I've got a love/hate relationship with my dealer. On the one hand, they are the fuel that powers Dr. Evil's Evil Empire, helping to put «lasers» on the moon, stealing «mojo» and building «time machines». On the other hand, there are good points to the company as well: a fair wage for employees, health care for part-timers, a source for coffee of known quality, and ubiquity. Nevertheless, like other northwestern monopolies, the world would probably be better served by three or four competitors that would deliver quality and ubiquity together.
Today, there's another good point to Starbucks: New Guinea Peaberry. Peaberry is one of those obscure classifications for coffee beans, and it doesn't appear often. The canonical Peaberry coffee comes from Tanzania. I've never heard about significant amounts of Peaberry production in New Guinea, but somehow Starbucks made it happen (or is simply lying about the provenance of the beans). However it came to be, this coffee is easily the finest, mellowest, and most enjoyable cup of coffee I've had in at least a year.
