While the drink made its stateside debut in California, it gained widespread popularity thanks to coffee culture in Seattle in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Meister credits David Schomer, co-founder of Espresso Vivace, for popularizing the latte (and also latte art) among coffee cognoscenti in the Pacific Northwest. But, of course, it was Starbucks, founded in Seattle in 1971, that is chiefly responsible for popularizing lattes and other “fancy” coffee drinks around the country. By the end of the ‘90s, lattes were an integral part of the pop cultural lexicon. The Friends gang sipped them at Central Perk. In Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, a simultaneous parody of both ‘60s and ‘90s culture, the character Dr. Evil hides his “evil lair” inside the Starbucks tower and gets foam on his face while sipping a latte sans plastic lid. A 2004 article by CNN Money bemoans the company’s decision to raise their prices for the first time in four years, noting that they’re banking on “loyal customers already willing to pay more than $3 for a tall latte will stick around.”