Kenya and the Mug of Authority
Kenya was the first Starbucks coffee I fell in love with – and it’s returned that love back to me. Because if it weren’t for Kenya, I might not have the job at Starbucks that I have right now.
The story begins in 1990. I’ve just graduated from college, and I need a job to support my very broke self while taking an internship at an advertising agency in Seattle. So I call on this small-but-growing (almost 100 stores!) coffeeshop called Starbucks.
As a newly-aproned barista, I learn that I don’t know squat about coffee. You mean coffee comes from different countries and has different flavors based on where it’s grown? Wow, who knew? But I’m eager to learn, so I try all our coffees to see what I taste.
And Kenya is the first coffee that makes me think Wow, I get it! Because it has this really pronounced jammy, grapefruity taste and wine-like body that totally stands out from other coffees. I’m able to nail it in a blind tasting, which impresses my manager, and so I become our store’s unofficial whole bean expert. I learn more and my love of coffee grows.
I’m at Starbucks for 15 months. I really like the place, but I’ve got an advertising career to get underway. So after my internship turns into a real job, I hang up my apron. But before I go, I buy a mug with our Kenya coffee stamp on it to remind me of my first love – and because it’s on clearance for 99 cents! (Hey, I’m still paying college loans!)
(Incidentally, this old stamp and mug is pretty infamous, because it showed an Asian elephant and not an African one. Our designers have gotten much better at getting those kinds of details right.)
Fast forward 11 years. Now, I’m a veteran copywriter in Seattle’s burgeoning high-tech advertising industry. Life is good, until the dotcom bust means it’s pink slips all around for us agency folks. Luckily, some work friends who have gone out the door before me have landed within the Starbucks design department, and they find a home for me there.
Despite the passage of time, I’m able to call upon everything I learned in my old store and put it to work in my new digs. And even better, I’m able to locate that old Kenya mug and bring it to the office.
And that mug makes all the difference, because the long-time vets in the building recognize it, and they realize (or mistakenly believe) that I’m a long-time Starbucker too. When I carry it around, they greet me as an old friend and listen to what I say. It is my Mug of Authority!
That was in 2001. I’m still at Starbucks, still loving the place and the funny arc of my career that brought me back to where I’ve started. So even though I don’t drink Kenya as much (my tastes have changed, and now I prefer Guatemala Antigua and Gold Coast Blend®) and even though I’ve lost my old favorite mug (I think I left it in a meeting room – doh!), I’m grateful for what our Kenya coffee has done for me. Cheers!
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