Dolce on the move

We see a number of Starbucks stores on every street we walk. The coffee giant has about 7,950 stores in the U.S. alone. The first Starbucks store was opened in 1971 in Seatle. The name comes from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, a classic American novel about the 19th century whaling industry. The seafaring name seems appropriate for a store that imports the world’s finest coffees to the cold, thirsty people of Seattle. In 1990's Starbucks opened many stores outside of Seatle as a result of demand for the great coffee they prepared. Now there are more than 12,400 stores in over 35 countries or so.

The store offers a variety of coffee and tea drinks for the caffine lovers. Step into any of their stores and you will smell the coffee beans being roasted (of course you will, it's a coffee shop, duh!). You can pick up your favorite hot or cold drink depending on the stress level you are in, depending on the weather outside (hot drink on a snowy cold morning and a cold drink after a couple of hours of workout) or depending on who you are impressing ;-) You can relax with your drink, catch up with your friends, listening to the music they play or you can have a meeting with your team mates in college or have a marketing/sales meeting while there.

Despite the competition that the chain is having with other similar chains like Dunkin, Caribou coffee, Green mountain and Costa coffee, the store is doing pretty well surprisingly. In a recent study and an article posted in Washington Post, Starbucks coffee is ranked as the bottom roast which means "liked least" because of ammonia and hambone in aroma, burnt flavor and thin body. Top roast ("liked best") coffee makers are Caribou, a national chain; Mayorga, a local roaster based in Rockville, MD; Murky, a local company.

To market itself, Starbucks introduces new drinks every now and then. Recently, I have been hearing ads about Cinnamon Dolce Latte (CDL) and seeing samples being distributed in some of the Starbucks store. The drink made it on the menu boards a few days ago, although some stores have been making this drink since the New Years'. Cinnamon Dolce is typically an indulgent drink, made with espresso, steamed milk and a sweet syrup flavored with cinnamon, butter and brown sugar. The standard CDL comes topped with whipped cream and cinnamon sprinkles, as well. But due to the drink's popularity and the increasingly health-conscious customer base, Starbucks has introduced a sugar-free Cinnamon Dolce syrup this year as an alternative to the standard. It has the same flavors, but zero calories. Made with nonfat milk (and no whipped cream), a tall sugar-free Cinnamon Dolce Latte has only 90 calories, an impressive reduction from a tall-sized regular CDL made with whipped cream and whole milk, which has 340 calories (260 without the whipped cream). Talk about weight-loss recipes.

Some of the popular radio stations are offering a $100 Starbucks gift card for trying out this new drink if you happen to be the 10th caller after a particular song which they mention during the morning hours of 6am to 8am. During that time, they mention the song you will have to listen for and the time frame when the song will be aired during the day. Talk about marketing! I know to wake up early and shine and plan my day ahead. Coffee lovers - here is your chance to wake up early and try your luck in winning the gift card to go to Starbucks for Dolce Latte.