Coffee, Water, Biscotti …

July 31, 2007 — -- Most people go to coffee shops to grab some quick caffeine and a snack, or relax and visit with friends, but one guy decided to give his Starbucks visits a time limit as he challenged himself to shop at every one of the Manhattan cappucino-selling shops in one day.

That's no small task -- these days it seems like you can't walk or drive five feet without passing a Starbucks, which are on corners, in strip malls, inside your local bookstore, you name it, they've got a Starbucks.

New York City is particularly notorious for its high concentration of Starbucks locations.

There are so many, in fact, that Mark Malkoff, a comedian/writer for "The Colbert Report" not to mention a curious New Yorker, set out to do the impossible -- visit each of the 171 Seattle-born coffee company's stores in Manhattan in a 24-hour period and consume at least one product (that's not including the other four boroughs' sites or the handful of private stores located in corporate buildings throughout the city).

"Everyone thought it couldn't be done," said Malkoff in an interview with ABC News. "My friends, my family, Starbucks employees said it couldn't be done."

He decided to give it a try at the end of June, but for months Malkoff, who admits he's not a coffee drinker, researched and planned the best route, tested out different modes of transportation, and built up his caffeine tolerance all in preparation for the big day.

"I did two months of research to pull this off. The whole thing was calculated with hours, when [the stores] open, when they close," he said.

That included purchasing a new mode of transportation for himself. "You see these bike messengers. They get around faster than cab drivers, any car, so it occurred to me that I would have to buy a bicycle and risk my life on a bicycle in New York City traffic," Malkoff said.

First Stop: 5:30 a.m.

On June 29, 2007, Malkoff, accompanied only by a friend with a video camera, began his challenge at 5:30 a.m. at the 181st and Washington Heights store in the northern end of Manhattan.

He purchased an espresso and then jumped on his bike and headed to the next location, with 170 Starbucks left for the day. Malkoff determined that he had to hit a different Starbucks every seven minutes for over 20 hours in order to complete his goal.

As the day wore on, the challenge proved to be much harder than Malkoff had expected. Long lines, frequent bathroom breaks, harrowing near-crashes on his trusty stead rattled his nerves, which were already shot thanks to the excess of caffeine in his system, and ate away at precious time.

"The thing that was going through my head was that it would be a tragedy that I would never get over if I hit 160 Starbucks or 167. I needed to hit every single one," said Malkoff, whose first attempt at hitting all 171 stores in his friend's car on April 2, 2007, failed miserably.

After 14 hours of intense coffee consumption, Malkoff's body began to deteriorate. With blurred vision, slowed reflexes, and uncontrollable jitters, Malkoff decided to call in the cavalry, better known as Jill, or the friend with the car. For the remaining six hours, Malkoff was a zombie -- sleeping in between locations, stumbling into stores, and acting like a madman.

"By the end of the day, I was shaking and my eyes were wide," he said. "I think the employees were a little terrified of me. It was kind of like Dustin Hoffman in 'Marathon Man' when he was up for 24 hours. You just don't want to do that."

Two Hours to Spare, Several Starbucks Remain

Eighteen hours after sipping his first espresso, Markoff hit his second, nearly devastating snag.

He arrived four minutes after the 11 p.m. close at the 96th and Madison location, and bargained with the employees cleaning up inside to let him buy just one piece of pound cake for $80 (which was reimbursed to him by a Starbucks representative a couple weeks after his video was released on the Web). "That was the best pound cake I ever had," said Malkoff.

At 2:56 a.m., Malkoff successfully completed his challenge by buying yet another espresso at Starbucks' 60th and Broadway location. In the end, Malkoff completed his goal with four hours to spare and visited 177 stores (in his highly caffeinated state, he revisited six stores by accident), and spent $369.14, including the $80 pound cake and the six extra purchases.

"I almost died," he said. "People have been asking if I'm going to do this again, and the answer is absolutely not. No!"

Despite the toll it took on his body, Malkoff said visiting every Starbucks in Manhattan gave him a newfound appreciation for the many faces of New York City's neighborhoods.

"The most interesting [part] was the geography of Starbucks -- how many there were in each neighborhood … every neighborhood just has this personality to it and I think the customers kind of fit into that as well," he said.

Malkoff was also struck by people's willingness to support his cause.

"The most unexpected thing was how supportive the employees and the customers were in my quest," he said. "Everybody let me cut the line … and everyone wanted me to succeed. Basically, the camaraderie of everybody in the city, and the Starbucks, really touched me."

Ultimately, Malkoff's success has gained him lifelong bragging rights -- and not just among his friends, but Starbucks consumers everywhere.

"It was an impossible task that people said I couldn't do. I mean I questioned myself throughout the day … But I was able to do it." It may not have been pretty or graceful, but Mark Malkoff achieved the impossible.

And, he's lucky he didn't wait until August for his challenge -- there are already two more Starbucks in Manhattan.