Coffee Novelist

A Tripio back in time with Kevin Knox-When Starbucks was a coffee place

Coffee Novelist

January 5, 2021

Question for Kevin- In Tripio, Jay is frustrated by the expectation that all the espresso shots had to be between 18-23 seconds. Did Howard Behar, Howard Schultz really believe all the pours were to specifications? Even on 1,000 customer mornings?

Answer-1-1.25 fluid ounces including. crema made from 7 grams of espresso blend in 18-24 seconds.” All these years later, that mantra immediately comes to mind. But of course it was a standard, an ideal, not something that anyone thought was being consistently achieved. But we did try, by giving baristas the best possible equipment (e.g. 4 group automatic La Marzoccos, well-made grinders) and good training that the potential for consistent excellence was there.

Of course if Starbucks had really wanted to put quality first it would never have let the espresso drink menu grow beyond espresso, cappuccino, caffe latte and caffe mocha in 2-3 sizes and would have doubled down on making those drinks the best they could be.

Tripio Excerpt- “Dennis did fine with me walking him through it. I kept the three drinks on the shelf under the counter and out of sight just in case a customer ordered on the next minute or so. Who needs to know? I would let Boston Dennis find his own shortcuts. I truly cared about making the drinks right, every time. But also know it wasn’t done because it was not possible. It just wasn’t. It was too time consuming. We had to get the lines out the door. The money in the tills. That wasn’t going to happen as often as the Cosmodemonic* wanted if we timed every fucking shot. I think I had more trouble reconciling that than most. Oh well, let Boston Dennis deal with it in his own way. Since today was what mattered to me and hopefully to Katherine, I preached the gospel of the Master Roast, by the book.”

*In Tripio, Jay refers to Starbucks as the Cosmodemonic Coffee Company

**I made up the Master Roast. There was no such thing.**

A Tripio back in time with Howard Behar – Is Starbucks Cosmodemonic?

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December 29, 2020

“The last time I saw Howard was at my store in Oak Park. I was the manager then. He was with the new Regional Manager- Stu. Yes, Stu Fields. God no. I give Stu hell in Tripio. Not really. But, the whole incident with the spilled mocha on the door and Stu talking into his tape recorder make him look like a dick. That was about twenty five years ago. They can’t be still in touch. But, I call Starbucks the Cosmodemonic Coffee Company in Tripio. Howard must know that. I counted it once. I call Starbucks the Cosmodemonic 199 times in Tripio. But it is purely a literary reference. Henry Miller called Western Union the Cosmodemonic. I looked the word up and it has no meaning. Plus, it shows how personal the story is. How it is the story of Jay the Barista, not of Howard Schultz, Pike Place Market, the Siren logo and all that other crap…now Howard’s next in line….”

“No matter, I don’t have the time. Gotta get back to my room, get dressed and head out. Need my coffee. It’s my third morning getting a grande of the day to go. If I were a barista I would have remembered a new customer’s drink on their third trip in. Never could remember their names. The drinks yea. Unless they were famous….

Tripio Excerpt– Over at Mike and Sarah’s station the trash was overflowing and they needed drip. Paula had to refill the creamer and sugar at the stations. Money needed to be dropped. No cakes for the upcoming evening shift in the case. Onward the customers came. None of this mattered to them. Why should it? I glance at the line and see two guys in roller blades are in line without shirts. Two rules being broken at once. Damn, if that isn’t Gene Siskel in front of them. No time to care about either. I

**Two double tall skim lattes. And a cup holder.**

knew Gene’s drink and some others so that brings a second of calm. I feel a touch of relief to know what to expect before Mikey or Sarah yell them at us. I know Dennis has to leave soon. He will stay for another 30 minutes if I ask. It’s been two hours since I stepped on the bar. The only one of us working this rush to have moved at more than a step or two off their station is Paula. But this was it, this was the bar at rush time and if you were up here you had earned your stripes. I remember my first morning rush at 206. I had butterflies in my stomach but knew I had to get on that espresso bar and get through the line. To me it is the heart of the store, the beating heart of the growing Cosmodemonic Empire, and here is where you earned the respect of everyone you worked with. As this rush wears on, Dennis and I reached that point when we know it just couldn’t get any busier but we had established control. He had held higher ground. We had won.

