This recent post about Starbucks - as with most posts about Starbucks - caused the typical coffee cacophony over price and quality. Although I happen to like Starbucks just fine, I certainly appreciate a good homemade cup. Unfortunately, quality espresso machines are pricey and people rarely use them enough to meet their ROI ('Fess up: How many of you have a schmancy DeLonghi at home, but still go to Starbucks every day?). As a veteran barista (of both indie and corporate coffeehouses), I've come up with a stock of supplies to help make gourmet coffee at home.

Espresso drinks:

• Moka pot (like this one from Bialetti): Many Italians still brew their espresso the old-fashioned way -- on the stovetop. The pot steeps espresso grounds in boiling water until the bubbles force the creamy coffee into the top of the Moka. Pour it out, and there's your shot.
  
• Milk Frother (like this one from Aerolatte): This bad boy has a high-speed whisker that whips any kind of milk into foamy shape. (For a cappuccino, use half steamed milk/half foam; for a latte, use mainly steamed milk, with a layer of foam on top).
  

There are few corporations as polarizing as Starbucks. Even on this blog, it is the rare Slashbucks post that doesn't incite a ruthless comments war. Yet there is no denying that Starbucks is a fast food force and their products deserve coverage like everybody else, so simmer.

Today Starbucks is introducing yet another beverage to their liquid arsenal. Though frozen and blended, the new Vivanno isn't another tired variation on the -ccino theme. Nope, this is Starbucks' answer to Jamba Juice: A protein-packed smoothie.

Here's the scoop:

• One whole - real! - banana (seriously! it will be peeled and pulsed before your very eyes!)
• Whey protein (16 grams) and fiber powder (5 grams)
• Choice of milk (default is 2%)
• Ice
• Secret Starbucks-Proprietary Orange-Mango Naked Juice
• Portion controlled (default is Grande, and always has less than 270 calories)

Although I believe it is rather naive of the financially-woed coffee conglomerate to try and break into the oversaturated smoothie market with a mere four options, I decided to give 'em a go.

This may be an odd, naive question, but here goes.

For the past few years, I've been enjoying the Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino drinks that you can buy at the supermarket. They come in little bottles, in a four pack. I know that you can buy a Mocha Frappuccino at Starbucks locations, but when I order it it's a thicker, ice-based drink, and not the thin, iced-coffee drink that you get in the four pack from the supermarket. My question: can you actually order this drink at Starbucks, or can you only get the frozen one? Is this store Frappuccino a thin liquid because they can't market it as a frozen drink?

OK, sorry, I guess that was two questions, not one.

I know, I know, I know, many of you are going to say in the comments, "when was it ever cool?"

Writer Douglas Brown at The Denver Post has a story about the incredible expansion the coffee shop chain is going through, with a goal of 40,000 stores (they have 20,000 right now). He calls it the "Growth-Into-Plague," the Krispy Kreme model, where they open so many stores that they are everywhere and they are overexposed and become, as Brown says, "uncool" and "repugnant."

I understand what he's saying. Businesses seem to want to push their dominance to the extreme, and I wonder if customers - even if they are diehard fans - will just get sick of it. I'm not a hardcore Starbucks fan. When I lived in the city and I had a Starbucks a two minute walk away, I did go there a lot (I was addicted to the mocha frappuccinos), but now that I have to drive to go to one, I don't seek it out, even if I do drive past one on my way to Borders.

Readers?

[via Starbucks Gossip]

An average of five cents doesn't sound like a lot. Even calling it a 1.9% increase on average sounds tame. But damn, it still doesn't mean paying over $3 for a coffee drink is cheap!

Seattle-based Starbucks said Thursday that it will raise most prices, the first since an increase of eleven cents in 2004, at its U.S. and Canada stores "to help offset increased costs for fuel and labor." The price hike will include an average of five cents on coffee drinks and 50 cents per pound on whole beans.

The increases will go into effect on October 3.

As if being addicted to the caffeine alone weren't enough, now you can get your Starbucks "fix" at a blog wholly dedicated to gossip about the coffee chain, Starbucks Gossip. Sort of like the Defamer or Gawker of the coffee world, but without the naughty pictures, I guess?

We've already heard recently about the complaint that a few employees in New York have filed about the vermin infestation and general unsanitary conditions of some Starbucks outposts in New York. The company, like many other large corporations, public figures, and "celebrities," will always be the target of accusations, public scrutiny, and general "talk," so Starbucks Gossip is the place to get it all. The best part of the blog is its tagline: "Monitoring America's favorite drug dealer." How sad, but so very true.

Starbucks Gossip mentioned a rumor that Starbucks will be partnering with Kellogg's to introduce a line of granola cereals. The cereal will be packaged in individual portion cups, so steamed milk can be added easily for a convenient, quick breakfast. 

This seems like a great idea because so many people start their day at Starbucks. Along with a latte, people order breakfast of a muffin, scone or other pastry virtually every morning. The granola - which will most likely be a low-fat variety - will probably have more to offer nutritionally than the jumbo sized chocolate scones Starbucks serves. At the very least, the whole oats in the granola will add an extra serving of fiber to the daily diet. Offering both steamed and cold milk to top the granola gives the cereal the versatility to be appealing all year long.