Guy Who’s Been To 11,000 Starbucks Outlets Would Rather Get His Coffee Elsewhere

He’s been around the world in the last 17 years, visiting about 11,000 Starbucks locations in his (likely neverending) quest to visit them all. But when it comes to his own tastes, the man who drinks 10 cups a day says he would rather not drink the coffee at Starbucks.

It’s all about his list, see? And checking off the visits is more of this Texas man’s focus than actually drinking coffee, he tells The Telegraph, as he’d rather pick up cup from a local independent spot rather than Starburns. Oops, Starbucks.

“I respect Starbucks for its business sense, customer service and amenities including clean bathrooms and WiFi,” he told The Telegraph. “But unless I am checking a new store off my list, I would not go there for the coffee.”

So far he’s spent an estimated $100,000 dropping by 11,733 Starbucks on six continents, a quest he started just to do something different, at least at first. ANd of course, he came up with the idea while sitting in a Starbucks back in 1997 in Plano, Texas.

“However, since that time, I have discovered many joys in the traveling, the photography and the puzzle-like challenge of my mission,” he says on his website.

He takes a photograph of each visit, including a selfie, and averages 10 cups of java per day. He even spent $1,400 on a plane ticket just to get to a Starbucks in British Columbia before it closed.

This could be a Sisyphean effort, however — when he started his journey, there were only 1,400 stores in the world. Now there are more than 17,000 Starbucks locations around the world.

But heck, he’s got plenty of time.

“As you can imagine, Starbucks is not going anywhere. I can see myself visiting new stores as an old man,” he says, adding that he’s changed the rules to allow for only a sample of coffee at each spot, at minimum.

Ultimate coffee fan spends 17 years visiting every Starbucks in the world [The Telegraph]

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