'Charbucks' told to wake up and smell the coffee

By KEITH PERRY

Members of New Zealand's cafe society are seething after the head of the Starbucks coffee shop chain, Orin Smith, dared to criticise their favourite drink.

Last week, Starbucks' Seattle-based president was dismissive of Kiwi coffee, branding it "green and a little bitter."

Having tried out a handful of Auckland's coffee shops, he said some had "done pretty well" although others "could do a lot better."

Yesterday, coffee-shop owners, customers and even the Prada America's Cup team said they were amazed by Mr Smith's remarks, adding that they left an unpleasant after-taste.

Given that he comes from the fast-food equivalent of coffee shops, they felt it was a case of the coffee pot calling the kettle black. Starbucks' coffee had a reputation for being over-roasted and was dubbed "Charbucks" in America, they said.

Coffee connoisseur Tonci Farac agreed that some New Zealand coffee was bitter, but said Starbucks' was over-roasted.

"I've been to Starbucks and couldn't even drink the coffee, it was so bad. But it would be silly to say all Starbucks coffee is bad," said Mr Farac, owner of Cin Cin and Wildfire restaurants and distributor of the Italian espresso coffee Illy Caffee.

"I would say a good coffee is 50 per cent good beans and 50 per cent operator. Sometimes both are perfect, but often one isn't and I'm sure that will happen at Starbucks as well.

"He [Mr Smith] is correct in saying some New Zealand coffee is green and a little bitter. But New Zealand coffee has come a long way in the last five years. He's probably gone to two cafes and now he's an expert on New Zealand coffee. That's just ridiculous."

Mr Farac, who said he preferred to drink Italian-style half-cup espressos called ristreto, said Starbucks' coffee was, to his taste, over-roasted.

"If you looked at a Starbucks coffee bean it would be jet black. The Americans tend to like them heavily roasted. The New Zealanders don't roast the beans for as long. They're more a reddy-brown colour.

"At the end of the day he's just pumping his own hat. What else do you want him to say? 'We serve bad coffee?

"We've come to New Zealand and want to open another 10 stores and our coffee's over-roasted and made for the American market?' It's a personal preference."

Prada spokeswoman Alessandra Ghezzi also leaped to the defence of New Zealand producers, declaring Auckland coffee shops excellent.

"We do have our own coffee machines at the base and make our own Italian coffee - coffee mocca," she said.

"But we obviously drink coffee around town too and we think it's very good.

"Maybe it is a little different from Italy because here you have the long black, the short black, the latte. Sometimes the sheer choice is a little confusing.

"In Italy, you usually drink the espresso or the cappuccino. We do like our coffee strong so here we ask for a very short black, definitely not long, but in general we think it's very, very good in Auckland."

John Ashby, general manager of Columbus Coffee and previously New Zealand director for Kraft Jacobs Suchard, the largest coffee player in the world, said he found the Starbucks chief's comments astounding. They did nothing more than perpetuate the self-limiting Kiwi myth that the rest of the world does it better.

"Starbucks and Restaurant Brands [the NZ franchise holder] will be investing more than they earn to grow their coffee chain in New Zealand over the next five to 10 years. Perhaps they have overlooked the fact that the key to the chain's rapid growth in the US was the incredibly low grade of commercial coffee on offer in that country at the time. In New Zealand, quite the opposite is true.

"Any regular to any first-class New Zealand espresso cafe [operator] who drops into Starbucks is left wondering that the hype is all about. A bland, American-style coffee made with stale, imported over-roasted beans cannot even begin to compete with the incredible taste and aroma of a freshly brewed espresso made from beans that have been freshly roasted and blended in the store just the day before.

"Starbucks, according to Orin, wants to become as ubiquitous as McDonald's. I can only wonder whether he is going to miss the mark in this country."

Chris Priestley, owner of Atomic Cafe on Ponsonby Rd, shrugged off Mr Smith's criticisms as a "publicity gimmick."

"There are a number of excellent coffee shops in Auckland - much better than Starbucks, who are not even in the same league. The fact that Starbucks make their coffee in little glasses then pour them into cups, leaving all the head behind in the glass, seems ridiculous in itself.

"We have always roasted our own coffee and since the America's Cup kicked off, we are 20 per cent busier, which has to be an indictment on what we serve.

"We get all the sailors and tourists coming in here at lunchtime, including an awful lot of French and Italians who are pretty discerning coffee drinkers. So I find Mr Smith's comments a little baffling."

Former Air New Zealand stewardess Wanda Smolenski, owner of Sierra on Ponsonby Rd, said the crew of the British racing yacht Velsheda were daily visitors to her coffee shop and ran up a $500 tab over 10 days.

The crew told her it was the best coffee they had tasted.

"The only thing I buy from Starbucks is their vanilla latte. Certainly when I worked for the airline and travelled to the States I used to drink Starbucks coffee but it is really just the coffee equivalent of fast food. We have two or three flavours in the gourmet range as well as our house blend.

"And the staff are important too. You can stock good coffee but still have someone who makes a lousy cup - it's not a matter of just sticking the nozzle in the milk and pouring it out."

Kate Webb, a member of the Velsheda crew, said: "Our British crew went into Sierra every day and were very happy with the coffee they drank."