Hands up who knows why Italians order an espresso at the bar and drink it like a shot of alcohol rather than lingering over it as other Europeans do?  

The thought hadn’t crossed my mind until I spent a day with the Starbucks team at their Coffee College.

The answer? It's because within ten seconds the espresso will go from tasting creamy and fragrant to tasting as thin and as dull as dish water.

I would never have put the words ‘coffee connoisseur’ and Starbucks into the same sentence. My view of Starbucks was this global behemoth that was only interested in serving up grande triple shot mocha vanilla lattes with whipped cream on top to an unsuspecting sugar-addicted public. I thought their coffee was pretty weak, low-grade and it was the ring of the till that oiled the coffee equivalent of McDonald’s wheels.

But now, I must say that my head has been duly spun and I apologise for my knee-jerk reaction that was founded upon less than solid foundations. Starbucks is a company that has a passion about coffee from bean to cup, from field worker to co-operative owner to barista to director level. They mean what they say; 100% of the beans in their espresso roast sold in the UK & Ireland are Fairtrade – which means, to the uninitiated, unless you by a speciality filter coffee, it’s the coffee they use in all beverages.

Starbucks have not gone down the franchise route unlike many of their competitors, every store is either wholly owned or a joint partnership, ensuring control over every process and therefore the outcome i.e. your coffee, which should, according to Starbucks be perfect every time. 

Franchising brings the risk of dilution, of brand and quality – if you’re serving 100,000 espresso shots a week in your store, what’s would happen to your bottom line if you increased the water or scrimped on the coffee measure? You don’t need to be Einstein to work out that the result would be a weaker coffee and increased profits. 

This way Starbucks can ensure that the customer will always get the same coffee experience wherever they go in the world. Or you, as a customer, can DEMAND ANOTHER CUP OF COFFEE or GET YOUR MONEY BACK.

Starbucks is a global brand, end of. But deep inside that corporate side there is a glowing heart beating to the tune of social responsibility. What is more, they appear to do it well and with passion. Starbucks may have an aggressive expansion policy, which I don’t entirely agree with, but what would you do if the shoe were on the other foot? I know which route I would take. And also, Starbucks is focussed solely on coffee; the origin, the quality and the end result. Do well and excel.

Within any global success there is an element of standardisation in everything, ensuring that the customer get the same thing every time, in turn making them feel happy and comfortable and most importantly brand-loyal. It's fine for me to beat the drum for the independent shop loudly, but would said independent standardise their products of they had the opportunity to expand on a global scale? Hell yeah. It’s where the cost savings come in and how to ensure you can foster good customer service worldwide.

Having been a customer of many of the UK’s coffee chains, I know how awful some can be, but I was struck by how passionate all of the team were, they had mostly moved up the ranks from barista level or in one case, a former-coffee grower and had been with the company for five years plus. Very impressive in the loyalty stakes when these days people jump from pillar to post to their can increase their take home.

So, am I a complete convert? No, I am not going to give up visiting my favourite independents such as Monmouth Coffee, Climpson & Sons and Flat White. But I live in central London where we have a plethora of choices. I visited a Starbucks at the weekend to test their staff on the 10 second espresso pour and admittedly I found their regular (small) soya latte to be weaker than their other competitors.

However, I believe that it’s because they all use two shots to Starbucks’ one. But Starbucks have nutmeg to shake on the top, they don’t overheat their milk and I like the mugs. 

If you don’t live near a superb independent, then Starbucks would certainly do your coffee addiction proud.  Just please steer away from the ridiculous ‘seasonal’ or other drinks that pile on the pounds with their sugar, cream and supersize-me cup sizes. Instead, go for a cafetiere of either the Ethiopian or Sumatran blend, which are superb.