Starbucks, the coffee beans and the copyright

[razors edge]

row that cost Ethiopia £47m

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1931806,00.html

Ashley Seager
Thursday October 26, 2006
The Guardian


Starbucks, the giant US coffee chain, has used its muscle to block an attempt by Ethiopia's farmers to copyright their most famous coffee bean types, denying them potential earnings of up to £47m a year, said Oxfam.
The development agency said the Ethiopian government last year filed copyright applications to trademark its most famous coffee names - Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe. Securing the rights to these names would enable the impoverished African country to control their use in the market and allow farmers to receive a greater share of the retail price.

[Thickasabrick]

1. DAMMIT! Now I have to change to Caribou - damn you Starbucks

[kysrsoze]

2. Caribou's coffee is better. BTW - you are supposed to be able to request fair-trade at any

Starbucks and they are obligated to make it for you. Screw Starbucks.

[Bobbieo]

4. I've never had a Starbucks in my life! What is the lure???

That's the price you pay to live in the desert Southwest!!!

[Poll_Blind]

6. I've had Starbucks alot and their coffee isn't unique or exceptional...

...in any way. Seriously. I won't actively go to Starbucks but sometimes it's convenient. Their coffee and espresso are so sub-par, I only get fru-fru drinks (espresso drinks with flavor) because otherwise there's no real flavor to savor.

Now, you want some really amazingly good coffee (though not world-class), try...

Dutch Bros. They've got at least one location in Arizona, the store locator sez.

Wow. Good stuff.

PB

[bperci108]

10. Or try this stuff:

Cafe du Monde brand Coffee with Chicory, (find in any Vietnamese/asian market or online) brewed double strength and mixed 50-50 with hot milk. (And a little sugar.)

Real NOLA (that's 'Nawlins, folks) -style cafe au lait.

Another good bet is any whole bean coffee, ground coarse and brewed in a French Press.

Best coffee you ever tasted and WAAAAYYYY cheaper than that over-priced burnt dishwater at Starbucks.



Okay...I admit it. I'm cheap. :)

[Poll_Blind]

11. My mother used to work at Cafe du Monde in the French Quarter.

It is good stuff. Especially with a beignet. God I really miss real New Orleans food sometimes. You just can't get a good fried-oyster po'boy in Oregon.



PB

[bperci108]

12. You just HAD to post that pic, didn't you....

Now there is drool in my keyboard. ;)


Those beignets are utterly indescribably good....and messy, too.

You can't keep the powdered sugar off of you, especially if there is a breeze.

[Thickasabrick]

5. But the kids make my quad vente breve latte just perfect. I guess

I can break in new people. This is totally worth it. Maybe if enough people boycott them, they will undo this.

[mike_c]

3. f*ck Starbucks and their awful over-roasted cup 'o crap....

Ethiopian coffee is excellent and the farmers deserve the profits from their land and their labor. Starbucks is a corporate pig.

[Jcrowley]

7. Exemplary

actions by one of the top notch corporate organizations going.



Anyone who drinks their evil brew should consider themselves in league with corporate robber barons.

[frustrated_lefty]

8. Starbucks sells Satan's pee.

Take a valium at the door, and forget how horrid they are.

[OnyxCollie]

9. Piss on Starbucks.

Only had their coffee once. Thought it tasted like crap. They scorch the beans.

[madmunchie]

13. Starbucks is to coffee as Hummer is to SUVs, personally my hubby had it

right. The reason that there are so many ways that you can have your "designer" coffee fixed in Starbucks and then justify paying your $5.00 for that cup of coffee is because the coffee itself tastes like crap.