The Hugo Spritz and the Spaghett battle it out for cocktail of the summer
On the agenda today:
The story behind Blackstone's viral barricaded office photo.
Inside the million-dollar tree war that's brewing among New England's elite.
Starbucks' new office is a 5-minute drive from the CEO's home.
Internal guidelines reveal how much Microsoft pays new hires.
But first: The debate of the summer.
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This week's dispatch
Jacky Zarra
The hottest cocktail of the season is …
This summer's battle for beverage supremacy isn't your typical cocktail clash.
In one corner, there's the Hugo Spritz. It's a mixture of prosecco and club soda. The addition of elderflower liqueur makes this sweet, low-ABV drink stand out. This Aperol Spritz successor is all over TikTok. Yelp queries and Google searches for it have jumped.
In the other is the Spaghett: a brash, no-frills concoction born for the dive bar. It consists of Miller High Life beer, a splash of Aperol, and a lemon. It's cheap and quickly becoming a cult classic: Google Trends and bar tabs alike show it gaining real traction.
So, which is better? And which should be crowned drink of the summer?
BI's Emily Stewart sees the Spaghett as more than a quirky cocktail. She says it has broader economic ramifications, specifically as a potential recession indicator.
"Trading down from an Aperol Spritz to a Spaghett usually puts a few bills back in your pocket," she writes. "And swapping a basic beer for a Spaghett won't break the bank — especially when the beer was budget-friendly to begin with."
Yet our colleague Callie Ahlgrim says we shouldn't underestimate the compelling visual the Hugo Spritz evokes, particularly in the social-media era. She said the drink is "perfectly engineered for virality."
So, what'll it be: elegance in a glass, or a buzzy, beer hack that doubles as an economic signal?
This season's drink of choice says as much about your vibe as it does your wallet.
What do you think? Email us your thoughts at today@businessinsider.com — and check out Emily and Callie's video on the debate.
Behind the Blackstone photo
Following the deadly New York City office shooting that cut four victims' lives short, a haunting image of a furniture barricade at Blackstone's headquarters became emblematic of the tragedy.
One person familiar with the matter told BI that Blackstone employees moved quickly and worked together to pile everything up, including a refrigerator. Employees also barricaded themselves inside closets, bathrooms, and conference rooms, another person familiar with the matter said, with some hunkering down until 10 p.m. when authorities cleared the building.
"It was a long day."
Trouble in the trees
In New England's most exclusive coastal enclaves, neighbors are feuding over ocean views — and cutting down each other's trees to get to them.
The timber wars don't come cheap. Cases of unauthorized chopping and poisoning, known as "timber trespass," have sparked bitter legal feuds among the wealthy and sometimes resulted in seven-figure payouts.
Splintered paradise.
The 5-minute commute
Starbucks' newest office is a 4,624-square-foot space just minutes from CEO Brian Niccol's Southern California home. It's 1,200 miles away from the company's headquarters in Seattle, where corporate employees are under a four-day return-to-office order.
The California office, nicknamed "Project Sunshine," was part of Niccol's compensation package, built so he wouldn't have to commute across states daily.
Views of the Pacific coast.
Also read:
Microsoft's pay guidelines, revealed
The company's internal pay guidelines obtained by BI's Ashley Stewart shed light on how much the tech giant generally offers new hires, including pay ranges for engineers and researchers in the US.
Microsoft's pay documents include a carve-out for competitive situations, though. Recruiters can seek approval for higher offers for exceptional candidates.
Breaking down pay by levels.
How much do tech employees make? See salary data from top tech companies.
This week's quote:
"It really is the case that if you give people more bedrooms in their apartments, they're more interested in having children."
— Lyman Stone, a coauthor of a recent report by the Institute for Family Studies, on why the real estate market is driving down the birth rate.
More of this week's top reads:
Sex sells. So does outrage. Sydney Sweeney's "great jeans" ads cash in on both.
Was Jeffrey Epstein a spy? There's nothing about that in the Epstein files, sources say.
I went to Figma's IPO. It turned Wall Street into a literal block party.
Parents of college kids are getting unhinged in their group chats.
I'm a career coach. Applying for jobs should be the last step in your job hunt process.
CNBC's "The Profit" ended with legal acrimony and an $11 million payout. Its host is now back on TV.
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