How Many Stars for Starbucks?

Starbucks.

When you first think of the word – “Starbucks” – what do you think of? The first thing that pops up in my head when I hear this word is coffee. Even though Starbucks sells other products, such as teas, Frappuccinos, baked goods, and smoothies, we all know that Starbucks equals coffee and coffee equals Starbucks.

 Image: Starbucks Logo                                                         

So, obviously I needed to make a trip to the closest Starbucks around me. But, wait. There are so many Starbucks near me that I could choose from. I could either go to the one in the HUB, the one near Insomnia Cookies, OR the one near Five Guys. I didn’t want to go to the Starbucks in the HUB because I wanted to try the real Starbucks experience. So, being that the Starbucks near Insomnia Cookies was closer to my residence than the one near Five Guys, I decided to go there.

At around 8:30 PM, I hit my breaking point. I was exhausted. Swamped with homework and a long, long night ahead, I decided I needed caffeine to survive the night to come. I called up my friends and asked if they wanted to come to the Starbucks near Insomnia Cookies with me, and they said yes! I mean, who would pass up the opportunity to get some quality coffee at 9 PM?

The walk to Starbucks was a quick one, which is exactly what I needed in this bitter cold weather. I walked for about 5 minutes until I reached my destination. Walking into Starbucks, I was hit with a strong, but diluted aroma of fresh grounded coffee (despite it being 9 PM at night). Thankfully, there was no line, even though there were a lot of other students lounging around, all studying or talking.

Image: Coffee Beans' Aroma 

I ordered a Venti (Starbuck’s largest cup size) Vanilla Iced Coffee with extra 2% milk (because I like my coffee somewhat milky). The price came out to be a whopping $3.34, but I wondered if that was because of how large my drink was. Within a small span of only 3 minutes or so, the barista called out “Emily! Vanilla iced coffee with extra 2%!”. I was actually quite surprised as to how quickly they made the drink.

I grabbed my iced coffee and headed over to the station with all the drink “condiments”. I grabbed for the half and half creamer - a definite must - but to my dismay, there wasn’t any creamer left. I was low-key mad about it, but I assumed it was most likely because of how late it was. Understandable.

As for the coffee – it was some good, exquisite, robust, and smooth coffee. Trust me. The price was worth it. The coffee tasted rich enough where you could specifically taste the coffee beans, but the vanilla syrup was definitely still there and present throughout the whole drink. The syrup did not “die out” in the middle of the drink (like some other coffees do) but stayed strong till the end. And that is my kind of syrup I need in my coffees. The blend between the vanilla and the coffee was so well balanced, much like a beautifully balanced chemical equation. So, in other words, perfection.

Image: My Starbucks Order

The iced coffee definitely hit the spot. Even though it is pricier than the vanilla iced coffee at Redifer, you get much more in terms of volume, and the taste of the coffee is much more superb.

Yes, Starbucks may be considered a much more “high-end”, “next-level” coffee choice, but in my opinion, it is worth it.

So, I give Starbuck’s vanilla iced coffee 4 stars out of 5. I had to dock a star due to the fact Redifer is only 1 minute away, while Starbucks is 5. And also, Starbucks doesn't accept LionCash. Gasp. I know, I was pretty bummed about it, too.