Another Starbucks visit

Very long ago i've been visiting a Bux.
For us Belgians it's still something that links with holiday's/citytrips. As so it was this day.

While queuing i had their Christmas Blend in my hands. One month ago i ordered two very promising bags of Starbucks via the internet. Although i went trough all ordering and paypal procedures fluently i never received them. I have to admit i've never been billed either.
So, yes i was willing to take a bag along, until i saw the roasting date on the back of the bag. 24th of August! That's over 4 months old. No way José, i'm not going for stale. By the way : who's roasting their Christmas Blend in August!?
Other coffee bags in the store had no roasting dates on the package. The T-shirts of the staff had "Starbucks Coffee Roaster" printed on the chest. Marketing.

The queuing took almost ten minutes. The ordering was slow and insufficient. The working area was dirty as so was the whole café. Empty cups everywhere, paper, straws on the floor, coffee stains, etc...

The Espresso Macchiato (€1,70) was, as all the drinks, served in a paper cup and not a joy. In Cappuccino's and Macchiato's the marriage of espresso and milk should or could be something like 1+1=3, this drink was 0,5+0,5=0,5. The roast was soooo dark and burned. Way darker then what i remembered from the past. 'Charbucks' indeed. And where it should cut trough the milk well, it killed it. No bonding, no velvety, no lifting up, no nothing. A shame.

Isabel's Decaf Toffee Nut Latte (€3,60) was only worth a sip. Was this a coffee? Never tasted one with this low coffee taste. Nothing, zip. The only thing my taste buds sensed were sugar, a bit of artificial nut and the water they brewed the coffee with. Oh my!
No wonder people all day long compliment us for the quality we serve.

Ok, i'm all set for another two (no-bux) years.