Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce, and Culture: Taylor Clark

The last 30-odd years has seen an unprecedented rise in the popularity of coffee and a ridiculous variation of coffee-related drinks that can make one's head spin. It's no secret that Seattle-based Starbucks has been instrumental in fueling this obsession but the company's small roots and decidedly un-corporate stance took a turn somewhere along the way to complete global domination. In Starbucked, Taylor Clark leads us through the origins of the company, from a trio of hippies who wanted to sell good coffee, to the company we know today, with two stores on every street corner in every city of the world.

Clark goes back to the beginning of the coffee craze, exploring the roots of the gourmet coffee industry and our need to pay high prices for the bean. He covers the rise of the trio that began the Starbucks industry and the birth pains that brought about a desire for good coffee, and lot of it. With an objective eye and a reporters wit he takes the reader through the incorporation of the company, it's ability to move in and conquer (or crush) new territory, the question of how fair it's trade practices really are, and why we as a nation feel the need to spend so much for this product.

For those with a deep and abiding love for coffee (such as myself) and a fondness for Starbucks (such as myself) or even just for those who are curious about why you see them on every damn corner, this is a good read. I would suggest having a venti white chocolate mocha on hand while you read. It brings it all home that much more.
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Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (November 5, 2007)
ISBN-10: 031601348X
ISBN-13: 978-0316013482
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