Starbucks coffee grinders: Recalls and revamps and romance

My little boys love to help me make coffee, especially if they get to push the button on my little coffee grinder.

It's part of the romance and theater of mornings here at Chez Gilbert. The whir of the grinder... the whistle of the kettle... the heady scent of the beans. Fortunately, I don't use a Starbucks coffee grinder, or the romantic theater might be a bit macabre.

Tuesday, Starbucks announced a recall of half a million coffee grinders because of a "laceration hazard" -- the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Starbucks have received 176 reports of the Starbucks Barista Blade Grinder and Seattle's Best Coffee Blade Grinder failing to turn off, or to turn on unexpectedly. Only in three cases was there an injury.

The units, which were made in China, were sold between 2002 and 2009 for about $30 each. This comes in the same week as the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) has revealed Starbucks has plans to change the way it grinds and brews coffee in order to increase the "romance and theatre" of its stores.