“I’ll stick with a grande to go. Not that blonde crap either. Never would have seen that if Starbucks didn’t go public. And Howard was always nice. I never saw him without a sweater on. Then again it was Chicago. Maybe I can just say Hi. I wouldn’t even get into Tripio. Just tell him thanks for the blurb in person. That would work…that’ all I have time for anyway…”

“Damn, my phone…what do they want?”

Jay - Your first two stops cancelled. Closed due to the Pandemic. 
Sleep in a bit. Thanks again for helping out this week - Jason"

A Tripio back in time with Kevin Knox-Was Starbucks inevitable??

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December 22, 2020

Question for Kevin–If Howard (Schultz) had stayed at Xerox, would Starbucks have come to be? In other words was a company like Starbucks inevitable to some degree?

Answer – Without a doubt Starbucks would have remained regional without Howard. I had a conversation with Jerry Baldwin after the buyout and his move down to Peet’s about the ideal size of Starbucks or any other chain and he basically said “you’re too big when it’s not bicycle or bus distance between stores, when all your store managers don’t know each other, when you can’t all meet for a picnic or a company celebration in one place.” He believed in human scale and put the product, not money, on a pedestal.

That said, one or more national chains was certainly inevitable and Starbucks set the bar for product quality and progressive employee culture very, very high. Jerry Baldwin, Jim Reynolds and Gordon Bowker – along with Mr. Peet – deserve the credit for the product quality, while Howard deserves all the credit in the world for the culture and the ambition and changing American coffee at scale for the better.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is cropped-capture_3-e1589190785304.png — **I wonder if Howard remembers me?**

TRIPIO EXCERPT “Like everyone else in the audience I sat in silence and listened intently. It was mostly all great news. The Cosmodemonic is just getting started and not taking any prisoners. HS didn’t put in those terms but that’s how I remember it. And I very clearly remember HS saying that “They are going to write books about the Cosmodemonic, people.” That stuck in my head: write & books. The reasons are obvious. The reason I don’t’ remember much of the rest is that a few minutes after the speech was over, HS called some partners to the stage for recognition. I was one of them. He called my name about halfway through the presentation (he mispronounced the last name and I politely corrected him), handed me a Cosmo Bravo Award and shook my hand. It was for the “exceptional customer service experience” demonstrated to the Midas guy who bought a half pound of everything. Recognition in front of everyone. From HS himself.”

https://www.peets.com/learn/alfred-peet

A Tripio back in time with Howard Behar-Part 2

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December 20, 2020

Jay kept his place in line at the Palm Springs Starbucks. He remembered when they used to sell coffee. He remembered all the varietals under the counter. The shiny dark beans, dated and organized by growing region. Such great coffee. For now the line that held Howard Behar and him was not moving very fast. It was not moving anywere near as fast as Jay’s mind was.

Free Pile Of Money Png, Download Free Clip Art, Free Clip Art on Clipart Library

It was just this morning in the hotel when he woke up facing his ten hour day that it happened yet again. When his phone woke Jay up, it took a second to realize and remember where he was. That must have been the trigger. He was not at home in his drafty- ass house in his bed. That instant of uncertainty sent his mind to “If I had“. This was a place Jay didn’t really like to go. We all go there once in while in our own minds. The unique, special place where we relive our lives on the proviso that if we had done that ONE THING differently, then our lives would be all candy and nuts, days of wine and roses, and nights of contended worry free slumber. For, Jay, that morning it meant he would not be putting on his blue collar work uniform in a cramped hotel bathroom but rather he would have been wondering what would be the best way to spend his day at his ocean front villa. It could have been- so easily. All he had to do was do what Howard Behar did and stay at Starbucks until his 268 options on shares of Starbucks stock matured and a few year ago, he’d would have become a millionaire. Just that easy.

