.. and with that, my long Starbucks addiction comes to an end. With no effort from me. Thanks, Starbucks!

Great, so now you can't get decaf after noon and you can't get bold after noon. I suppose it's because all the fat people I see in line are all ordering frapuccinos or venti triple caramel lattes and the 30 minute coffee rule gets in the way of those high profit items.

What fun is drinking coffee without getting the exciting jitters caffeine provides. It's like a drug. I go to Starbucks to get my daily fix, decaf I can do without.

Can they call the people waiting for decaf at a cafe The Weenie Line?

@oldtaku: It's not like you can't get it. You just have to wait a short time. It's probably fresher for you this way anyway.

This only applies to stores that were dumping large amounts of unused decaf. Instead of wasting it, they'll brew it one cup at a time when ordered.

How is this bad, again?

A news report I saw on this says that they expect to save $400 million in 8 months by doing this. If that's true, I have to wonder why the heck they wouldn't have done this long ago. Even in good times, $600 million a year isn't chump change. Well, unless you're a bank CEO or something, in which case that's throw-rug money.

People pay $5 (or whatever Starbucks charges, I don't touch their swill) for decaf?

You could also get your own coffee from home and learn to freebase it. [jezebel.com] (thanks, Jezebel!)

Won't spill in your lap.

@ctaylor: yeah, the last thing you want is fresh brewed coffee. GROSS!

/sarcasm

@oldtaku: It's actually better now. Not only do they not have a giant pot of coffee that might be there for 20 minutes before you walk in, they brew a smaller pot as they get the order. So you're probably waiting 4 minutes.

@ctaylor: Exactly. They won't waste coffee, not to mention water brewing it, not to mention filters. A report on the radio said they would be saving $400 million by September.

@HIV 2 Elway Resurrected: No the regular coffee is anywhere from $1.30 to $2.

@pecan pi: And by regular I mean regular and decaf, the non-lattes and non-espresso coffees.

@ctaylor: Indeed. The missive seems to be, "if you're not selling all this coffee you brew, then don't brew it anymore."

A store making decisions about supply, based on demand? Perish the thought!

@Cat_In_A_Hat: It's not like a drug. It is a drug.

@Trai_Dep: all i can imagine is a line of people that look like the village people..

Dang. I am not allowed to have caffeinated coffee at Starbucks after 1pm. It'll keep me up until 3am.

@picardia: You have a problem with waiting a few minutes for fresh coffee rather than getting potentially hours-old coffee instantly?

If I were a decaf drinker, which I admit I'm not, I would happily wait a few more minutes to know I was getting a fresh cup and not some sludge that had been sitting around for hours.

No decaf? Did they realize it's just sad and pointless? Don't worry, kids, there's always Red Balls...

(No, I'm not posting the sketch, you look it up if you don't remember it.)

I wondered how they made any money that way. I get decaf all the time and most of the time it's fresh. There was one starbucks I had to wait for a cup every single time I went in. Which is fine.

@picardia: You're addicted to decaf?

Logically, it would make more sense to discontinue decaf in the morning and not brew it until the afternoon. Am I wrong in thinking that people want caffeine in the morning and by later afternoon or evening maybe they want coffee but without being kept up all night?

@pecan pi: 4 minutes for a French Press, which is superior to filter brewed anyhow. I own several at home because a) they take less time to make than a coffee machine and b) they taste better and c) I can control my servings better.

Actually, for people trying to ween themselves off caffeine for medical reasons, decaf has its place. It's sort of the nicorette of the coffee world.

@Heresy_Fnord: Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Sometimes I order decaf later in the evening because I know it will keep my up at night.

Why don't they just do what Dunkin' Donuts does? Pour regular coffee in a cup and tell them it's decaf.

My mom can't have caffeine, but Dunkin' Donuts wants her to, apparently. She's caught them giving her regular, or giving her what's left of the decaf pot and filling the rest of it with regular. Once she had an employee scold her for drinking decaf, because "there was no point".

It's really time Starbucks gets with the program.

But seriously, I think this is a great idea. I'd much rather wait a few minutes for a fresh cup than drink something that's been sitting for hours. Coffee drinkers can usually tell the difference. Now if only their coffee didn't taste like stale cigarettes....

@quirkyrachel: Seriously. Starbucks is best consumed early in the day if you are not planning on sleeping in the next 12 hours. Any Starbucks coffee comsumed late in the day might have you looking like this come bed time:

@pecan pi: It's always wryly amusing when the people that protest the most about Starbucks haven't even been there.

@Zulujines: They might already be on that wagon -- a friend of mine with a caffeine sensitivity has been sick every time he's had a cup of 'decaf' Charbucks. All three times, that is; the third and final try won him a trip to the emergency room. Poor guy can't even have a bar of chocolate these days.

@Trai_Dep: I especially like the complaint "it tastes like dishwasher!" when the person complaining has most likely never tried Starbucks coffee, nor has tasted dishwater.

So get a decaf Americano, you decaf pussies.

What are they thinking, morning no one orders decaf, but those that do want coffee in the afternoon or evening, do.

I do not drink regular, so I always get decaf, the starbucks I go to is busy enough I doubt this is going to be an issue. However, you have to wonder, why cut the evening decaf, when no one wants it in the AM anyway.

@batsy: I'm addicted to the vanilla in the latte, really. But if I have fully caffeinated coffee, I then spend the rest of the day FREAKING OUT. So, sort of.

@theblackdog: Given that I get about five minutes a day when I can leave my desk, yes.

@picardia: Weird.