The Wordsmith

Ah, coffee. That aroma. That culture. That addiction.

But it’s never been my addiction; and Starbucks was never an attraction not just because I don’t do coffee, but because of the whole faceless corporate giant factor.

However, when Starbucks came to Kuching, I starbucks-ed along with my litter of misfits. I always went for the green tea latte (no syrup) though. If I ever downed a latte or god forbid, an Americano, it would have been mostly out of the cool factor of coffee. Admit it, the coffee culture is cool. Before too long, I was a regular and more than a few baristas could point me out in a line-up.

So, out of pure curiosity, when a buddy of mine invited me to a coffee seminar courtesy of Starbucks (there’s such a thing? Yes, there is), I said aye.

The aim of the Starbucks Coffee Seminar is to enlighten coffee lovers, addicts and dabblers like myself to an enlightened state of the coffee experience.  What’s the diff between robusta and arabica beans? What’s the aroma, texture and feel? Where exactly does it tickle your tastebuds? What’s  special edition coffee? Who created Starbucks?

It’s all quite fascinating really. There’s a great degree of coffee connoisseurism than the average Kuchingite would come across. But let me say this, if nothing else, I took back with me a slightly changed perspective of Starbucks the corporate giant of coffee sellers. They is a nice degree of the personal touch in their approach to business, certainly here in Kuching. Yes, it’s publicity, but it’s a nice sort of publicity because they’ve reached out to their market and gained quite a few supporters that night. Add to that a nice haul of free Starbucks merchandise and organic coffee grounds for the garden.

Not bad, coffee people. Not bad.