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Comment by craftyguy | Hacker News Reader

I stopped going to starbucks because I had to wait in the same like as the "large mocha frappuccino with whipped cream and low fat milk please" folks who took forever and a day to order their crap, when all I wanted was a black coffee.

Why can't there be a way to get a regular, no frills coffee without waiting for tens of minutes?

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> Why can't there be a way to get a regular, no frills coffee without waiting for tens of minutes?

McDonald's has acceptable black coffee if that's what you're looking for, and usually less hassle than Starbucks. I can't really say anything either way about the taste - to me coffee is coffee.

Acceptable? I would take a black cup of their coffee over Starbucks every day of the week.

> Why can't there be a way to get a regular, no frills coffee without waiting for tens of minutes?

Make it at home with an aeropress, I stopped going to Starbucks when I realized I was spending $5 on venti iced coffees multiple times per week when $10 worth of beans easily lasts me two weeks of a daily pot (2x venti) of coffee. One pot of coffee with breakfast usually keeps me going for the day, with the free side effect of not having trouble going to sleep at a decent hour

Yea, sometimes that's not an option when traveling.. When I'm not traveling, I make all of my coffee at home, or drink whatever my employer serves.

I bring caffeine pills with me now when I travel so I don't have to go out for my daily coffee. But I enjoy brewing my own coffee at home.

Aeropress has been great for me in addition to paying attention to the quality of beans Im buying now. Id reccomend one as well

This gets me every time I go. It staggers me the time spent per cup.

My wife gets a venti soy frappa latte double expresso flavor shot monstrosity and I just want a coffee.

My rebeliousness makes me order in a certain way, refusing to speak in Starbucks-ese: "Large Black Coffee, please"

> when all I wanted was a black coffee.

This is incorrect at least at all the Starbucks I've been to in the past 5 years (ATL, LAX, San Diego, bay area). If you order just drip coffee, the cashier just fills it for you whilst billing. No waiting in line with the other folks who have different tastes from yours.

Also I agree with my sibling commenter; if all you need is black coffee McD is much better. But you might have to wait in line with "big mac and fries" folks to order their crap.

Anecdotally, it really depends on the Starbucks. There are plenty that do not fill it for you right away. IME, if it's hot coffee usually they will. Iced coffee, they won't.

Use the mobile app. Works beautifully and 99% of the time my order is there when I arrive. I've even used it after I arrived and there was a long line, they make it almost immediately. One time I showed up and it wasn't ready because there was a group of 15 ordering frappucinos but one of the baristas looked me staring and then went "Mobile order?" and I said "Yeah" and then they made my drink immediately.

Problem with that is that there is no real-time inventory checking from mobile app orders against What that particular store actually has in stock at that time. I see several cases a day where people have ordered an item off the app that this particular store doesn't actually have. Not all stores have the full menu. The app doesn't account for that.

I only ordered from the app when Starbucks is running a promo for discounts or bonus stars for items purchased through the app. And I only have the app on an alternate device that has no other data.

> Why can't there be a way to get a regular, no frills coffee without waiting for tens of minutes?

McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts, and hell, even Starbucks offers that if you order ahead with their app and just pick it up when you get there.

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