Confessions of a Starbucks Addict part 2

I first came clean on my addiction in this earlier post. However, I have a new confession to make. I have fallen off the wagon. I have stumbled into the abyss of my drug addiction again. My drug of choice? Starbucks Coffee.

I fell off bad... having now consumed the equivalent of 7 shots of espresso in 2 hours! Damn me. (Damn you Mike for buying me another latte!)

I moved to Buenos Aires 10 months ago and was free of my vice. There were no
Starbucks triple-venti, non-fat, no-foam, 1-splenda lattes to be found for thousands and thousands of miles around. I thought I was safe.

And then today came. Starbucks has opened up its first store in Argentina at the Alto Palermo shopping mall. I thought I could stay away. I tried.

I woke up early and took my shower, and lied to my wife on the way out on where I was heading. But after dropping my son off at school, I hopped in a taxi and high tailed it over there. I had to get my fix after all these months.



The place was packed and there was a line out the door almost down to the street corner. But I waited patiently in line for 30 minutes. Fortunately, they were well staffed and handed out samples of their coffee to tease and taunt me while I waited. They even had a doo-wop group signing Mowtown songs to keep everyone entertained while we waited.

I had my first latte after 10 months and damn was it good. It tasted just like I remembered. I ran into the Yankster he bought me another 4 shot grande latte. And of course I had plenty of free drip coffee samples from this guy:



All in all, it was a disaster of a morning for me. For Starbucks, it was a huge success.

More to come in another post. In the mean time, I'll be looking up to see if there is a 12 step program for Starbucks addicts here in BA. I'll leave you with the Doo-wop group singing Blue Moon:

Confessions of a Former Starbucks Addict

Man, Starbucks comes to town and now everyone can talk of nothing but coffee. It seems that every expat blog in town has been heralding Starbucks' arrival and/or predicting their demise here in Buenos Aires.

The event has inspired introspection on what the coffee culture means here. There was even a lengthy discussion on the sorry state of coffee found in the supermarkets to make at home on the BA Newcomers Yahoo group. Ironic given how passionate porteños are about their café.

Frank summed up the coffee situation here the best in his post. And of course, Yankimike was quick to weigh in with his thoughts in another good post.

For me, I am proud to say I just don't care that Starbucks is coming to town. You see, I'm a recovering Starbucks addict. Yes, I was a Triple, Vente, Non-Fat, No-Foam, One-Splenda Latte addict. I could not function unless I had at least one every day. I admit it. It was wrong and I have moved on.

In prepping for my move to Argentina, I tried ordering a machiato or a douple shot of espresso knowing that was the main way coffee was offered here. Boy is the espresso nasty at Starbucks. I couldn't drink the stuff. I thought I was in for trouble down here if that is what I had to drink everyday to get my fix.

Once I arrived, I was surprised to learn how great coffee (espresso) should taste. The corner cafe has broken me of my Starbucks addiction and shone me the true light.

For a recent post, Yankimike asked me to provide a picture of what I used to make my cofee at home, I sent him the pic of the empty espresso cup above.

I had to explain to him that I didn't have anything to make coffee at home. Why would you make the crap they offer at the supermarket when I can go to the corner and have bliss in a cup? Besides, as any Argentine will tell you (and expats like Maya), "café" is not about the coffee as much as it is the experience of hanging out in the café.

Thank you Argentina for showing me what true coffee is. Anyone else out there need a 12-step program for ex-Starbucks addicts?