Over-roasted coffee is harder to find than you think...

"If somebody wants to get business with Starbucks, you have to think, breathe, live and sleep quality."

No, this isn't the Marketing Communications Manager for the coffee behemoth. It's actually a quote from Alfredo Robert, a coffee farmer in Costa Rica.

Starbucks has taken a lot of heat for not selling predominantly free trade or organic coffee, and many so-called coneissours have blasted the company's product as being sub-par. But according to an article in the Seattle Times, the company has ridiculously stringent standards for it's coffee beans. The number and range of criteria appear to be far beyond what their competition requires.

In fact, the problem Starbucks is facing is that there aren't enough beans up to their standards to support their growth. Who would've thunk it?

With the perpetual talk about corporate irresponsibility, it's refreshing to see a company maintain it's standards for quality when it doesn't necessarily need to.

Particularly when the company sells legal addictive stimulants that I couldn't give up if I had to.