Starbucks | torontolife.com

The comprehensive index of every blog post, magazine story and restaurant review that appears on Torontolife.com

All stories relating to starbucks

David’s Tea comes closer to world domination, but can it survive in the coffee-loving Annex?

The Annex loves its coffee (Image: John Vetterli)

Last weekend, a new David’s Tea location opened in the old Alex Cuts space along the Annex’s busy Bloor Street strip ($20 haircut lovers can breathe easy; Alex just moved a couple blocks away). After witnessing the recent closing of two tea shops on the two-block stretch from Brunswick to Albany, we can’t help but wonder: does David’s Tea have what it takes to avoid suffering the same fate as the late T-Café and All Things Tea?

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Caffeine High

December 2, 2010 | 4:47 pm

3 Comments

Starbucks’ Toronto recycling pilot program a success

(Image: Quinn Dumbrowski)

Starbucks has finally proven that its paper cups are recyclable. Turns out that most paper drinking receptacles from Starbucks end up in the garbage—recyclers usually don’t accept them. The coffee behemoth wanted to demonstrate that recycling its paper cups is feasible, so it looked to the GTA, of all places, where it collected 6,000 pounds of used paper cups and sent them to a pulp mill in Mississippi as part of a six-week pilot project. We always knew Torontonian latte sippers were good for something.

Apparently, the project was a success. Old paper cups were turned into new ones without any special kind of wizardry, although the Mississippi paper mill that successfully recycled them is the only mill in the U.S. that produces recycled paper fibre that’s sufficiently high quality to be used for eating and drinking purposes. The whole thing was part of Starbucks’ latest commitment to ensure that 100 per cent of its cups are reusable or recyclable by 2015. Still, it seems to us this whole thing should have been looked into a while ago. Like 1991, maybe.

• Where Does That Starbucks Cup Go? [New York Times]
• Starbucks and International Paper Demonstrate Viability of Recycling Used Cups into New Cups [Businesswire]

The Dish

Opening

November 25, 2010 | 12:56 pm

5 Comments

Introducing: The Big Guy’s Coffee Shop, Queen West’s latest coffeemonger

With a name like The Big Guy’s Coffee Shop, it’s tempting to think of Parkdale’s latest café as some kind of ironic jab at Starbucks and Tim Hortons. It’s named after the owner, Steven Turner, who earned the moniker during a managing stint at Second Cup because, well, he’s a pretty big guy. The South African expat has had a fairly successful run with The Big Guy’s Little Coffee Shop in New Toronto and decided a new venture closer to downtown was the next step.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Culinary Curiosities

November 16, 2010 | 12:35 pm

Comments

Not even Starbucks could have saved George Smitherman’s campaign

According to the Globe, which actually studied this, the availability of Starbucks in any given riding offers no indication of which direction on the political spectrum the inhabitants will vote. And that includes the latte-sipping, laptop-toting set from downtown Toronto that was so mocked around the time of the municipal election.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Caffeine High

October 14, 2010 | 11:51 am

2 Comments

Phase two of Starbucks’ world domination plan: get baristas to slow down their beverage-making

Starbucking the trend: a location of the famed chain at College and Dovercourt

Mark our words: this will not end well.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Starbucks has instructed its baristas to slow down their latte-slinging in order to ensure better drink quality. That’s a noble goal, but anyone who’s watched the espresso bar at a Yorkville Starbucks on a Saturday morning could be forgiven for thinking these reforms aren’t likely to last long.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 13, 2010 | 11:56 am

Comments

What you missed this weekend: the biggest stories at TIFF so far

Milla Jovovich sneaking out of her premiere (Image: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes)

Our dance card was full this weekend as we attended all the best TIFF parties and premieres. But we don’t just brag about hobnobbing with Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin; we’ll give you all the insider gossip. If you haven’t been following the action as it happens, here are the highlights:

Read the rest of this entry »

The Informer

Summit Survivor

June 28, 2010 | 2:42 pm

Comments

Toronto G20 photo gallery: the eerie aftermath

A collage of the many businesses that had to cover smashed windows over the G20 weekend. Most have already been replaced (Image: Karon Liu)

Before hundreds of bystanders were corralled into a human blockade at Queen and Spadina under torrential rain, the downtown core had a sense of peacefulness, albeit one that was basically forced down with an iron fist. Yonge and Queen streets, where much of Saturday’s riots happened, were practically deserted at noon. Stores were boarded up or closed, the roads were empty, save the streetcars that were running unusually frequently, and the only people on the sidewalks were police officers guarding every city block, tourists and amateur photographers who were weirdly hoping for a repeat of the previous day.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Informer

Summit Survivor

June 27, 2010 | 2:27 pm

Comments

G20 Toronto photo gallery: after the riots

In the wake of yesterday’s violent anti-G20 protests in downtown Toronto, police attempted to regain control of the streets while people looked on, continued with peaceful demonstrations or snapped photographs of the unusual events. After more than 500 arrests and a night of continued violence, the downtown core became calm once more. Here, our slide show of the state of Toronto after yesterday’s upheaval.

