A blast from the past
Before I blogged, I used to write little essays on things that struck my fancy. Here's one that I wrote about coffee. Additional comments from today are in blue.
I'm a relatively convert to coffee. I survived 37 years without drinking the stuff. Here's the history:
I never liked coffee. Wouldn't touch the stuff, not even coffee ice cream. My brother once tried to make me a cappucino that was about 8 oz hershey's syrup and 1 oz coffee-no dice. Interestingly enough, I was the designated coffee brewer in the house as a kid. My mom would insist I make the coffee, even when others who drank the stuff were around. Apparently, I got the ratios perfect.
Despite hating the taste, I LOVED the smell of it. We kids would fight over the job of grinding the 8 O'Clock coffee when we went to the supermarket with mom. Ahh, the aroma of coffee-intoxicating. I couldn't understand why it didn't taste anywhere as good as it smelled.
About three years ago, one of my employees walked into work with a drink from the Barnie's next door, telling me I absolutely HAD to try this frozen concoction. I did, tasted the coffee but I LIKED IT! It took quite a bit of cajoling on Jason's part. The fact that he had TWO Santa's White Christmas Freezers in his hand was probably the only reason why I took the sip-I figured that he wouldn't miss it. When I said I liked it, I was given the one I'd sampled. His friends the baristas had made him two for free (the benefits of being a cute guy and friends with the baristas)
Over the course of the next few months, the baristas at Barneys, who'd known me as the lady who got a juice and a newspaper, indulged my coffee experimentation and told me when I was going 'too coffeeish' for my newly acquired taste for the roasted bean. By the time I moved to warmer climes, I was drinking mochas without a ton of other stuff in it. The day I got the double shot of espresso (to battle a migraine) was the talk of the whole staff-I got asked for about a week "did you *really* get a double shot?"
Okay, so I get to Florida, land of Barnie's. All is good. I settle on ONE drink, instead of terrorizing the baristas with a different drink du jour. I find another chain that makes MY drink the way I like it (btw, Indigo Coffee if you're ever in Tampa!), and I *gasp* get a regular coffee at Krispy Kreme. I like it. Today, Barnie's is *slowly* returning to the area after Starbucks bought the storefronts (boo hiss) and Indigo is the preferred straight up coffee for me.
I graduate to making coffee at home regularly. I try my sisters favorite French Vanilla iced coffee at Dunkin Donuts and I don't feel the need to put a pound of sugar in it to make it drinkable. Heck, there have been times where they forgot to put sugar in the darn thing and I've been miles down the road before I found out-I still drank those suckers.
I didn't consider myself a snob, more an apprentice of the school of java. I was learning what a macchiato was, why I might like an americano and that a mocha was really a latte with chocolate, but a latte didn't have chocolate. I've also learned that the more steps to ordering your coffee, the wimpier you look to the baristas! My peeps at Indigo love my concise Medio Indulgence, "with caramel" or "with almond" order.
THEN: I made the mistake. The other day, in a press for time, I go through the mickey D's drive through for breakfast on the way into work. I'm tight on cash, so I figure "I'll get the coffee today" I like coffee, it can't be bad, right?
WRONG!!!!!!!!
I took two sips of that bad boy and it was like I was drinking water that had been run through coffee grounds that had been used for four other pots. And filtered through sweat socks that had been worn to run a marathon.
YUCK!!!
One more sip convinced me that I should go get some water out of the fridge and have that with my breakfast. Said coffee got dumped, and I wondered why people would even drink that stuff.
So, I admit it. I am a coffee snob. I will gladly pay over two bucks (if I'm not at Krispy Krack, that is) for a cup of coffee that tastes good! I've paid four and felt it was worth every penny.
And yes, my sister was ROTFL at my diatribe about McD's coffee last night-me, the one who would NEVER drink the stuff three years ago! She is the original coffee achiever. I sometimes think that if you cut Giggles, she bleeds coffee.
