On the plus side, this Shanghai mega branch (and indeed all the Starbucks in China now) is not operated by Tong Yi (aka UniPresident), who sold their controlling share–so I believe it would be better than consuming the sh*tty nonfresh product UniPresident continues to serve in Starbucks here in Taiwan.
I honestly can’t taste any difference between the Starbucks in Taiwan, and the Starbucks I’ve had in other countries including the US. It all tastes like the same generic, slightly above-average product.
If you happen to visit Japan, check out a Starbucks there. Same basic product served with much more care; better quality milk (duh!); and signage actually indicating what is being brewed. In Taiwan the sign will say, for example, “Pike” and I ask: “Is it really Pike today?” They check, and no, it’s actually Kenya, or some completely dissimilar product. Even after realizing the signage is wrong, they carry on as if nothing has happened. I have never seen Starbucks anywhere else so indifferent about the product they serve.
Eh, well fortunately there’s a lot of great, small independent drip-coffee places here. I guess I never noticed, because I go to Starbucks for 2 reasons; (a) the comfy chairs, and (b) a quick boost of caffeine. It’s like the Heineken of coffee; if you drink it for the taste, you’re doing it wrong.
The only thing I like from Starbucks is the frappacino. I think I drank like 5 venti ones to try to put on weight once in high school before a football game. So damn skinny then, my stomach was like a black hole. No matter what I eat, I could never gain weight.
Not a fan of coffee, I hate having to rely on something like caffeine to get me going.
Idk which starbucks you went to in Japan but I was in Kyoto and Osaka like in January this year and their beverages and cakes tasted exactly the same as the ones I’ve had in Taiwan. The only difference is that they had honeymelon frappucino which I desperately wanted to try out but it was always sold out before noon.
Then I had a sakura frappucino, which was borderline horrible.