Ristretto: New Alterra HQ

-This afternoon, Mary posted about Starbucks' announcement of its decision to close 600 stores. Milwaukeeans may note the ironic contrast with Alterra's grand opening of its new HQ on N. Humboldt Ave.  Also, this past weekend, I realized I hadn't been to an SBUX in a month or so, and somehow felt like I ought to check in.  (More to the point, the Strawberry Fest was being held in downtown Cedarburg, so any coffeehouse there was out.)  The Pike Place decaf was just wretched.  It had a weird soapy taste to it; perhaps the ceramic cup hadn't been rinsed properly.  I'd always thought of SBUX as a predictably mediocre product and an unpredictably bad customer service experience, especially depending on the store.  In Cedarburg, I didn't have any problem with the customer service, but the product was off-the-charts bad.  The last time I left a cup of coffee half-finished was at McDonald's, so if I ever find myself in that situation again, I may as well head straight to McD's.