This post has been a very long time coming, and since the Academy Awards are now showing on TV, I have both the time and the concentration level necessary to write it.
I recently came across a terrible notice on a blog and was so horrified by the "news" that I felt compelled to write a blistering comment in response (after 25 others had done the same, sometime last year). If you prefer not to click on the link above and research my complaint, here's the quick and dirty summary: somebody suggested that Starbucks is going to be opening some shops in Portugal over the next few years. Of course, I immediately checked the Starbucks website for further news on this subject and discovered (much to my delight) that there is no Portugal office - yet.
A few words about coffee and Portugal might be appropriate here. Portugal is a nation addicted to coffee. Not that nasty stuff that you and I can order at any number of gas stations and diners throughout the suburbs and urbs of America, but real, dense, rich espresso coffee. This is the stuff that everyone enjoys, whenever a moment offers itself, or indeed, whenever a moment can be procured. Espresso in Portugal is not just a consumer phenomenon, a physical or psychological addiction like that suffered by so many of us here in the U.S. Rather, espresso consumption in Portugal is an expression of and a logical complement to a much stronger cultural force - I'll call it leisure, for lack of a better term.
Simply put, the Portuguese know more about enjoying the little things in life than a lot of the rest of the world. That doesn't mean that everything is perfect there, but I would suggest that spending time with friends over a coffee (in the morning, afternoon, or evening) is more important to many of the Portuguese, in theory AND in practice, than squeezing out those extra fifteen minutes of work over at the office.
That said, I am not entirely convinced that we need to worry about Starbucks taking over the coffee culture of Portugal. I might be willing to accept the possibility that the Portuguese care more about the relaxation and spending time with their friends than they do about coffee, but I wouldn't want to bet on it! Replacing Portuguese espresso with Starbucks would certainly test a lot of friendships - and increase job productivity pretty substantially - but it would also leave a(nother) population of coffee lovers with a bad taste in their mouths.
Fortunately, that will never happen. The reasons for this are numerous, but first and foremost is the fact that once you have tasted the real thing, you just won't settle for anything less. If you're ever in Portugal, I recommend avoiding at all costs any café that advertises Sical, Buondi, or, much worse, Delta Platina (Platina is the specific roast). Ordering a coffee in one of these will have such a negative effect on you that your next mass-marketed coffee, even with its whipped-cream soy vanilla chocolate caramel sprinkled cinnamon foam (disguise), will turn to ashes in your mouth. Some things just were not meant to be shared with mortals, and while I mention Buondi and Sical above, truly Delta Platina stands all on its own in this regard.
Starbucks investors should all be thanking their lucky stars that Delta Platina is virtually impossible to find here in the U.S. My Dad might be able to send me a small bag now and again, but as far as I know there is no long-term plan to market this coffee here. This means that the secret is safe from almost all of us, but more importantly, it means that the excellent roasts produced by those marketing their wares to Portuguese cafés can continue to produce the best material, roasted to the high standard of the most discriminating taste in the world.
Well written article.
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