Latte's in 1994? In North Carolina? No way. Maybe on the West Coast, but I moved to Cali in 1989 and they were a rarity until the mid-late 90's. There were only 425 starbucks in the US in 1994 (from their site). The "fancy coffee" craze was just a blip on the radar in the mid 90's but gaining momentum.
;-)
Friends premiered in 1994, with The Central Perk being a major set piece of the show. I mean, yeah, its New York City and not North Carolina, but college towns anywhere are going to be early in trends.
A latte in 1994 seems plausible to me. I remember getting them from a Gloria Jeans in my local suburban mall around 1990 or so.
You're not wrong about the shape of the trajectory, but all throughout the 80s the coffee shop/latte trend was slowly building steam (heh) before it went hockey stick in the mid-90s.
So yeah, lattes in ‘94 in a major college town seems totally plausible.
Definitely possible. Chapel Hill isn't like the rest of North Carolina, so I'd expect something like that to appear here before other parts of the state. And I remember the Books-a-Million in Wilmington started adding a cafe / starbucks-like area for "fancy coffee" about 1996 or so. I have no problem believing there were shops serving latte's in Chapel Hill during the era this story is described as happening in. And to be fair, the author even says in the FAQ that he's not sure about the exact date(s). It could have been as late as 1997.
> My guess, from the office I remember being in, the coworkers I remember speaking about this to, and some other such irrelevant but timely details, place it somewhere between 1994 and 1997.
We drank lattes in Louisiana in the 80's. Time to upgrade your stereotypes.