As to the second: daily, more or less.
Personally I prefer a good dark roast, and if it’s a good blend (also for medium or light roast) I want it black.
Outside of dedicated coffeehouses though, most coffee out & about isn’t what I consider “good” (I guess I’m a snob?:-P), so I usually add sugar & creamer.
(Pro-Tip: combine black coffee with a pastry for the ultimate snack, i.e. the sugar doesn’t need to be poured directly into the liquid! The juxtaposition of the bitter and sweet really works well.:-)
I can’t stand Starbucks coffee regardless though, so if needed I’ll get a mocha. I’d sooner trust a McDonald’s coffee though - seriously: b/c Lavazza is great!
It’s such a personal choice though - what do you like?
To be clear: the places that get it wrong aren’t aiming it to make it more of a latte are they? The USA tends to do odd things, like make sushi sweet, or Italian foods sweet, or Chinese foods sweet - basically add a bunch of sugar to literally everything - and I wonder if even for that Italian-style drink if they tried to “Americanize” it?
It should be 1/3 each espresso, milk, and foam. Most places do 1.5 oz shot of espresso and then just fill an 8 oz cup with foamed milk in whatever ratio they made. So way to much milk.
Sushi should be a bit sweet. It literally means sour and is traditionally made with sweetened vinegar. Usually a 4:3 ratio of vineger⋮sugar.
I’ve always heard that “overly sweet” (so, a higher degree of such than merely “sweetened”) sushi is the mark of a non-authentic restaurant, probably in an attempt to cater to a more Americanized audience. And similarly for Chinese foods as well.
I don’t know why all the milk though - possibly it’s cheaper and they are trying to skim some profits for themselves.