So, bash me if you will, but make sure it's the good coffee you're serving me!
I'm a relatively convert to coffee. I survived 37 years without drinking the stuff. Here's the history:
I never liked coffee. Wouldn't touch the stuff, not even coffee ice cream. My brother once tried to make me a cappucino that was about 8 oz hershey's syrup and 1 oz coffee-no dice. Interestingly enough, I was the designated coffee brewer in the house as a kid. My mom would insist I make the coffee, even when others who drank the stuff were around. Apparently, I got the ratios perfect.
Despite hating the taste, I LOVED the smell of it. We kids would fight over the job of grinding the 8 O'Clock coffee when we went to the supermarket with mom. Ahh, the aroma of coffee-intoxicating. I couldn't understand why it didn't taste anywhere as good as it smelled.
About three years ago, one of my employees walked into work with a drink from the Barnie's next door, telling me I absolutely HAD to try this frozen concoction. I did, tasted the coffee but I LIKED IT! It took quite a bit of cajoling on Jason's part. The fact that he had TWO Santa's White Christmas Freezers in his hand was probably the only reason why I took the sip-I figured that he wouldn't miss it. When I said I liked it, I was given the one I'd sampled. His friends the baristas had made him two for free (the benefits of being a cute guy and friends with the baristas)
Over the course of the next few months, the baristas at Barneys, who'd known me as the lady who got a juice and a newspaper, indulged my coffee experimentation and told me when I was going 'too coffeeish' for my newly acquired taste for the roasted bean. By the time I moved to warmer climes, I was drinking mochas without a ton of other stuff in it. The day I got the double shot of espresso (to battle a migraine) was the talk of the whole staff-I got asked for about a week "did you *really* get a double shot?"
Okay, so I get to Florida, land of Barnie's. All is good. I settle on ONE drink, instead of terrorizing the baristas with a different drink du jour. I find another chain that makes MY drink the way I like it (btw, Indigo Coffee if you're ever in Tampa!), and I *gasp* get a regular coffee at Krispy Kreme. I like it. Today, Barnie's is *slowly* returning to the area after Starbucks bought the storefronts (boo hiss) and Indigo is the preferred straight up coffee for me.
I graduate to making coffee at home regularly. I try my sisters favorite French Vanilla iced coffee at Dunkin Donuts and I don't feel the need to put a pound of sugar in it to make it drinkable. Heck, there have been times where they forgot to put sugar in the darn thing and I've been miles down the road before I found out-I still drank those suckers.
I didn't consider myself a snob, more an apprentice of the school of java. I was learning what a macchiato was, why I might like an americano and that a mocha was really a latte with chocolate, but a latte didn't have chocolate. I've also learned that the more steps to ordering your coffee, the wimpier you look to the baristas! My peeps at Indigo love my concise Medio Indulgence, "with caramel" or "with almond" order.
THEN: I made the mistake. The other day, in a press for time, I go through the mickey D's drive through for breakfast on the way into work. I'm tight on cash, so I figure "I'll get the coffee today" I like coffee, it can't be bad, right?
WRONG!!!!!!!!
I took two sips of that bad boy and it was like I was drinking water that had been run through coffee grounds that had been used for four other pots. And filtered through sweat socks that had been worn to run a marathon.
YUCK!!!
One more sip convinced me that I should go get some water out of the fridge and have that with my breakfast. Said coffee got dumped, and I wondered why people would even drink that stuff.
So, I admit it. I am a coffee snob. I will gladly pay over two bucks (if I'm not at Krispy Krack, that is) for a cup of coffee that tastes good! I've paid four and felt it was worth every penny.
And yes, my sister was ROTFL at my diatribe about McD's coffee last night-me, the one who would NEVER drink the stuff three years ago! She is the original coffee achiever. I sometimes think that if you cut Giggles, she bleeds coffee.
So, bash me if you will, but make sure it's the good coffee you're serving me!
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