Sugar High on Starbucks: How a Chai Drinker Transformed Into a Coffee Enthusiast
- From the U.S. to India and beyond, the popular chain has mastered the art of creating a comforting familiarity wherever I go.
After watching a recent documentary on Starbucks, I found myself thinking about how this “chai” drinker from India gradually transformed into a regular coffee enthusiast. Though I still enjoy green tea and ginger-cardamom black tea, nothing quite feels like me until I’ve had my morning coffee.
Reflecting on the countless Starbucks cups I’ve sipped across the world — from The Pike Place Market in Seattle, the Magnificent Mile in Chicago and Grand Central Station in New York to Nusa Dua in Bali, Lake Kawaguchiko in Japan, and Mumbai’s bustling Linking Road — I see how Starbucks has mastered the art of creating a comforting familiarity wherever I go. Each location is almost a replica of the last: the same menu, cozy seating, mellow music, and that unmistakable aroma of brewing coffee. It’s a ritual I keep coming back to, whether I’m in a major city or a quiet lakeside café.
When I first began drinking Starbucks, the brand carried a distinct allure — the mythical siren logo, my name (often misspelled) scrawled in marker, and the indulgent feeling of treating myself to a “fancy” coffee. Back then, it was a once-in-a-while guilty pleasure.
Now, it’s a habit — one I share with countless others. I order the same small coffee with cream, though I often add extra cream to offset the bitterness. This habit hasn’t been great for my waistline, but Starbucks is almost too convenient to resist, even easier than brewing my own at home. I notice people visiting family for a weekend who still make sure to grab their usual Starbucks with three extra espresso shots because they just can’t do without that familiar jolt, even for a day or two.
Starbucks started in 1971 in Seattle, a small coffee bean retailer with countercultural roots and a commitment to quality. Decades later, it’s a “third place” between work and home, blending convenience, lifestyle, and a bit of luxury — though at a cost, both for customers and for coffee farmers.
Despite the company’s “ethically sourced” and Fair Trade logos, Starbucks’ impact on coffee growers is complex. While the company partners with organizations like Conservation International, in reality, many farmers don’t receive fair compensation, with profits captured largely by intermediaries. The Fair Trade label may be reassuring, but it doesn’t always mirror the lives of those who make the coffee possible.
A unique aspect of Starbucks is its decision to keep stores corporate-owned rather than franchised, ensuring consistent branding and service across locations. But this also enables Starbucks to dominate smaller, boutique coffee shops, which struggle to compete with its market power. Starbucks locations can be found mere blocks, or even meters, from each other in major cities, often making it difficult for small cafés to survive nearby.
Starbucks also emphasizes its commitment to employees — or “partners” — offering benefits like health insurance, stock options, and educational incentives to part-timers as well. While these policies sound socially progressive, some employees describe the work environment as high-pressure, with baristas juggling intense customer demands. This balance between genuine perks and brand-focused expectations reflects Starbucks’ positioning as a socially responsible corporation.
Then, there’s the Starbucks experience itself — the cozy interiors, curated playlists, and endless drink customization options (there are reportedly over 8,900 variations). But this allure can be a calorie trap; popular options like the Frappuccino pack as much sugar as soda, with some venti drinks carrying upwards of 20 teaspoons of sugar. Over time, frequent indulgence in sugary, high-calorie drinks can lead to health issues such as diabetes, acid reflux, and heart disease.
Starbucks has successfully embedded coffee culture into younger generations, too. Many adolescents are introduced to caffeine through Starbucks’ sweetened beverages, developing a taste for caffeine early on. Over time, the taste and kick of a Pike Place roast or a seasonal latte can become an essential part of daily life. Starbucks flavors and caffeine boost are hard to resist, especially once they’re tied to a familiar ritual.
In the end, Starbucks’ business model is nothing short of remarkable. With its rapid global expansion — at one point, a new store opened every 15 minutes in China — Starbucks has transformed coffee culture into a lifestyle staple. Yet the brand’s image isn’t without its challenges; the 2018 incident in Philadelphia, where two Black men were arrested for sitting in a store without buying, triggered widespread backlash and led to racial bias training in 8,000 stores across the U.S.
What Starbucks has created is a complex identity: a blend of community, convenience, and ethical branding alongside the drive of a multinational corporation. This isn’t a critique, but it does make me wonder about the future risks of an over-caffeinated society. Will we be healthier or just more dependent on caffeine with Starbucks on every corner? The question lingers, even as I sip my morning coffee at a Barnes and Noble store cafe where someone accidentally picked up the wrong order, leaving me with their “extra sweet, venti peppermint mocha”!
With one foot in Huntsville, Alabama, the other in her birth home India, and a heart steeped in humanity, writing is a contemplative practice for Monita Soni. She has published hundreds of poems, movie reviews, book critiques, and essays and contributed to combined literary works. Her two books are My Light Reflections and Flow through My Heart. You can hear her commentaries on Sundial Writers Corner WLRH 89.3FM.