How I broke up with Starbucks

So, it's that time of the day, when I feel like sharing, so for today I'll tell you how I ended one of the longest relationships in my life. It was a few years back when Starbucks decided to open up a few stores in my peaceful country - Bulgaria. It soon became very popular, which was even more reinforced by the growing western influence (TV series, films etc.), no matter what, it was and still is quite expensive for the average Bulgarian.

Our romance started when I was still in high school, I was passing by Starbucks to get a latte or I stayed a bit more to read a book or study. And then one day this particular store I was visiting so often, had become my office. I was very loyal to Starbucks - I was not only drinking their coffee, I was reading books and  articles on the topic, genuinely interested in the company's history and present, constantly fascinated and inspired by the chairman Howard Schultz. I read the book "Onward" he had co-written with Joanne Gordon about his return as a CEO and the building up of the company. I have to say, it's a very captivating, inspiring and even touching at times story to find out what's behind that green logo. Howard Schultz is a genius who manages to motivate and influence a great number of people to work not for  him but with  him and to make Starbucks "not a coffee company that serves people, but a people company that serves coffee". At this point my relationship with Starbucks couldn't get any more serious.

Years passed by, I started studying in Switzerland and the real coffeedrinker in me was just born. I bought a coffee press and I "planted" the coffee-passion bean in my roommates, who are now contributors for this blog. Even though I was visiting Starbucks less than before, my devotion was even bigger, because at that time it was not only the company's philosophy I was professing, but I was also treasuring some very precious Starbucks-related memories I was unable to eradicate. But as we all know, people grow. One year later, I find myself with a lot more knowledge of the coffee industry and the coffee plant than before and I'm continuing to learn and explore the world of specialty coffee.