Coffee & Tea

Daily Dose of Coffee – Bloggersfuel

4 Comments / Coffee & Tea /

I’ve fallen behind with the Bloggersfuel reviews, sorry.  I’ve fallen behind on all sorts of things, it isn’t the coffee.  The coffee has been good.  Some better than others but none have been bad.  Let’s do a quick review.   Blogs of Bravery, not so good.  New Media Mavericks, excellent!  (though the description is not quite right)

We tried Late Night Log in and I thought it was just ok, TW liked it a lot and said she could almost give up Coke for this coffee.  Weird, it wasn’t that good.  I wouldn’t even give up Coke for it and I’m not a Coke fan. 

Now we’re drinking Pajama Passion which I’ve been really excited to try because of some of the other reviews.  It seemed like this weekend would be a good weekend for it, since we’re hoping to be in our pajamas (or nude) for as much of the weekend as is humanly possible…. so far so good with that, by the way.

So first thing you need to know is that neither TW or I like flavored coffees very much.  TW less so than me, it seems.  She’s having a strongly negative reaction to this coffee.  In fact she made fun of me for sniffing the bag – which is sooo wrong because she and RJ sniff food constantly, drives me totally batty.  You’d think she could have been slightly understanding and a little accommodating when I felt the need to sniff.  But she didn’t.  She’s complained a lot about the scent.  It’s strong and I like it.

I think the problem is her nose isn’t working properly this weekend.  She says it smells (and tastes) like Irish Creme – I don’t think so.  I think it smells like coffee and caramel, duh. 

It also tastes like coffee & caramel.  It mentions Kahlua on the label and I’m not a Kahlua fan so I’m happy it doesn’t really taste like Kahlua.  I bet Kahlua drinkers would like this coffee with a shot of Kahlua, though.  (Wow, I’ve never typed the word Kahlua so many times in my life.  It was sort of fun.  Almost makes me wish I liked Kahlua.  Have you typed Kahlua, try it, the letter combination – I like it.  Kahlua.  Oh sorry, I know, I’m weird.)

I’m looking forward to two more pots of this very nice flavored coffee.  I wonder if I will get to drink it all myself or if the big kids will join me.  I don’t really want to share….


 

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Daily Dose of Coffee – Presents

4 Comments / Coffee & Tea, Holidays, Love or Sex /

Yesterday was "Beaning Day" aka our anniversary (for those of you who prefer things "normal").  The reason it is known as "Beaning Day" is TW presented me with a gold coffee bean charm to honor the occasion of official coupledom.  (We aren’t into that gay marriage thing, in case you didn’t know that) 

The gold coffee bean was presented to me four years ago and every year on Beaning Day I am given some gift or another, generally a coffee bean related gift.  I believe last year I was given a mobile made out of a couple of sticks, some fishing line and real coffee beans (spray painted I think, though in the dark office it is hard to tell and I’m not good at remembering those sorts of things.  TW is the marshmallowy romantic around here).  E calls it the flying coffee bean because in the dark office, you can’t see the string so it looks like the beans are just hanging in the air.

Yesterday, TW gave me a candy bar.  Hershey’s Caramel Cappucino Very amusing since I’m not really a fan of chocolate.  (FYI it wasn’t all that great.  The first bite, I liked.  After that, not so much.  I saved a piece for her and she didn’t like it at all.)  The candy bar was nice and made me laugh but that wasn’t the only gift.  She’d been griping about "fonts" for awhile for my "Beaning Day" present so I figured it was another webpage or a poem or a card or something. 

So 7:30am arrives and we’re heading to Starbucks on the way to take her to work.  She gets out of the car and I see she has her backpack slung over her shoulder.  I said ummm why are you carrying your backpack into Starbucks.  She blushed and giggled and I refused to go INTO Starbucks because obviously she was about to make some sort of huge production about Beaning Day IN STARBUCKS.  She put her backpack back in the car but pulled a piece of paper out of the bag.  I still refused to go in.  She swore it wouldn’t be "bad".  I grudgingly followed.  Griping all the way.  Griping while ordering.  I see her talking to the barista and I griped some more.

I’m standing at the side counter, in my normal spot.  Griping.  Waiting for whatever it is. Griping.  When I notice the cup in front of the barista looks funny.  Ha!  Cup #524!  Ha! Very very amusing!  TW created The Way I See It #524, put it on a label and had the barista put the label on the cup.  Cup #524 is very marshmallowy and very very amusing.  I’m soooo lucky.  How many women have a Starbucks cup created just for them? 

