We have become Starbucks coffee drinkers in the raising mommy household. And it is a good thing, too, because lately I've been needing it.
We resisted for a long time. We were quite proud of our anti-starbucks dunkin donuts drinking caffeinated selves. Then Greg read an article rating the quality of different brands of coffe beans. Dunkin Donuts was at the bottom. Starbucks was at the top. A better bean makes a better coffee... so when our last pound of Dunkin Donuts coffee was gone, I made a stop at Starbucks. I had to make a special trip, because they don't have a Starbucks in our grocery store. However, once I started looking for them I was amazed at how many there were around. Also, I discovered, there is a Starbucks in Target. Seems odd, that it would be a high end coffee shop in Target, which I would classify as a middle end retail facility. A step above wal-mart, but not quite on par with Kohl's (you can't buy Clinique at Target), and not even in the same league as Macy's. But anyway. When I first walked into Starbucks I was a little unsure of the protocol... at DD I walked up and asked for my medium light and sweet with cinammon and, after receiving my hot cup of joe, walked over to the fixins station (on top of the trash can) to stir and test and, if necessary, add more sugar. (Sweet, I said, sweet.) Starbucks has a lot more variety, but I decided to try the mild brew first. So I ordered my... um, tall?(Greg absolutely refuses to conform and always asks for a medium, and I thought about that as I ordered but not being rebellious by nature I wimped out)... Brazil Ipanema Bourbon (say that three times fast)...with cream and sugar. Oops, it turns out the fixings are over there- still above the trash- paid, and stepped aside to wait. And wait. And wait. I felt like such a poser! Did all the people who were confidently sauntering in ordering their... whatever mumbo jumbo favorite... and getting promptly served sense my traitorous d and d drinking soul? After a few minutes I got fed up with waiting... so I asked tentatively "Umm, excuse me, was that flavor brewing? " The girl looks at me with surprise and says "Oh, I'm sorry, was that not made clear to you?" No, apparently, it was not made clear to me. A minute later my cup in hand I turn to the fixins and pour in the half and half and... uh oh. Overflowing cup. And it isn't light enough yet, and not at all sweet. What to do? My momentary inability to come to a decision about how to solve this problem is brought to an end when a see a tall skinny blond delicately pouring some of her overfill into the trash. I look for the sugar packets and discover instead a sugar jar. I like that. First, I get to fix it myself; and second, I don't have to open 6 sugar packets. But... before snapping the lid on I sip... and you know what? It isn't half bad.
Since then I've been to Starbucks several time, trying different blends, buying 1/2 lbs of different varieties of coffee beans. I'm not sure if I need a particular nationality... Latin American? African? Asian? I didn't know, until a few weeks ago, that coffee could have a nationality. And so far I've rejected the mild blends and moved into the medium. I tried bold, once, when they didn't have medium, and that was pleasantly drinkable too... with enough sugar. My favorites right now are Sedona and Verona. And you know? Unlike D and D, when Starbucks coffee cools off... it still tastes good.
I'm a convert.
But I still pour my Starbucks coffee into my dunkin donuts travel mug.
Tina I was at the grocery store the other day and guess what I saw? Starbucks coffee. Ground, only 2 flavors, and in the most random location ever, but still. There it was.
