Nova Scotia Buzz
Rafael Lozano, known better as Winter, has drank coffee at almost 17,000 Starbuck locations worldwide and when we heard he was coming to Nova Scotia, we knew we had to meet him.
We met him last summer and it wasn’t his first trip to our province. He has visited a few times before, but if you want to an amazing story, this man’s goal to visit every company-owned Starbucks in the world is it. He calls his journey Starbucks Everywhere and there’s even a term for the journey and people who follow his lead, it’s called Starbucking.
We first learned of Winter when he travelled to Nova Scotia in 2019 and knew to meet on a return journey. We sat down with Winter in New Glasgow’s Starbucks to learn more about the man and his journey in summer 2021.
He first started visiting Starbucks locations when he was 25 years old and has now visited 16,849 locations drinking coffee at just about every one. A funny fact about Winter is when he crosses the Canadian border he buys a Tim Horton’s blueberry muffin of all things.
He can barely tolerate Starbucks coffee and says it has gotten worse throughout the years on his journey. He drinks at least 4 oz. at each location he visits to include it in his list.
Winter travels light and sleeps in his car most nights on the road. He slept in the local Wal-Mart parking lot the night before we met. He has a supply of clothes and blankets with him. He keeps a lot of memorabilia with him, cards and letters that well wishers have sent.
He works on his laptop remotely as a computer programmer which pays for his journey and expenses along the way.
When Winter travelled to Nova Scotia in 2019 it was to visit the oldest Starbucks he had not yet drank coffee from. It was the Sydney, Cape Breton location. It was only three years old at the time.
Also a competitive Scrabble player Winter has played in thousands of tournaments. However, it’s artisanal coffee that has sparked his interest as of late and he visits many craft coffee houses around the world.
We brought him by The Coffee Bean in New Glasgow. The Coffee Bean is a small local business owned by Antje Hoare. It has welcomed the likes of Justin Trudeau when visiting Nova Scotia.
This summer marks Winter’s 25th year Starbucking and with the rate of Starbuck’s expansion, he knows his goal of drinking coffee from every Starbucks will never be achieved. He’s ok with that.
Winter is writing a book on his journeys and is currently looking for a publisher.
If you see Winter at Starbucks on a return visit to Nova Scotia, give him a welcome to our province.
