Tag Archives: coffee

Acknowledging Addiction

Posted on by

This morning I stopped at Starbucks on my way to work, as I do every morning without fail.  I gave my order to the cashier and she repeated it to the barista (a nice word for coffee schlepper) who looked at me, looked around helplessly and said, “But where’s his cup?”

You see, I normally bring my own cup, which is rather identifiable, but had forgotten it on my desk the day before.  Also, clearly I have been spending way way too much money at Starbucks if this kind of thing happens.  So, on one hand I am doing my best to save the environment, but on the other hand I am clearly powerless when it comes to deliciously wonderful coffee, and this habit is sucking $5.37 out of my pocket every day, not to mention the caffeine I’m consuming.

Funny how things change.  Remember when I was off caffeine altogether?  Remember when we discussed the merits of coffee: Timmies vs Good Coffee anywhere else?  (Special bonus is this comment from Ali, which I had forgotten about and which still makes me laugh)

My name is Courtney, and I like coffee.

Coffee Counter-Intuitive

Posted on by

It’s true that I have been on and off the caffeine train in the last little while, but caffeine or not, I still enjoy coffee quite a bit.

Starbucks is my latest vice, and I love it dearly.  Yes, it’s stupid to pay over 2 bucks for a cup of coffee, but it’s just so darn good.  I’ve become a snob about it all it seems, since even a Tim Horton’s double double is a second rate cup now, barely worth crossing the street for.  I sincerely mean that, since there’s a Tim’s equally as close as the Starbucks at work, and I never go there.  The coffee is one thing, but I have come to appreciate the fact that you get to dress your own coffee to your taste at Starbucks.  Yes, I know you can dress your own at Tim Horton’s too, but at Starbucks you get real cream out of a thermos so it’s fresh, unlike the petro-creamers you get at Tim’s if you want to adjust it yourself. I’m here for a coffee break from work, not in the middle of a 12-hour road trip on the 401, snarfing down Cheetos, coffee and coke…

Secondly, the arbitrary amounts of cream and sugar you get at Tim’s have been enough to bother the crap out of me at times.  When you order a large coffee and get it “double double” you would expect it to taste the same all of the time.  When you order a small coffee and order it “double double” I mean that I want it to taste the same as the large, I don’t want to have to decide just how much smaller that cup is than the large, and then adjust my order accordingly.  I just want less coffee that tastes the same.  Which has long been my argument; “double double” is a flavour, not a recipe.  Much like “chocolate” or “vanilla” is a flavour “double double” is the way I like my coffee to taste, no matter the size of the vessel it is served in.

Despite my Tim Horton’s issues, Starbucks is not without it’s flaws.  I already mentioned the cost, but another problem I have is the puzzling decision to not brew decaf coffee in the afternoon.  Why?  Caffeine is certainly needed in the morning, if you are drinking coffee you would want it then for sure.  But once you are wired for sound and your eyelashes are quivering with each stray air current, you really don’t need any more caffeine, or at least I don’t.

So there you go, a coffee-flavoured rant about absolutely nothing important.  More’s the pity if you read even this far….  If you did, does anyone agree with me?  Any Tim Horton’s ordering strategies to share?