Instead, Jay looked around the hotel room and centered himself. No, it was not his beach house. There was his uniform on the chair ready to to. Just like at home, he always got ready the night before. The uniform held his life, the mortgage, grocery store, bills and self-image. Jay was a working stiff. Howard Behar on the other hand is a millionaire many times over. His boss, Howard Schultz, a billionaire. “Why didn’t I just stay at Starbucks…If I had, then I… ??

Odd that Jay had the “If I had ” thought this morning and then see Howard Behar in line at the Starbucks near his hotel. They say our thoughts become our reality.” I have been thinking about re-booting the cover of Tripio to highlight his blurb. I bet he doesn’t remember he did it. That was two years ago. The book, Tripio, has to start selling at some point. How else will I ever be able to stop working? If I just cut in line. Or wait until he gets his drink, then I can step over and introduce myself. He as always nice to me when he visited my stores at Starbucks a million years ago. Why not? The line has started moving. He could get Tripio to Howard Schultz. I really think he’d like it. A nostalgia trip for him. He’s not running for president anymore. He has time to read it. And from there…best seller? What do I have to lose?”

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/120215/if-you-had-invested-right-after-starbucks-ipo.asp

A Tripio back in time with Kevin Knox -Gift suggestions for any coffee lover

Coffee Novelist

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December 8, 2020

In a post a couple months ago, I said I didn’t really care too much what your choice of coffee beverage was. Sorry, if I have too much gravitas for cheap click bait, its just who I am. As a middle path, I offer a few ideas for gifts this season for the coffee lover on your list via Kevin Knox who is the “Coffee God” in my novel Tripio. If the coffee lover on your list isn’t impressed then they can take it up with Kevin. Or they can use a Starbucks gift card to buy cans of espresso he mentioned. So, there you go. On with the interview…

Question for Kevin Knox- Do you ever go to Starbucks? What do you order?

A- I try to avoid it but enjoy visiting Roastery Reserve stores where I can order one of the limited edition coffees brewed on the Clover. Those are the only coffees they sell that are of the caliber of all the single origin coffees we had in the early 90’s.

https://www.starbucksreserve.com/en-us/visit

Otherwise, the one and only Starbucks product I wholeheartedly recommend are the tiny little cans of Doubleshot Espresso with Cream. They taste exactly like they did with Dave Olsen invented them and are the best road trip coffee I know of.

Starbucks Doubleshot Espresso & Cream, 6.5 Fl. Oz, (4-Pack) - Walmart.com - Walmart.com

Meanwhile I’m happily roasting the best coffee of my life on my front porch using a glorified hot air popcorn popper and stellar green beans from Sweet Maria’s.

**And Kevin liked my novel, Tripio. An ideal gift for the coffee loving reader on your list**!

A Tripio back in time with Kevin Knox and Howard Behar

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December 1, 2020

“There must be a game at Wrigley tonight. It is Monday and there are more people around than usual. Looks like they plan on having some fun. I love living here, walking these streets and making them mine. I am beginning to realize that my job at Cosmodemonic * gives me something of an edge on everyone else. It is becoming a place to be. A new place. One that gives me a bit of notoriety over all these people on these sidewalks who have lived here way longer than I have. They are not a part of this growing thing that is the Cosmodemonic.” –from Tripio

_{* In Tripio, Jay calls Starbucks the Cosmodemonic Coffee Company}.

Question for Kevin Knox–I never saw Starbucks as a global entity while I was there. I thought maybe coast to coast in larger cities. Did you foresee it? And, did you get the sense Howard saw Starbucks as it is now, back in the early90s.

A– I think Howard’s vision for Starbucks was that vast from the outset. But in the early 90’s it was all about laying the foundation. Dave Olsen: “we’ve gotten very good at making one product: coffee. We need to become equally good at making another: stores.”

