’ll have to the true Italian coffee experience.

Advice to all of my Starbucks lovers: Don’t date your Starbucks barista. Unlike your Italian love affair, he’s not miles and miles away when you break up- more like minutes. Also, it gets awkward when you want to order a dirty chai latte, but no longer can.

I guess I’ll have to stick with my non-fat wet cappuccino.