Starbucks Tests $1 Cup Of Coffee, Free Refills

Starbucks Corp., the company that popularized the $4 cup of coffee, is testing a $1 cup and free refills of some of its offerings.

The Seattle coffee giant is experimenting with selling the $1 "short" brew in the Seattle area, spokeswoman Valerie O'Neil confirmed.

The eight-ounce short size isn't on Starbucks's menu but has long been ordered by in-the-know patrons. Typically, a short, brewed coffee would sell for around $1.50, although that can vary by several cents depending on the store. Starbucks is also testing the offer of free refills for traditional-brewed coffee in the Seattle area.

Ms. O'Neil wouldn't elaborate on the specifics of the tests or say how many stores are offering it. She said the tests aren't indicative of any new business strategy.

The $1 test undercuts even low-cost coffee purveyors, including McDonald's Corp. and Dunkin' Donuts, a unit of Dunkin' Brands Inc., whose coffees generally start in the low $1-plus range. Although most sit-down restaurants top off customers' coffee free of charge, specialty cafes have largely stayed away from the practice. Starbucks will face increasing competition this year from McDonald's, which plans to start adding a line of espresso drinks at its U.S. restaurants.

Read more here

Comments

[Crowhaul]

I truly know no one who still goes to a Starbucks. (I think my personal campaign worked!) Seriously....anyone who endures the word 'venti' or 'frappa' in order to imbibe their caffeine of choice is paying too high a price.

[lucnyc]

$4 dollars for a cup of coffee. Give me a break. You could buy a whole bag of coffee for that. Starbucks, through great marketing and branding is laughing all the way to the bank. As WC Feilds once said "There's a sucker born every minute"

[polkadotpoodle]

it's just so cool to pay for overpriced over roasted coffee....a company who ran local businesses out....who offered a plastic culture to a public who embrased the experience! if one drank a cup a day one could spend $60. a month on coffee. why?

[Leefeller]

Starbucks coffee is okay, but buy local if you can. Around here the best beans comes from a private company called Peets.

[nomoredead]

5-7 coffees a week at Starbucks= 20/25 $ ( gas/parking/tip)=roughly $1000.00 per year....no thanks, that would go towards a nice vacation.
Always figure the cost YEARLY and it will shock you.

[43P04T34]

Got my wife a much nicer espresso machine for her birthday than the one we had before. You can't beat the quality and variety of hot drinks you can make with a good espresso machine. Everything's automatic on this one. It was kind of spendy but the cost per cup is about 1/6th of what you'd pay at Starbucks or any of the public coffee locations and without everybody spending $4 for coffee we are saving $15-$20 a day!

Frankly, it's silly to NOT have a good espresso machine in your kitchen if you like coffee.

[hope4theflowers]

just because its corporate coffee,doesnt mean youre fooling anyone that it tastes any worse than your local coffee shops.
Sure,boycott the aholes..they use slave labor...but your local coffee shop gets its beans from a source that uses slave labor too..maybe the same damned plantation.

my point is..quit with the oh it tastes so bad crap.Get to the real point,and stop acting like third grade girls.

[godlessclif]

Yeah, the slave plantations of Guatemala and busy growing that Coffea canephora crap and the slaves must work more hours to keep the Golden Arches up to thier ass in what Cubans used to call "Three Centavo Coffee".

[Kally]

You know what. Starbucks has the nastiest tasting coffee I have ever DRANK. I bought a cup 7 or 8 years and took a sip, spit it out and threw the cup in the trash.

I drink 2 pots of coffee a day, and I like coffee. I like it strong but I use a lot of cream. And I wouldn't pay 5 cents for a cup of starbucks.

[Justinpassing]

Thinkabaudit, s'gonna save on fuel consumption..
a few belts of that and you can leave your car in the parking lot and run down the freakin innerstate in you nikkies which will boost sneeker sales..... hell they can launch their new "pass em on the innerstate" line, with Michelin steel-belted soles.

[amanda85]

I wouldn't drink that over-roasted crap if it were free.

Support your local family-operated coffe shops, tell the globalization monsters to take a hike.

[Serfie]

Starbucks only charges 50 cents for a refill.

When you consider the ever shrinking value of the dollar, that is almost free.

[Y2KCockroach]

Well "drkazmd65", I am going to have to take your word for it, because I have not ever tried to consume "scorched, warmed over crap", and hence I have no idea what that would taste like, but I suspect that Starbucks knows a thing or two about coffee, and I also suspect that they are up to the challenge posed by their competitors, particularly with Howard Schulz back at the helm. For me, it is about the ambience, the experience, the music and the decor of the stores. Accordingly, I would rather drink coffee from a Midas Muffler store than drink it in a McDonalds.

[realitytrumpsbull]

SOMEbody read my post! Starbucks now officially rocks, from my standpoint. Java4abuck. Good juju, there.

[CountryBeforeParty]

The weird thing is that, I think, McD's is trying to buy Starbucks. They're having barista areas installed into their locations over the next year or so