A small coffee chain (2 stores) in California is offering free coffee during the much ballyhooed “Starbucks retraining event,” on Tuesday, February 26th from 5:30 PM until 8:30 PM PST.
From their press release:
Described by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz in a press statement as a “bold demonstration of our commitment,” the company announced earlier this month that it would close 7,100 company-operated Starbucks stores in the United States for 3 hours to retrain more than 135,000 employees.
Coffee Klatch, home of reigning United States Barista Champion Heather Perry, has no need for similar employee remediation and consequently invites the public to visit for an opportunity to taste expertly crafted espresso beverages and exclusive coffees from exotic locales — for free — at its two Southern California locations during the closure.
“I’m not sure why it’s going to take them 3 hours to learn how to press a button,” says Coffee Klatch Roasting owner Mike Perry, referring to the automated espresso machines that are used by Starbucks employees to prepare beverages. “While they practice pushing buttons, their customers can come to Coffee Klatch and learn how coffee is really supposed to taste.”
Hilarious.
Everyone should go there on the 26th. Even people who live in Canada.
Coffee Klatch Roasting Celebrates Starbucks Store Closures With Free Coffee for Everyone (Press Release) [Marketwire via Starbucks Gossip]
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All that coffee makes them feisty!
@Meg: You picking us all up in the Gawker Corporate Jet? Yes? Count me in.
Score one for the little guy! Probably have better coffee too. Unless you like the taste of “burnt”.
@MercuryPDX: Err, you mean the Gawker corporate Amtrak…
@Meg Marco: For free coffee [and warm weather]? I’m on board!
Now they just need to learn how to use fresh roasted beans……
CK roasts some really great beans IMHO, but I use Counter Culture for my espresso. This really did crack me up when I read it. Awesome.
bravo Coffee Klatch! Boo Starsucks!
mmm Amtrak cross country with like-minded consumers for coffee. I’m in!
I’ve been to the one in San Luis Obispo, and it’s great… better than starbucks, anyway. I’m gonna call everyone back home and tell them to get some free coffee!
Road Trip! (Track Trip?)
Date with Meg? I’m i…that’s not what this is, is it? Aw, what the hell I’m still in.
suckit Starbucks!
This is great! I love to see small coffee shops outdoing the big dogs. Especially since I wouldn’t drink sludge from Starbucks even if it was free. I’m a fan of any coffee establishment that believes coffee should taste good without adding sugary syrups and giving it fancy names.
I used to live about 2 blocks away from one of their locations. Coffee isn’t too bad, decent outdoor seating away from traffic…not a bad choice even if you were paying for it.
Never even heard of a ‘US Barista Champion’. How do you compete? Grind your own beans?
How exactly do you make ‘Award winning premium coffee’ ? Do you grow the beans yourself?
@Quellman: If ANYTHING consumer-unfriendly happens on that train, this site is going to buckle under the weight of all the Amtrak EECBs typed up by extremely overcaffeinated Consumerist fans and CC’d to Meg.
but it might be worth it for free coffee, which I am NOT AT ALL addicted to.
Can you actually call a firm with two locations a chain? A chain with two links is, what, a pair of interlocked rings? I’m sure they make fine coffee, but this is cheap publicity for a very small firm that styles itself a chain. Not bad, but national news, me no think so.
My local Crepe place makes coffee thats a ton better then starbucks . The way his expresso machine does the milk is by a tube from the milk then spits it all frothed up into the cup. IT tastes much better that way. Plus he uses more expensive beans that taste much better.
Plus hes not a chain and runs his store to feed his family not pay into a chain.
The firm doesn’t call itself a chain in the press release. Â News or not news, it got you talking about them!
So they will close down to teach their employees better ways to make thier nasty coffee! It is good they are about training, but lets start with better coffee.
I tried to order a cup of coffee and said hold the burnt flavoring, they said to go somewhere else.
I think somebody beat me to it, but how do you “expertly” pull a shot of espresso roasted in 2006, anyways?
Our area has at least 4 local shops roasting their own and a half dozen others getting fresh roasts from Cup a Joe which are less than 2 weeks roasted at all times.
There are still automatons who walk like moths to the light to Starbucks, but the independents do pretty well. I always figured it was Starbucks strategy to build near the Indys to run them out of business but I am convinced now that, at least in our area, when they do that, they make it nice and easy for the discriminating folk to pass them right by – and they do in large part.
@mandarin:
It’s actually a combination of speed and quality of drinks. They give you a multiple drink order and then time how long it takes for you to make the order and all the drinks have to meet a standard (percentage of milk, foam, etc.). I was one of the best in my district when I was slinging lattes back in the day.
Training is a cover story.
[www.theonion.com]
I can taste no difference between supposedly “better” coffee and “crappy Starbucks” coffee. Although I prefer tea anyway.
Looks like the Onion is prescient once again: