Wanted: Starbucks in Shampoo-Banana

So, I took the coffee survey and it said I only drink coffee when I want something sweet. I’d say that’s true about half the time. I enjoy a white mocha or a vanilla latte as much as the next girl, but there are occasions (Saturday mornings especially, when Chris and I go to the Espresso down the street for our weekly State of the Union) when I’ll pass by the sweet and go straight for the caffeine with a simple double latte. I actually enjoy the flavor of the espresso; sometimes I downright crave it. Even in my more frou-frou drinks, I like to be able to taste the coffee, to know it’s there. This is in striking contrast to what I prefer in my alcoholic drinks: not to taste the alcohol at all.

Anyway, as you know, I’ve been working a lot. I’m at the publishing company one day, the hospital the next, etc. Recently, to brighten those days when I don’t have to wake at the crack of dawn but still have to run off to work, Chris and I have been stopping off for coffee in the mornings. There is an Espresso on Neil with a drive thru window that we have been frequenting. I enjoy this coffee shop for its drive thru ease, but as of late, have been disappointed with the quality of their espresso drinks. The coffee they proffer is just too weak for my taste. Wednesday, I got a white mocha, and it was weak, almost watery, but I passed it off as a fluke—a new girl made it, the beans weren’t ground finely enough, whatever. But we stopped by again this morning, and were it not for the creamy brown color of my vanilla latte I would have bet good money I was drinking vanilla flavored milk.

This is so upsetting, and definitely worth three paragraphs I’m giving it, because I am just not used to drinking such pansy coffee from Espesso Royale. There are three other shops in town that I frequent, all of which manage to serve strong, if not at least medium-strength coffee. Sometimes, yes, it’s TOO strong for my taste, and sometimes, yes, they get the proportions off and I end up drinking coffee-flavored sludge,* but that’s definitely preferable over this crappy vanilla milk water I’m drinking today.

*One time I was with D and we stopped by the Espresso by my house for coffee after dinner and I ordered a peanut butter mocha that absolutely tasted like ass. No amount of milk or sugar could assuage it of its assyness. I suppose it’s my fault. I should probably expect it to taste like ass when I ask the barista to put what’s normally a sandwich condiment into my espresso drink.