Ciao, Torrefazione
Posted by deCadmus on 14 Jun 2005 at 10:02 pm | Category: Coffee
I guess the honeymoon is over…
After buying the once-very-Italian Torrefazione Italia stores only a few years ago, Starbucks is shutting them down. Maybe Torrefazione (since you’re wondering, it means the place where coffee is roasted) isn’t quite the little bit of Italy it used to be, where gentleman baristas served classic espresso drinks with panache, and it wasn’t at all unusual to find Umberto Bizzarri, himself, behind the counter (at least if you were in the original Seattle storefront on Pioneer Square.)
Still, it feels like the end of an era — one in which the coffee giant offered at least a passing nod toward the Italian roots of their espresso-flavored beverages. Well… there’s still that whole venti thing, right?
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It’s a sad indictment on our culture both as consumers and as coffee/café lovers that we allow culture, history and skill to be replaced by convenience and marketing spin. It’s interesting that some parts of the world are enjoying a café renaissance (Sydney or Melbourne in Australia for example) and others are being crushed under the corporate yoke of market penetration and a society more concerned with style than substance.
I never went to Torrefazione, and I’ve only been to SB twice, but I will stare deeply into my ibrik tomorrow morning as I watch the dark liquid rise and drink one to the departed.
Well, as one who more or less hates Starbucks (granted they’re after people drinking coffee which is good and all), I enjoy seeing them close stores. Granted, I’d prefer they close the regular Starbucks first, but oh well.
Really, if you’re after the Torrefazione, or really just a coffee shop with character, I’m sure you can find one — and why not support the local economy?
On that note, I live in South Dakota and frequent the Twin Cities, anyone know a good coffee shop there?
-dan
Have you tried the Starbucks Delocator?
Its not the corporations ruining the world, its the people who support the corporations. See “deCadmus” above.
Ciao, Torrefazione