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# Reporter tries to hit all 17 Santa Monica Starbucks in one day
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/hill-of/
- Published: 2007-09-01T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T02:45:40.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: local, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*beans Completing the Starbucks loop in a coffeeshop-saturated Santa Monica can be hazardous to your health*

*By EMILY SKEHAN I Special to the Daily Press T* here are 17 Starbucks in the city of Santa Monica. Initially, the idea of hitting every one of them in a single day didn’t seem all that daunting.

The premise was simple: For 24 hours, I would ingest only Starbucks products, and try to rack up as many milligrams of caffeine as I could stomach.

Piece of poundcake, right? Not.

At 11:17 a.m. on Wednesday, I pounded back a shot of espresso — straight — pausing to swallow the bile that was beginning to rise in my throat. By this point, I’d visited six local Starbucks and taken in a whopping 540 milligrams of caffeine — well over the daily recommended intake of 300 milligrams. My hands were a little shaky, there was that questionable pressure in my left temple, and the acid burning a hole in my stomach lining was putting me a little on edge... OK?!!

My “barista,” as the green and black logo-ed company so eloquently baptizes their cashiers, looked at me a little strangely as I stared defeatedly into my empty paper shot glass and puckered my mouth.

I don’t even drink coffee, except for the occasional late night my-20-page paper is due tomorrow-emergency, and the dark brown liquid sloshing around in my mid-section was beginning to get to me.

DANGEROUS BEANS?

“It’s almost impossible to reach the lethal dose of 5 to 10 grams just by drinking caffeinated beverages,” said Marina Kushner, author of “The Truth About Caffeine” and founder of the non-profit Caffeine Awareness Alliance, “but that’s not to say that caffeine isn’t dangerous.

“If large doses can kill, small doses can cause various potentially serious health problems.”

Kushner pointed out that even two to three cups of Joe a day can lead to uncomfortable side effects such as chronic fatigue, difficulty sleeping, anxiety, irritability, depression, high blood sugar and weight gain.

“About 250 milligrams a day — most people can safely tolerate,” said Kushner, a one-time caffeine addict. “That’s pretty much the point that distinguishes safe from excessive use.”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/090107-07_01.jpg)

(Photo: BY EMILY SKEHAN I Special to the Daily Press)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 1, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/090107.pdf?ref=smdp.com)