It was that time again – that 2:30 p.m. feeling when a journalist’s dealine
is looming and she just can’t push herself to write anymore another article on
the State of Loudoun’s Real Estate. So, she headed to Starbucks to gather up
courage in the form of caffeine to write on.

During the past couple of weeks I’ve made the decision that I need to ween
myself from my three-a-day coffee cups and switch over to an afternoon of high
tea. I’ve frequented Shoe’s Cup and Cork in Leesburg many a time for a narrow,
sugar-free vanilla latte with skim milk and have always been pleased. But, I’m
getting older, and methinks, need to be kinder to my body.

So, I’ve switched to ordering green tea lattes—with skim milk, please. I was
delighted by the understated sweetness of the honey and frothy milk – not overly
done, just a hint that touches your lips and soothes your overworked soul.

I started ordering green tea lattes from java joints throughout the area and
was fully convinced that this was the best thing since espresso lattes.

That was, until, I made the mistake of ordering the drink at Starbucks.

I remember it like it was just yesterday: Three stories were down, two to go.
I headed down Market Street to the ‘Bux with a coworker and happily ordered my
drink with the comfort that the rest of the afternoon was to flow by breezily. I
would be out of the office by 7 p.m., at least.

That was until this latte landed in my lap. My first hint should have been
its color. It was actually green. I’m sorry, is this a shamrock shake
from McDonald’s? I know the name implies the color, but I’ve yet to see a green
tea that is verde.

And the taste of overdone sweetness that exploded in my mouth and
instantaneously stuck to my teeth in the form of premature cavities. Later, as I
lamented to my coworkers, they told me that Starbucks infuses their green tea
lattes with matcha-flavoring, a creamy, overly decadent eruption of flavor. I
was not pleased. So, I did what I do best: I wrote to Starbucks of my
displeasure. Here’s what I said;

Starbucks’ Green Tea Latte is not only an undesirable in taste, but it
also has a deceiving amount of calories. I have ordered numerous green tea
lattes at other coffee shops in my area and it consists of green tea and skim,
frothed milk. I had no reason to think that Starbucks would make their green tea
latte any different. Yet, when I tried my first one today, I was wholeheartedly
turned off by the matcha-flavoring that I was unaware existed in the drink until
after I purchased it. I came straight back to my office and then saw how many
calories are in this drink—a drink that I thought consisted of only tea and
milk—and was more upset. I would never recommend this drink to anyone, and in
fact would advise against it. I would appreciate a refund of this product and
also a more thorough nutrition guide of your products at the time of
purchase.

Despite what their customer care department claims, they don’t really care
what their patrons think of their products because I received a deflective
reply:

Thank you for contacting Starbucks Coffee Company.
I am truly sorry
to hear about your disappointment with the Green Tea Latte.
I want you to
know that we take feedback from our loyal customers seriously. Because you know
better than anyone else what you want from Starbucks, I will share this with the
appropriate department here in our corporate office.
We have made a promise
to our customers to provide outstanding products and service.  I know that this
is a primary reason why you visit Starbucks and I understand how disappointing
it is when we let you down.
Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity
to improve what we do.
Thanks again,
Myrna
Customer Relations

That was 12 days ago. Let’s see what happens after I send them the link to
this blog post. In the meantime, take heed and don’t order the green tea latte –
you’ll be blue in the face.