Bryant Simon & Jonathan Morris: What coffee drinking says about America and Great Britain today
LONDON -- A cup of coffee is just a drink. But a frappuccino is an experience.
So believes Bryant Simon, a historian who is searching for the meaning of modern life amid the round tables and comfy sofas of Starbucks coffee shops.
Simon, who teaches at Philadelphia's Temple University, thinks that by spending time at Starbucks - observing the teenage couples and solitary laptop-users, the hurried office workers and busy baristas - he can learn what it means to live and consume in the age of globalization.
"What are we drinking, and what does it say about who we are?" Simon asked during a recent research trip to London.
His research has taken him to 300 Starbucks in six countries for a caffeine-fueled opus titled "Consuming Starbucks" that's due for publication in 2008. He is one of several academics studying a type of 21st century cafe culture - Italian coffee in an American package - that has spread rapidly around the world.
Founded in Seattle in 1971, Starbucks Corp. now has 11,000 outlets in 37 countries, including 500 in Tokyo. There is a Starbucks's in Beijing's Forbidden City, and the round green logo adorns the streets of Edinburgh and the boulevards of Paris.
British historian Jonathan Morris said that even in Britain - a stalwart bastion of tea drinking where there are now almost 500 Starbucks stores - the chain has become entrenched in daily life.
While British coffee consumption lags far behind most other European nations, sales of "premium" coffee drinks like lattes and cappuccinos are on the rise.
"I'm not sure how much Starbucks is American any more for British customers," said Morris, a University of Hertfordshire professor who is leading a research project called "The Cappuccino Conquests" about the global spread of Italian coffee.
Simon, whose last book, "Boardwalk of Dreams," was a study of Atlantic City, N.J., estimates he has spent 12 hours a week in coffee shops for more than a year.
"I try to limit myself to two to three coffees a day," he said over a "tall" - that is, small - filter coffee at a Starbucks outlet in London's bustling Islington neighborhood.
Starbucks and other coffee houses, he believes, fill "some kind of deep desire for connection with other people."...
Read entire article at Seattle PI
So believes Bryant Simon, a historian who is searching for the meaning of modern life amid the round tables and comfy sofas of Starbucks coffee shops.
Simon, who teaches at Philadelphia's Temple University, thinks that by spending time at Starbucks - observing the teenage couples and solitary laptop-users, the hurried office workers and busy baristas - he can learn what it means to live and consume in the age of globalization.
"What are we drinking, and what does it say about who we are?" Simon asked during a recent research trip to London.
His research has taken him to 300 Starbucks in six countries for a caffeine-fueled opus titled "Consuming Starbucks" that's due for publication in 2008. He is one of several academics studying a type of 21st century cafe culture - Italian coffee in an American package - that has spread rapidly around the world.
Founded in Seattle in 1971, Starbucks Corp. now has 11,000 outlets in 37 countries, including 500 in Tokyo. There is a Starbucks's in Beijing's Forbidden City, and the round green logo adorns the streets of Edinburgh and the boulevards of Paris.
British historian Jonathan Morris said that even in Britain - a stalwart bastion of tea drinking where there are now almost 500 Starbucks stores - the chain has become entrenched in daily life.
While British coffee consumption lags far behind most other European nations, sales of "premium" coffee drinks like lattes and cappuccinos are on the rise.
"I'm not sure how much Starbucks is American any more for British customers," said Morris, a University of Hertfordshire professor who is leading a research project called "The Cappuccino Conquests" about the global spread of Italian coffee.
Simon, whose last book, "Boardwalk of Dreams," was a study of Atlantic City, N.J., estimates he has spent 12 hours a week in coffee shops for more than a year.
"I try to limit myself to two to three coffees a day," he said over a "tall" - that is, small - filter coffee at a Starbucks outlet in London's bustling Islington neighborhood.
Starbucks and other coffee houses, he believes, fill "some kind of deep desire for connection with other people."...