Given my venture and startup interests and experience it would be fairly safe to assume that I am wildly addicted to caffeine, especially in its purest coffee form.  As a result, new happenings in the industry often cause some intrigue in my day-to-day.  Given that, I received an email early in the week hinting that Starbucks would be doing something “big” today.  Amazingly (/sarcasm) they introduced their Fresh Roasted Coffee today (after closing all stores to replace brewing machines two weeks ago).

Being the fiend I am, I journeyed to the local store not long ago and experience this new brew.  Needless to say, I was pleased and overall it was “fresh” tasting and good coffee.  Given that I am not a connoisseur of sorts, I can’t tell any major differences but it was still good coffee.  More than just the coffee however, I think this is a great attempt at recreating the experience and quality that Starbucks was based upon.  With all the competition in the space and most chains offering a premium coffee line (McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, Bagel places etc.) there has to be something to differentiate brands.  Starbucks had seen steady declines in its share price given their huge growth and the problems that come with growth of that magnitude.  Nevertheless, they are making changes for the better and hopefully with free wifi and a few other perks, they’ll begin to regain their brand identity that was so well established in the early 2000s.

Stay tuned for a post about Google vs. Amazon relatively soon… Oh and on a side note, great lineup this year at Lollapalooza (Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, and Rage Against the Machine = they go to 11).

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