A man offers free hugs to police, protesters and passersby in downtown Toronto on June 26, 2010 (Image: Aaron Leaf)

Read the rest of this entry »

The Informer

Summit Survivor

June 26, 2010 | 7:42 pm

6 Comments

Slide show: Toronto’s anti-G20 riot

What started as a peaceful protest at Queen’s Park, with about 10,000 participants, became a riot as a small group of violent troublemakers smashed windows, set cop cars ablaze and confronted the police. The anti-G20 activists stormed through Queen West and the financial district this afternoon, before heading north toward Yonge and College. We were there, capturing every step of the evolution from protest to violence.

The Informer

Summit Survivor

June 26, 2010 | 4:08 pm

2 Comments

It’s official: rioting underway in downtown Toronto

The relative peacefulness of Toronto’s G20 demonstrations has been smashed like so many Starbucks windows. A group of people using black bloc tactics—instigating violence during demonstrations while dressed in black garments and scarves—has lit a police cruiser on fire near King and Bay streets and broken dozens of windows. Thick black smoke is rising into the air in the financial district, according to Newstalk 1010. As rain begins to fall, security personnel are trying to subdue and redirect activists who are reportedly determined to cause havoc.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Caffeine High

April 6, 2010 | 4:24 pm

5 Comments

Double latte, double standard: indie cafés slammed for being too popular

(Image: ed zeppelin, from the Toronto Life Flickr pool)

Every time a Toronto café becomes popular or thinks about expanding, its indie status is called into question. People are quick to use the words “chain,” “sellout” and, most offensive of all, “Starbucks.” There was an article in the Globe this week announcing the creation of the Toronto Coffee Conspiracy, a group of third-wave café owners—such coffeemongers as Matt Taylor of Mercury Espresso, Sam James of his namesake spot, Matt Lee of Manic and Ed and Deanna of Dark Horse—who have banded together to promote their businesses and spread the word of proper java making. And it didn’t take long for the haters to log on and sound off.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Caffeine High

April 5, 2010 | 3:06 pm

11 Comments

Warm weather calls for ghetto lattes

(Image: Chris Makarsky)

The Toronto Star is celebrating the arrival of spring with a short instructional video on how to make a ghetto latte. The process is simple: people who don’t want to pony up $3 for an iced latte can simply order a shot of espresso at the counter in a large cup with ice, then pour in milk at the condiment table. Mix it and voila—hobo coffee. The price difference can add up to serious change by the end of the summer. An iced latte at Starbucks: $3.26. A shot of espresso: $1.84. Death stares from the barista: priceless.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

DIY Gourmet

March 11, 2010 | 10:00 am

52 Comments

The OSAP diet forces students to give up Starbucks tea

As part of a protest against the province’s student aid program, five Ontario undergraduate students are entering the annals of martyrdom by budgeting just $7.50 a day for food—apparently this is what the Ontario Student Assistance Plan (OSAP) allows them. The students will be stringently frugal for three weeks in the name of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance’s Food for Thought campaign, intended to highlight the fact that OSAP doesn’t provide enough income for students. “OSAP assumes students should live below the poverty line, and that’s not good,” one student told the Star.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Caffeine High

March 3, 2010 | 11:33 am

3 Comments

McDonald’s gives away coffee in promotion that has nothing to do with Timmie’s Roll Up the Rim

Three-time loser (Image: Shayne Kaye)

It’s that time of year again, when coffee aficionados ditch their independent coffee shops, and the streets are strewn with Tim Hortons cups. Yes, it’s time for Roll Up the Rim to Win. This year, however, McDonald’s isn’t sitting idly by as the country gets ready to roll. The Star reports that the fast food giant is handing out free coffee for two weeks. A spokesperson for McDonald’s says the promotion has nothing to do with Roll Up the Rim, but rather that it’s due to the increased exposure of the fast food chain during the Olympics, when commercial breaks offered nothing but McDonald’s, Visa and Government of Canada ads.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Goods

Gossipmonger

February 26, 2010 | 1:23 pm

1 Comment

Greta Constantine designers search for American interest in menswear line

The second instalment of their blog series for the National Post finds Toronto designers Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong of Greta Constantine in the midst of New York fashion week. First on their agenda is a stop at a Tribeca Starbucks, as part of the process of “assimilating into American culture.” (Perhaps the trek to the Times Square Tim Hortons was too far.) Next, the two discussed The City and the spectacularly petulant cattiness of Olivia Palermo and Erin Kaplan (two of The City’s main “cast members”) while shopping at Marc by Marc Jacobs and the Alexander McQueen store.

Read the rest of this entry »

All stories relating to starbucks

Contests

Links and Offers

The latest from across the St. Joseph Media network