Comments for diversity.net.nz

Comment on Bizchat is live…. by Paul

Paul — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:47:01 +0000

Nice work Ben

Comment on My Thoughts on Coffee by Falafulu Fisi

Falafulu Fisi — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 07:04:28 +0000

Ben said…
It all comes down to brand - exclusivity, the ellusive “cool” factor…

I agree with your point Ben. It is brand and perception.

Comment on My Thoughts on Coffee by Raf

Raf — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:40:13 +0000

Coffee is so 90s……..try some real hot chocolate at Xocolatl in Fendalton Road.

I’m hooked.

Comment on My Thoughts on Coffee by sue

sue — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:25:34 +0000

I wonder if they gave out free wifi for an hour with every coffe like esquires do, they would find their sales going through the roof? Especially in a country like nz packed with tourists.

Comment on Sage Upping the SaaS Ante by SageLive: interesting | AccMan

SageLive: interesting | AccMan — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:18:22 +0000

[...] to launch SageLive, an on-demand offering possibly as early as January 8rh, 2009. If it does, then as Ben Kepes at CloudAve says: We’ve been waiting for a really compelling on-demand accounting offering from one of the big [...]

Comment on My Thoughts on Coffee by Michael Hansen

Michael Hansen — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:48:06 +0000

Great article - spot on. Here in Hong Kong the only coffee you can get is Pacific Coffee Co. or Starbucks (where I was offered Xmas coffee today) - I miss Melbourne, Australia.

Comment on My Thoughts on Coffee by Russ

Russ — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:08:57 +0000

My personal problem with shops like starbucks is the Americanization of bigger is better, not only do you get asked “what size would you like your flat white sir” but the smallest size often leaves the coffee drowning into insignificance from the milk. This said it’s very easy to hide poorly extracted coffee with a large quantity of milk so maybe its not just the American ethos. The type of coffee generally defines the cup it is to be served in but the mythology flies right out the window at starbucks and similar cafes. I was in at esquires the other day (solely for the free internet) and the smallest cup they could serve me was at least 300ml.

I’ll agree with Adrian that coffee culture use to be great, they still have the culture but no longer serve decent coffee. They are obviously doing something right though as you can glance in their riccarton cafe and see ten people for every one at starbucks across the road.

Comment on My Thoughts on Coffee by lance

lance — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:19:12 +0000

The coffee tastes bad, the chairs are uncomfortable, the snacks are outrageously priced and it’s all too American.
That’s what I though when I lived in the USA, and I have had the same experience here. The issue is that here there are plenty of better alternatives.

Starbucks was responsible for bringing expressos and cappuccinos to the USA, so we should not knock them too much.

I happen to feel that they over cook (burn) their coffee so that it needs milk or milk-like products to counter the bitterness. This means they sell more of the much more profitable drinks with loads of milk than expressos and americanos.
These days it is all just too expensive in what has finally been confirmed as a USA recession. Stsarbucks has closed/is closing stores all over the world as a result of soft demand.

Comment on My Thoughts on Coffee by Adrian Price

Adrian Price — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:07:54 +0000

Ben, at the heart I think you’re right. I couldn’t tell a good coffee or a good merlot from another more mediocre one; most of the time.

But drinking coffee has such an appeal to it and some of it’s not in the cup. I don’t know whether this explains anything but… The coffee cart in Cathedral Square serves one of the best coffees in Christchurch. I put that down to the love that he puts into each cup. Coffee Culture pre-franchise used to be an awesome coffee too [but no longer such a sure-fire hit], C4 under your place was fabulous the day you bought it, the following week it missed that pinnacle somehow. I used to use a Café I’d done the branding for, they were awesome. They used Laffare beans! I figure I loved the way I never had to order and they knew my name. Illy at Little River also used to be awesome, but that got spoiled with new owners and a wife that had left.
This rambling only seems to concrete the idea for me that it’s not about how recently the grind was done or the other coffee snobbery that goes on, but about the relationship that you -|- barista -|- the machine -|- and the coffee have with each other.

Comment on My Thoughts on Coffee by Nicole Fougere

Nicole Fougere — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:04:55 +0000

While Starbucks coffee beans may taste fine, it all goes pear-shaped when they add milk to make a cappucino, latte, macchiato or mocha. So maybe it is in fact the milk (or the technique used to heat it?) that is so wrong, because the whole concoction ends up tasting like a watered down cup of dishwater. I guess that’s why they offer so many flavoured coffees..

I do dig their fruity frappes though.