31,256 stores

https://www.statista.com/statistics/218366/number-of-international-and-us-starbucks-stores/

A Tripio back in time as Kevin Knox talks Starbucks

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November 28, 2020

Tripio excerpts– ‘My Amtrak is heading into suburban Chicago for real now. The Cosmodemonic might have a store in each suburb in a few years. Is there that much good coffee on the planet? There are rumblings of another roasting plant on the east coast. Cosmodemonic don’t play.“

“It had been rainy and cloudy for the last several days. The weather in Chicago was one of the reasons Cosmodemonic chose Chicago to expand outside the pacific northwest. Work was busy all weekend, to say the least.“

“I just nodded because I understood. Cosmodemonic store #204 had to hit a higher per transaction amount than last year. Of course. Why not? If we didn’t do better than last year, why even exist? After all, it made so much sense. Bigger. Stronger. Faster. Just like Steve Austin.”

Question for Kevin Knox–In Tripio, Jay wonders to himself as he sees Starbucks growing so fast that there can’t be enough good coffee on the planet. Was that a concern in the early days? Even before the time of Tripio 1990-1994?

Kevin Knox talks Starbucks -I don’t think that was ever a concern. We knew that if we were willing to pay up and offer technical support to farmers there would always be plenty of great coffee, and that what our growth was doing was really more about rescuing outstanding single-origin coffees from large European roasters who had gotten used to buying the lion’s share of really exquisite specialty-grade coffees.

It might help you to know that our most important green coffee vendor (which we had in common with Peet’s) was based in Hamburg (List + Beisler Coffee).https://www.list-beisler.coffee/

Have you ever wondered – What it means to love and serve coffee?- If you answered yes then there is more Kevin talks Starbucks in a post from his blog that I would have been proud to author. Instead here’s the link!

http://coffeecontrarian.blogspot.com/

**Not your mom and dad’s can of coffee**

A Tripio back in time with Kevin Knox

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November 28, 2020

Tripio excerpt– ‘My Amtrak is heading into suburban Chicago for real now. The Cosmodemonic might have a store in each suburb in a few years. Is there that much good coffee on the planet? There are rumblings of another roasting plant on the east coast. Cosmodemonic don’t play.“

Question for Kevin–In Tripio, Jay wonders to himself as he sees Starbucks growing so fast that there can’t be enough good coffee on the planet. Was that a concern in the early days? Even before the time of Tripio 1990-1994?

A -I don’t think that was ever a concern. We knew that if we were willing to pay up and offer technical support to farmers there would always be plenty of great coffee, and that what our growth was doing was really more about rescuing outstanding single-origin coffees from large European roasters who had gotten used to buying the lion’s share of really exquisite specialty-grade coffees.

It might help you to know that our most important green coffee vendor (which we had in common with Peet’s) was based in Hamburg (List + Beisler Coffee).https://www.list-beisler.coffee/

Have you ever wondered – What it means to love and serve coffee?- Well, Kevin provides an answer in a post from his blog that I would have been proud to author. Instead here’s the link!

http://coffeecontrarian.blogspot.com/

A Tripio back in time with Howard Behar- Part 2

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November 24, 2020

“It is him.” Jay thought to himself. ‘Damn if it isn’t. Howard Behar. My old boss. Should I say something to him?“

Jay was in Palm Springs for work on a fluke brought on by the Pandemic. He hadn’t been able to travel for work since he became a single parent around eight years ago. His youngest was nineteen now and taking classes on zoom as a freshman in college. Work needed someone to cover routes here because the market center in Palm Springs was a mess. He’d worked for the supervisor, Jason, of the Palm Springs market center for several years in Indianapolis. Jason got several promotions and they hadn’t seen each other in years. Each time Jason had been promoted Jay felt it was the promotion he should have been given. Only snag was, he had no real time for any more work related exertion since he, at that time, was the sole provider of four young adult children. Sure, he could have made more money it he had slapped together a resume, dusted off his old management skills and gone after those jobs Jason got. But, it wouldn’t have been enough. Never is, mate.

So, Jay kept his blue collar job and stayed available to his kids. He made the mortgage, big thanks to the monthly social security he got. One by one, the young adults went out of braces and off to college. He had done it. One left in the house and he was there now, watching it now while Jay took the bonus money and a week driving around Palm Springs.

