*$

You can't just get tea everywhere here, let alone a non-generic black tea.  So when I got off the metro and saw Starbucks (*$) I thought "goddamnit, I'm going to have to try it here at some point," and I knew they would have green tea so I got it.

Fricken 2.30 Euro.  That's almost $3 for a tea bag and hot water.  All I could think was, what are the other prices.  Ok, so, at first the prices for lattes, etc. don't appear too outrageous with numbers like 2.70 for a small, but when you consider that a cafe con leche is the same thing as a latte, then its a little strange that starbucks charges 2.70 for a small and EVERY cafe I've been to is in the range of 1.10 - 1.80,  it's irksome.  

Does that mean starbucks presents themselves as a specialty coffee place here?  At home I'd never buy a coffee product from Starbucks (I'll take it for free though).  Their lattes taste like cheese.  At least in the US, they charge the same price as every other place that serves lattes made by barista's who are trained to prioritize speed over quality.

Maybe the lattes here are excellent.  I just don't know if I can get myself to waste the money on it, when I'm still searching for a decent place to order spanish style coffee here.  Pretty much every place has been dissapointing, but at least with these local places I'm not knowingly paying a premium price for something I'm 99% sure is going to dissapoint.

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See this is the kind of post that makes me not want to keep a blog.  If I rant this to friends, they know I'm not an irreconcilable snob.  Man, but what if a non-friend reads this.  I'm gonna feel so lame.