Bearista Tales

How many Starbucks are there near you?

"In Times Square, there's one Starbucks for every .04 sq miles and for every 1,442 people"

Of course, that's the number of people who actually live in Times Square, not the number of people who pass through there each day. A Starbucks every .04 sq miles brings to mind the old Onion headline: "New Starbucks opens in restroom of existing Starbucks".

The Miami area is above the national average in Starbucks saturation, with a Starbucks every 1.43 sq miles and one for every 13,119 people.

What about your neighborhood? Check the Starbucks saturation of your area at Foodio54.com.

(via Starbucks Gossip)

Customized Starbucks Cards

Image from Starbucks.com

You may have seen the voucher boxes lurking around your local Starbucks -- to give or buy a customized Starbucks card. You don't need a voucher though -- you can go directly to their site and customize a card for yourself. It costs $4 for the customization, but if you or someone you know carries their Starbucks card in your wallet (and keeps reloading) like we do, it could be a fun thing.

The customization is pretty cool -- a lot of options -- and on two of the cards you can specify exactly what you're drinking. Not quite as flexible as it might be (for example, can't enter 7 pumps of syrup) but pretty comprehensive to cover most choices people actually drink. Unless you like multiple syrups or only a half shot of espresso. Then you're out of luck.

On our card, the drink we imagine the Holiday Bearistas would enjoy most -- Tall With Whip Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha. And maybe someday they'll introduce a card with a bearista on it.

The Secret of Starbucks "Pumps"

There's almost a "code" for ordering drinks at Starbucks - the right order in which to say things - size first, followed by listing preferences in the order they appear down the side of the cup. That's decaf, shots, syrup, milk, custom, and drink (e.g., mocha, latte, cappucino). Lately we've been hearing a lot of people specifying the number of "pumps" of syrup to be added, such as "2 pump chai" or "7 pump mocha."

But it only makes sense to adjust if you know what you're changing. What's the default? A tall drink normally gets 3 pumps of syrup, a grande drink 4, and a venti drink 5. So, a tall, 2-pump Chai is light on the syrup, whereas a grande 5-pump mocha has extra chocolate. And a 7-pump anything is super decadent.

Now that we know, we can tweak away with abandon. That Chai has always been just-too-sweet for you? Fewer pumps of syrup! You just can't get enough peppermint to freshen your breath? The 10-pump peppermint latte for you!