I can't imagine a day without coffee. I can't imagine!

For more than three decades, coffee has captured my imagination because it is a beverage about individuals as well as community. A Rwandan farmer. Eighty roast masters at six Starbucks plants on two continents. Thousands of baristas in 54 countries. Like a symphony, coffee's power rests in the hands of a few individuals who orchestrate its appeal. So much can go wrong during the journey from soil to cup that when everything goes right, it is nothing short of brilliant! After all, coffee doesn't lie. It can't. Every sip is proof of the artistry -- technical as well as human -- that went into its creation.

We think of Starbucks not as a coffee company but a media company.

China traditionally has been a tea-drinking country but we turned them into coffee drinkers.

Starbucks represents something beyond a cup of coffee.

My kids probably started drinking coffee in their late teens.