Starbucks Financial Hold Has Been Cut

In January, Starbucks changed the way it delivered its brewed tea to its customers. Instead of offering individually wrapped Tazo tea bags, they switched to unwrapped individual bags of tea encased in mesh. And they raised the price 50 cents for a Venti cup. I loved my Tazo chai. But the new chai tea is not as potent for my taste, plus I think less sanitary because it comes unwrapped and is served by baristas who use a tongs to take it out of a tea bin.

With the old tea, I always asked for bags “on the side,” because of cleanliness issues. I always steeped the tea myself. When my local Starbucks barista asked me why I did that, I asked if she watched “Monk.” Monk’s compulsive habits were numerous, and a number of phobias compounded his situation, such as Tony Shaloub’s fear of germs. I think I had the Monk Syndrome with my tea. So you can understand how I feel about the way it is served now. It just doesn’t work for me.

So I’ve stopped visiting Starbucks every morning on my way to the office. Why give Starbucks 50 cents more, or $2.35 each time, for something I don’t like. That adds up to $11.75 a week. Then add another five times on average I might stop for a Tazo chai tea every week. That’s another $11.75. We’re up to $23.50 a week, or about $94 a month. That’s $1,128 a year. That would make an extra annual mortgage payment. And I can’t even imagine how much interest I will save by making extra payments over the next five years I have left on my mortgage.

Every now and then I would also buy a plain croissant … an egg salad sandwich … or a banana. Figure another $150 over the course of a year. That covers my residential phone bill from AT&T for six months.

Sometimes I would buy a drink for an associate … my printer … shipping house clerk … or personal trainer. Let’s see: another $75. I could be paying my Comcast TV cable bill for one month.

And the calories! Plus no cream in my tea; less sugar from that croissant or the sandwich bread; and the preservatives in the egg salad to keep it fresh.

I really won’t miss any of it. I’ve already purchased an $8 hot Thermos cup and make my own tea at home before I leave. Maybe I can score a few tea bags of Tazo chai at Expo West in March, or some original sweet and spicy tea and herb blend bags from Good Earth. Over the course of the year, my daily tea brew will add up to just pennies a cup.

Sure, I’ll miss the friendly and smiling faces at my local Starbucks. But I’ll get over it. And so will they.