Perthian-Starbucks Coffee Showdown - Results!

I have recently had quite a few Perthians tell me that Starbucks coffee is NOT the best!?! Before today I never would have questioned the fact. I'm still skeptical because they don't have a Starbucks here, so how can they know its full glory? However, I'm open minded and so I need closure.

So, over the next little while I'm going to go about tasting and comparing coffee from all the different stores I am told to go to in Perth. Don't worry, I'm still stocking up on Starbucks while I'm in Melbourne & Sydney in case of the likely event that it comes out on top.

So far I've been told the following cafe's are the best..if you have more I should try, tell me..

• Dome
• Gloria Jeans
• Jamaica Blue

To compare the different coffees, I have filled in the table fully:

Brand	Coffee	Price	Taste	Strength	Aroma	Pres	Overall Score
Starbucks	Komodo Dark Roast	$2.25	2/2	2/2	2/2	2/2	Perfect 10
Coffee & Co	Long Black	$3.20	1.5/2	2/2	1/2	2/2	8/10
Gloria Jeans	Long Black	$3.30	1/2	1.5/2	1/2	1/2	6.5/10
Dome	Long Black	$3.50	1/2	1.5/2	1/2	1/2	6/10
Aroma	Long Black	$3.50	1/2	1.5/2	1/2	1/2	6/10
Jamaica Blue	Long Black	$4.70	1/2	1/2	1/2	1/2	4.5/10

Each criteria gets a mark out of 2 for a total of 10. I will be adjusting the marks as I continue to experience the Perth coffees because taste is of course relative.

I like my coffee strong, so the stronger it is the better the score.

Summary
Starbucks is the best. Anand and I even had a discussion that went something like this, Anand: "I've always wondered if someone put two cups of coffee in front of me and said "this one's Starbucks", if I would just choose the Starbucks one just because of that even if the other one tasted better?" Me: "If that was the case, how did they go from one little store to a giant business in Canada & the US? People had to think their coffee was better than the competitors even before they had the Starbucks name and image in order to grow the business. They also must have to do taste tests like you mentioned when introducing new blends and roasts of coffee right?" Anand: "I guess that's true." If you can't agree with this reasoning then feel free to comment and if you have any more cafe's I HAVE to try, please tell me!

Also, none of you, unless you have been to Canada have tried Tim Hortons coffee, which is a much closer second than Coffee & Co. - but we'll still give them the Silver.

I'm stocking up on Starbucks in Melbourne & Sydney =)