The morning routine requires a stop at the local Starbucks to retrieve the necessary liquid start of the day.
On this day, the parking lot was completely full and vehicles had begun to form a line, backing up east bound traffic on the El Camino Real.
Already running late I computed the alternative locations.
The closest Starbucks is one mile west but one mile north, sandwiched between Vons and Fantastic Sams. It’s a location that I have had previous bad experiences with, but on this morning I decided to see if management had changed the place for the better — A two roads diverged kind of thing.
I approached the door, apprehensive that I would open it and find the butt-end of a fifty person conga line. Not the kind of thing a person in a hurry wants to see. And I was definitely in a hurry, or at least not patient enough for the type of chit-chat that takes place while waiting for the baristas to figure out how to do their jobs.
"I need my caffeine," or "no yawning, that's not allowed." That kind of blank conversation that would neither qualify as a mediocre ice breaker or nervous rambling at twelve-step program, let alone acceptable in a line of grumpy, barely awake consumers.
It reminds me of one such morning when half of California (or so it seemed) was in line. I'm at the back of the mermaid meet-and-greet when the door opens behind me with such a rush that it created a small vacuum. The person entered and quickly scanned the coffee convention, turns to me and asks, "are you in line?" Instinctively my left eyebrow raised just a tad while the chin slants slightly downward, and a little to the right.
"No, no, we're just waiting for napkins," I say with the best used car salesman grin I can muster.
I watch as their brain processes the information I provided, along with another visual scan. This is followed by an analysis of all the data that had been received — I can almost see the electrons scurrying around, trying to formulate the correct response.
In my mind I start cheering — "round peg in the round whole!" Then louder, "round peg in the round whole!"
Eyes forward, the mouth breather stares back for a second and then the brain responds (ding!). The output came in the form of rolled eyes with a twitchy pout, a slouch held up by the left leg, and a long puffy sigh.
I turn and grin to myself. The response to this interaction was almost as good as the iced latte I'm about to order.
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What is it with you and cold coffee? Coffee's natural state is to be hot. By ordering it excessively cooled, you're not only creating a bastard variation of black gold, disapproved of by coffee itself, you're hurting the coffee's feelings.
I agree with Tomas, it defeats the purpose of coffee. I may be insanse, but I use it as a source of warming one's self up in the chilly Toronto winter. Plus, if I lived in Cali, I wouldn't be taking the Sun and heat for granted and ordering a chilled coffee drink.
You still need the caffeine, yo — no matter what the thermometer says. Why do you think the drink coffee by the barrel in temperate climates like Costa Rica and Mexico and Italy? Love is the drug I'm thinking of.
Iced is where it's at. Even while living in the twenty-below winters of Alaska in February, nothing beats an iced latte.
That was hilarious. If iced coffee means posts as good as this, drink up.
I've never been to Starbucks - is an iced latte just a cold liquid coffee or is it like a slushie? Tim Horton's iced cappacino's are really good - coffee-flavored crushed ice with a big straw in it. :D
Here's a description from a Starbucks website:
"Iced Caffè Latte
Espresso and milk poured over ice."
Not very helpful - here's another: "iced latte is espresso and whole milk served on ice"
Last try: Iced Latte Recipe
jogin.com confirms, among other things, that Mr. Storey is a.) "obsessed" with these and b.) a nice guy.
Thomas will also confirm how good they are. I bought him one during this trip to Florida.
They have Tim Hortons in the States? I thought this epidemic was only north of the border. Iced Cap's from Timmy Ho's are delicious, but I prefer those in the balmy months.
Unfortunately we do not have Tim Horton's in the US. That is purely Canadian.
A friend of mine visiting from Marin was telling me of the 'itness' of Peet's. Don't you go to the one in Corona Del Mar? As for me, soy is the way to go. I can't really decide which coffehouse's choice is better, Diedrich's red-packaged (plain) 'Silk' soy or the mermaid's blue-packaged (vanilla) of the same brand. More taste equals more calories.
Peets is great but Corona Del Mar is about 10 miles in the wrong direction Monday through Friday.
As for soy, it is true evil. I was raised on two percent milk as a kid. It's not quite as hearty as whole milk but the viscosity of the fluid is thick enough to drink with pleasure.
On the first day of marriage my true love gave to me an official notice that from that day forward I would drink nothing but skim. Not one percent mind you, but skim. My world crumbled and for months I walked the Earth a broken, milk flavored water drinking man.
It wasn't until I discovered that there was actually something really, really worse than skim (read: soy) that I started appreciating my single malt variety of cow juice.
Iced or hot
Why or why not
Coffee is caffeine
Just remind yourself
I'm a bean fiend
Now, originally we did have a compromise: Greg is supposed to be ordering his latte's with 2% (he said doing without was better than the evils of skim in his latte), but on the few mornings I am with him, he seems to conveniently "forget" that part of the order.
Nutty maybe but evil -? As in, Eve in the garden duped by the snake?
Really, soy is good for you, particularly 'Silk' brand -shaken real well. It actually foams up. Cec might like to try it.
I'm reducing my cholesterol intake.
I agree....I've been a soy advocate for several years now (i have one of those pesky dairy intolerances). When it's cold it's the soy latte, when warm weather prevails the iced americano (2 oz espresso w/ 8 oz water, over ice) is the drink of choice....of course that's when I'm not in the mood for a traditional pot of tea...I have a little more variety than my dearest love, although I am strictly a Peet's girl.
bravo. iced lattes all around! you perfectly characterized the moment the sarcasm leaves your lips and hangs in the air before the receiver gets it. god, i love that moment.
I wasn't aware that Canada had annexed portions of the US...
From the Tim Horton website:
"Tim Hortons has 184 restaurants in...western New York, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Maine."
Personally, I prefer my coffee marginally above room temperature - too much in either direction, and you lose the complexity of flavor. Of course, I also think any beer (except lagers) should be served at cellar temperature, not chilled. (I know there's something wrong with me - the voices in my head tell me that every day...)
Yeah - plenty of Tim Horton's in Northwestern United States. But I'm in Canada and they're all over the place.