It was a nice Beaning Day.

And since  I’m here talking about coffee, I think I’ll toss in a mini review of the Bloggers Fuel coffee we tried last weekend, Blogs of Bravery .  It wasn’t nearly as good as the New Media Mavericks but Nurse Pam (who I generally think has excellent taste) seemed to like it.  It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t great and I wouldn’t order it again.  This weekend, Bloggers Beach Blast!   

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Daily Dose of Coffee – New Media Mavericks

Coffee & Tea /

I want to know who is writing the descriptions of Boca Java’s "Bloggers Fuel" coffees.  I’ve read a lot of blog reviews over the last week and they all have two things in common – they think the coffee is good and they think the description is inaccurate.  To be specific, everyone seems to take issue with the adjective "robust". 

I wish I could be the first blogger to break away from that, but I can’t.  The first Bloggers Fuel we tried was "New Media Mavericks".  Boca Java describes it this way:

‘Unfiltered Truth’ Lead the information reformation with this medium roast from the prized Tarrazu region of Costa Rica with excellent body and robust richness.

Ummm no.  It’s actually a pretty good coffee.  But it’s not robust.  It’s smooth.  It’s got a nice, but not overwhelming, flavor.  I’d happily make it again and again and again.  Particularly in the spring and the summer, when I prefer a lighter blend coffee.  I wonder what it is like over ice.  I don’t do iced coffee so I’ll never tell you, but I’d like to suggest the idea to another blog reviewer.  I bet it’s a good iced coffee.  Not robust, but that’s ok.  Coffee does not have to be robust in order to be terrific.

The next Bloggers Fuel going into the grinder is "Blogs of Bravery"…. .  What a great name, I can hardly wait for morning!


 

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Daily Dose of Coffee and Water

2 Comments / Coffee & Tea, Foodie /

Last weekend was synchro weekend in south Florida. We took advantage of it and made a trip to the Whole Foodsin Coral Springs. Sort of boring, particularly in comparison to the newly opened Wild Oats in Tampa. Boring was good, it means we spent less money! Though I was annoyed with myself for not buying something that I knew RJ would be fascinated by. I ended up ordering it for her yesterday and had to pay shipping on it. Next time I’m tempted to impulse buy, I should follow my impulse. (I say this a lot because I almost never impulse buy, odd for someone who leads such an extravagant life. That’s me, a long line of contradictions.)

What I did buy while at Whole Foods was a selection of bottled waters and bottled teas. Some for me, some for Prince J, some just because. I’ve tried two so far – one surprisingly bad and the other surprisingly good. O2GO is the surprisingly bad one. It has absolutely no nutritional value, though it has a touch of orange flavor. The only bennie is the oxygen and last time I checked, I had plenty of that. The surprisingly good water was W2O – Water for Women. I bought the Tropical Samba flavor and expected not to like it. I liked it, a lot. Ended up drinking the entire bottle yesterday evening. I’m surprised it doesn’t have more calcium added, since it is bottled for women, but it makes up for that by having a ton of folic acid and all of the B vitamins a vegetarian could want and never get.

bloggerfuel.jpgNow about the coffee… TW received a package of Bloggers Fuel yesterday from Mr Bruce and the folks at Boca Java. This is nice enough but I’m just a little annoyed. I’m the one who signed up to test the coffees and blog the coffees, not TW. I’m the one who got the note from Mr Bruce saying he would ship my coffee soon. Yet TW is the one who received the blogger fuel kit with the coffee cup that makes me consider tossing my old faithful smiely mug aside. I’m sure Mr Bruce just got confused because TW has ordered stuff from him, because she and I share an address and because they seem to have some shipping issues in general. (TW’s box arrived in less than stellar condition but at least it did arrive.) Oh well, any coffee in this house is thoroughly tested by me and usually only by me. It’s the coffee that counts, not the shipping label, right?

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Daily Dose of Coffee – Blogs

2 Comments / Coffee & Tea /

I am a sucker for two things (well more than two, but we’re focusing on THESE two right now)… coffee and a well blogged review.  Darn if Sarah Gilbert didn’t lure me into buying the Ethiopia Sidamo from Stumptown Coffee Roasters.  And darn if Sarah isn’t out of her ever – food – blogging mind.  This coffee doesn’t taste like strawberries and it isn’t "Neopolitan ice cream" either.  Or maybe it would be if I added milk, but I don’t – I drink my coffee black.

