Have you tasted a cup of Starbucks coffee from a Starbucks cafe lately? No, I mean really, really taste the coffee. Remove your brand loyalty lens and tell me that cup of Starbucks coffee doesn't taste like sugar water mixed with overly diluted coffee and a lot of dairy,or some other have-it-your-way blend of water, sugar and non-dairy dairy flavored with coffee essence. This stuff is giving coffee a bad name.

An average cup of coffee usually consists of two tablespoons of coffee grind to 6 ounces of water. The dilution ratio of coffee grind to water must be so high that the coffee tastes like the second dripping of that same two tablespoons of coffee grind. Who drank the first good cup? Starbucks employees, of course. They're kicking back, sipping the good stuff with the freshest Boulange bakery items and gave you the left overs. Enjoy people! It's really the sugar keeping you awake at work and not the minuscule amount of caffeine. The good news is they're weaning you off of caffeine while getting you addicted to sugar. Don't you dare think about having a candy bar during lunch!

Once in awhile, with company abound and peer pressure, I do go in and order a cup of coffee. And, every time, I regret having done that. The last time I was there, I paid almost nine dollars for a cup of regular coffee and a cup of mocha. The coffee was as expected -- that second dripping tastes with that disgusting light tan color. The mocha has a powdery finish of diluted hot cocoa mix with very little coffee tastes.

Let me point out the costs again to demonstrate what you're really paying for. Nine dollars. Let's assume an average of $4 per cup for 12 ounces of coffee drink. If you purchased a pound of coffee from Costco, it'll cost at most $10 per pound. In a pound of coffee, using 2 tablespoons per cup of coffee, you can make about 40 cups of coffee. This is equivalent to about 0.25 cents coffee grind per cup of coffee. I mean, per cup of good coffee; not that diluted stuff they serve you in their cafes. Considering that they get their coffee for a lot cheaper than what Costco's charging you, a cost per cup to Starbucks cafe is less than 0.25 cents. Add in labor, benefits and other overhead expenses (depending on where you are) and the coffee will probably costs $3, on average. That's about a 25% profit margin. Add in corporate overhead and it should leave a profit margin in the low 20's to high 10's. Can they afford to throw in another scoop of grinds and still be profitable? Sure! But, what's the point if people are willing to pay for what they're getting now?

Now, I'm not saying I'm going to hold a sign outside Starbucks and demand equal coffee for equal pay. I'm just saying if you're going to drink coffee, drink real coffee. Buy yourself a good machine at home, brew a nice cup of Starbucks coffee with two tablespoons of grind. Fill the house with that wonderful coffee aroma and enjoy the morning with your family. Stop drinking this Starbucks cafe crap and calling it coffee. It's a waste of calories that you could spend eating something else.