Over these last eight years, some dark ones, Jay had rediscovered his passion for writing along with the time to do it. He had also rediscovered coffee. Starbucks coffee. Not the coffee as such, the company. The four years he spent there in Chicago in the early nineties became his historical fiction novel, Tripio. Jay wrote it, got it professionally edited and published on Amazon, with the help of those young adult children. He had been shocked when on a whim Howard Behar signed off on the cover blurb so easily. And there he was in line, a couple places in front of Jay on a Tuesday afternoon at a Starbucks location in Palm Springs. “Should I say something?” Jay asked himself again”

https://wallmine.com/people/84847/howard-behar

**I hope you like this interpretation of an interview. It confirms to me that Tripio is not just a book.**

A Tripio back in time with Kevin Knox and Howard Behar-Part 1

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November 17, 2020

I recently caught up with two men who were working for Starbucks before most anyone knew or cared about much about coffee in this country. I wanted to provide a unique look back at the now legendary company through the lens of my historical fiction novel, Tripio. By that I mean, I hope that this series of posts can provide a layered and long -view appreciation of what it took for Starbucks to become Starbucks from two men who were there to play big roles in making that happen. I was there as well, starting as a barista in 1990. My novel is a barista’s account of how the decisions and actions of these two (and few others, namely Howard Schultz) impacted his daily life. Tripio is not the history of Starbucks. That has been told and continues to be made. Tripio compliments and enlivens Howard and Kevin’s reflections of those times when Starbucks was making history and baristas like Jay were making lattes.

For those who don’t know, the year of the Starbucks IPO was 1992, which is why I placed Tripio in that year. Both Kevin https://www.lamarzoccousa.com/blog/kevin-knox/and Howard Beharhttp://howardbehar.com/ were at Starbucks during that time, as were roughly 450 other folks. Some became millionairess, some didn’t. By following this blog and/or reading Tripio you will discover what happened to at least three of those 450 folks working at a small coffee company in 1992, and perhaps learn a thing or two. Have fun!

Coffee Basics: A Quick and Easy Guide 0471136174 Book Cover — **One of Kevin’s books**

I’ll begin with Kevin Knox, who appears in Tripio simply as “the Coffee God’.

“That is why I am here-for the great coffee. Plus Candace had more good news after class, especially for me. The new Regional Manager can’t make it to our next class. But the coffee God of the Cosmodemonic is coming town and is going to at least spend an hour with us.” –Tripio excerpt

Q-In Tripio, Jay answers a want ad for Starbucks in a Chicago paper. How did you find Starbucks? Or did they find you?

A-I worked for Starbucks two different times. The first time, in 1984-1985 I had learned everything I could at the little roaster-retailer in Boulder, Colorado and asked Bob Fullmer at green coffee importer Royal Coffee if he could recommend a company that was totally dedicated to product quality where I could learn more. “Well there’s a little outfit up in Seattle doing a pretty great job.” I quit, moved myself out to Seattle, moved into a funky group household and had to start off sweeping floors and packaging coffee after being in charge of production and training at my old place. But I was quickly promoted to be the 14th roaster in Starbucks history and got to hang out with Jim Reynolds, Tim McCormack, Jerry and Gordon and others.

I ended up going back to Brewing Market in Boulder (which I renamed Allegro Coffee in honor of Dave Olsen’s Café Allegro) but stayed in touch with Starbucks plant manager Hap Hewitt and others, and when Howard bought Starbucks I answered the ad for the Coffee Specialist position. I had to beat out every internal applicant from Il Giornale as well as Starbucks but I did. So I moved myself across the country a second time in 1987. At that time our entire office was Howard, Dave Olsen https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2015/a-lasting-tradition/, Christine Day, Dawn Pinaud and me.

My starting pay was $24000 a year and I never made more than 40K (though they offered me 70K and Dave Olsen was willing to give me some of his own stock options if I were willing to stay (which I should have accepted as I’d have been a multi-millionaire within a few years). Instead I returned to Allegro as senior VP and Coffee Buyer in 1993 because I couldn’t stand to look like a hypocrite and betrayer to my fellow middle management peers who like me got nothing when we went public while we read the IPO listing our immediate bosses as millionaires on the spot.