The beverage giant, Starbucks, is celebrating 30 years in Boston. The first store in Massachusetts opened at the corner of Charles and Beacon Streets, after the company purchased the Boston-born chain, Coffee Connection, for $23 million in 1994.

Today, there are 54 Starbucks locations in Boston, but the Beacon Hill location gets credit for being the first. The chain provided an alternative to the ever-popular Dunkin’ Donuts, designed to get customers in and out quickly, by aiming for an atmosphere that invited them to stay and chat or do some work outside of the office.

Early in the chain’s founding, Starbucks decided to place espresso machines so that baristas could face the customer while making their drink. The hospitality forward practice has since been widely adopted and helped facilitate the friendly reputation of “the local cafe” experience.

Before sporting the well-known green and white Starbucks mermaid, the Beacon Hill cafe was part of George Howell’s Coffee Connection. One of the first specialty coffee chains in New England, Howell started Coffee Connection after moving cross country from Berklee, California to Boston in 1974.

Along with Coffee Connection’s 23 stores, Starbucks’ purchase came with the trademark name for a blended, iced coffee beverage that had propelled the recent success of Howell’s cafes.

The Frappuccino, a portmanteau of “frappe,” a New England milkshake, and “cappuccino,” espresso with frothed milk, is four simple ingredients which are coffee, sugar, milk and ice.

The contemporary Starbucks Frappuccino is recognized by its iced slushie consistency, frequently topped with whipped cream and customized with a range of flavors that began with coffee and mocha but has since expanded to range from caramel to matcha creme.

Howell’s recipe, inspired by an iced cappuccino he had at Torrefazione Italia cafe in Seattle, is set apart by its smooth, soft-serve consistency. It’s closer to the thick New England frappe of its namesake. Now called “The Original,” the beverage can still be ordered at George Howell Coffee in Downtown Crossing.

“What Starbucks actually bought, more than anything, was the name,” Howell said in an interview. “Because they really did produce a very different drink.”

The Frappuccino was a huge success, first for Coffee Connection and later for Starbucks, as the brand took its version of the local beverage nationwide. The iced cappuccino boosted the typically lagging coffee sales of hot summer months and afternoons, but it jump-started on Beacon Hill.

The corner of Charles and Beacon Streets still stands as a top spot for a caffeine fix, even among Beacon Hill’s numerous local alternatives.

The Starbucks in Beacon Hill is one of only two national chains present on Beacon Hill, the other being the CVS pharmacy on Charles Street.