Philz or Starbucks?

By Kathia Noriega Sports Editor

Philz and Starbucks.

Two coffee shops with the same business ventures but two completely different brands.

Starbucks is a staple of the morning coffee run for many coffee lovers. Since the grand opening at their first location in Seattle Pike Place Market in 1971, Starbucks has been able to cement a reputation as a great, commercially successful coffee chain, selling an average of 8,070,428 cups of coffee a day.

However in January 2003, Philz had their grand opening in the Mission District of San Francisco. What started as a small business in the Bay Area, now has coffee lovers across the country preferring Philz Coffee drinks over the popular Starbucks Coffee.

The average college student might begin drinking coffee due to the amount of hours they put into their schoolwork each semester. It is used to help them stay awake for longer periods of time.

Skyline student, Kirsten Perez, prefers to drink Starbucks coffee. In fact, Perez was drinking a Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino during her interview. She explains that she prefers to drink a more sugary coffee every so often, but she doesn’t consider herself a coffee drinker.

“I only go to Starbucks when I go to school and that’s only twice a week,” Perez said. “I’m not addicted to coffee, I just get it whenever I need a drink.”

Moreover, prior to her interview, she wasn’t familiar with Philz whatsoever. She prefers to go to Starbucks because it’s everywhere and more convenient for her to grab a quick refreshing fix, whether that’s in the form of a strawberry frappuccino or a mocha macchiato.

Skyline student Mari Garcia likes to drink both tea and coffee. However, she prefers to make tea at home every morning, and sometimes likes to drink a coffee later in the day if she needs.

She explains that her preference is Philz coffee because it’s less sweet and more robust in flavor.

“I feel like Starbucks uses more sugar and so it’s usually sweeter,” Garcia said. “Which isn’t a bad thing, I just personally prefer a less sweet beverage.”

Ellie Grubb actually works at Philz and really enjoys her experience there because of the environment and good energy that it brings. She explains that they use more pure ingredients compared to Starbucks. She mentioned that Philz uses more natural sugars such as honey instead of caramel syrups.

She enjoys more coffee than tea, but she still really loves to drink chamomile and other coffees throughout the day during her shifts.

Her passion for working at Philz really shines through when she talks about how much she prefers their natural ingredients and the process of making a good cup of coffee.

“For me it just seemed like a better choice as of what I’m putting in my body,” Grubb said. “Personally I like the taste more, I feel like it just tastes more flavorful.”

She explains how Philz makes drip coffee, which means they use fresh beans, grind them and then filter the beans through coffee filters. A more natural way of making coffee.

Clearly, both Philz and Starbucks Coffee have cornered the Bay Area coffee drinking market in their own respective ways. While some consumers prefer the more potent coffee blends that Philz offers, others take advantage of the quick and convenient accessibility that Starbucks is known for.