If you are a tourist in a foreign country but wanted your coffee to be something close to a cup you have way back home, you buy a cup from a very familiar brand. Or, if you are one tourist a little too iffy about the sanitation of the country you are visiting, you get your cup from a brand known worldwide. In most cases, tourists prefer Starbucks. As of March 22 2013, Starbucks has 20,891 locations in 62 countries. Hence, the brand is a 'comfort zone'.

But, those tourists (including locals actually) who drunk their cup from Starbucks Bank of China Tower branch were disgusted to know that this branch uses toilet water to make their coffee blends. Worse, the toilet from where the water was acquired was dirty.

A local media, Apple Daily, released a video taken with a hidden camera showing Starbucks employees pushing large water tanks to a public toilet, filling the water tanks with water from the public toilet, pushing the water tanks back to the branch and finally brewing coffee with the water obtained from the toilet. The public toilet is to be found in a parking lot just within 230 feet from the Starbucks Bank of China branch.

The video's snap shots of the toilet inside revealed a faucet with a sign saying "Starbucks Only." As Rocket News 24 put it, the faucet is "located mere one-and-a-half meters, or less than five feet, from the closest urinal, putting it within striking distance of a guy who's just finished one cappuccino too many."

The Starbucks Bank of China Tower branch does not have faucets or other water outlets of its own. For this reason, the branch was forced to obtain water from the faucet in its entire two years of operation.

In an interview, the spokesperson of the branch admitted using toilet water for their coffee saying that "Tap water from the restroom is fit for drinking. The tank used to transport the water is disinfected regularly. Moreover, the branch is equipped with a state-of-the-art filtration system which the water passes through before being used to brew our beverages.

However, local sanitation officers did not agree with Starbucks. They put a firm foot forward saying that the branch's method and source of water for their coffee blends were definitely disobeying sanitation rules and regulations and that the branch should be sanctioned immediately.

According to a reprimand statement issued by the head of Hong Kong Food and Beverage association, "No matter how often it is cleaned, there will always be a certain amount of various bacteria in the restroom, so serving customers food or drink made with water from there is simply unacceptable."

Hong Kong locals were aghast by the news. One resident interviewed said, "I wouldn't have expected this kind of thing to happen here in Hong Kong, and definitely not at Starbucks."

Starbuck's Hong Kong Facebook page has also suffered backlash from angry customers. One Facebook user wrote on the wall saying, "The initial decision by Starbucks to use water from toilet is a clear sign of your company's vision and the level of respect your company has for the health and mind of your customers."

In due fairness to Starbucks Bank of China Tower branch, it promptly act on the issue. It has recently announced that the branch will stop getting water from the toilet and instead allocate a budget for bottled purified drinking water to make with their coffee.