On the other hand, it is a nice coffee.  A wee bit fruity, sure.  It’s light that way, not deep and dark and heavy.  It’s a wee bit like the Starbucks Gazebo in it’s lightness.  This is definitely a spring/summer coffee and I think anyone who likes iced coffee (I do not) would enjoy this over ice – as a lot of people do the Gazebo (click Michelle, are you out there???).

I found it amusing that my bag of from Stumptown arrived not only quickly but with my name written in pencil on the bottom of the bag.  Cute. Small biz feel.

Thanks Sarah and Stumptown, even if I didn’t find it strawberry-like – I enjoyed it.

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Daily Dose of Coffee – Coke

3 Comments / Coffee & Tea, Foodie /

I love coffee (duh) and I like Coke well enough (I actually prefer Pepsi) and I’ve been very interested in the idea of Coke Blak.  Interested enough that I was annoyed when TW told me she saw it on Friday during an unaccompanied shopping trip with the kids and she DID NOT BUY IT.  HMPH

I just went out and bought it myself yesterday morning at Publix.  I tossed the four pack (which is pretty expensive) into the fridge and instructed Michelle not to touch it.  It has aspartame in it so TW wasn’t going to try it but I convinced her that one little sip wasn’t going to send her into a seizure – she sipped, she didn’t seize but she also didn’t seem to really like it much.  Which is just as well since it has aspartame, ya know?

I tried it and it immediately reminded me of a candy TW had purchased for me awhile back.  I can’t actually remember what the candy was called but I can "see it".  Small individually wrapped pieces of a candy that is not hard nor soft – sort of like a firm chew.  Like the ginger chews we have in the car.  But this tasted like coffee and chocolate. The Coke Blak tasted very much like that to me.  Or like a really strong coffee ice cream coke float.

I liked it well enough and I’d probably grab one from a vending machine or a Pilot Truck Stop rather than a plain ole boring coke.  But I don’t like it well enough to replace my daily pot and a half of coffee with it or my daily Starbucks with it.

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Daily Dose of Inspiration – Starbucks

4 Comments / Coffee & Tea, Community Chest, Day to Day, Foodie, Health and Wellness /

Remember when I was griping about Starbucks and their "The Way I See It" cups #52 and #60?  We only get those cups every once in awhile so now I’m here to gripe about one of the new cups.  Actually I’m not going to gripe about it, I had been planning to do so but now I can’t.  (I don’t think I can even make fun of the cup or wonder aloud about the person who can make the statement on cup #74 with a straight face.)

I can’t gripe about it because I think I almost understand it and I think maybe I am a believer in the wisdom of cup #74…

In a time when even our soil and air might not know the truth, the only solace we can take in decision-making about our inner peace is through honest, organic and sustainable farming.

That makes you want to laugh, doesn’t it?  I mean really, who talks that way?  The soil and air might not know the truth?  Ummm I’m all for pagan earth worthip and treehugging but isn’t that a little much?  NO of course not!  Because I get it!  We picked up our weekly supply of fruit and veggies  from a local organic farm group today and it was cool! and fun! and interesting!  and we know the truth!  Even if the air and soil don’t!

Honest! Organic! Sustainable Farming!  Yes!  I’m a believer!

I don’t know the name of the person who picks my peas.  It’s ok though because I don’t have grandchildren yet – I do, however, know Don’s name and phone number and I’m sure my children feel better because of it.

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Daily Dose of Starbucks – Blackberry

9 Comments / Coffee & Tea /

I’ve been looking forward to today for quite some time because today was the official launch of the Starbucks Blackberry Frappuccino.  YUK!  No I haven’t tried it, the YUK! comes from the tasting of the Green Tea Frappe last summer.  I cannot imagine the Blackberry is going to improve on that so YUK!

You’re probably wondering why I’ve been looking forward to this launch since I’ve said YUK! three times already.  I’ve been looking forward to it because of the Blackberry syrup.  I have wanted to try the Blackberry syrup in all of the iced tea/lemonade drinks because I think THAT would not be YUK!  And I was right!

Mikey made me a tall Green Tea Lemonade with Blackberry syrup and it was good.  Tomorrow I will ask a barrista to make me a tall Passoinfruit Lemonade with Blackberry syrup and I bet it will be good, too.  I think TW is going to try the Green Tea Blackberry Frappe so I’ll get to taste it and tell you it’s YUK! from experience.  Check back tomorrow for that riveting review.

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