There's something magical about a coffee shop

Have you ever notice how coffee shops have a different atmosphere from any other kind of store or restaurant? And somehow, that atmosphere is magic. It's not too formal and not too casual. It's not too quiet and not too loud. It is somehow a place where diverse people are comfortable. In a good coffee shop, the daintiest woman can get straight espresso and the burliest man can get a toffee latte and no one does a double-take. The savviest coffee shops sell all the beans and gear you need to make everything they make at home but produce a special enough atmosphere that you don't want to. At school I walk the line between teacher and student, which is much finer than I thought as an undergrad. At the school coffee shop I have a great banter with the baristas even though most could be my students. At home I am Mommy and can hardly get anything done (in fact I can't even get dressed or use the bathroom without my son walking in on me). At the Starbucks on my way home, I can have someone else make my food for me and I can sit comfortably, with internet access and get done in 30 minutes without interruption what would take me hours at home with interruptions. I posted as my facebook status about a week ago that a mother with an iPhone could conquer the world, but I was wrong. She has to be at her favorite coffee shop on their wifi to do it!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone (in a coffee shop of course)

Where in the World is Indiana Valdez???

Where has Indiana Valdez been?  It has been just over 3 months since a post?  I wish I could say that I've been off adventuring in some rain-forest, exploring new coffees, with no internet access to update, but have tons of coffee adventures to report.  That would be so much more exciting and interesting than the truth.  Life is just so hectic. Between being the mother of a toddler, the wife of someone who works in construction, a graduate student who teaches undergraduate courses, and the child of someone with cancer, life gets so busy.  I was saying to several friends that I wish I could get a clone to do all my work for a week while I live at a day-spa.  Then I could go be Indiana Valdez for more than a few minutes at a time, and really come back refreshed.  Also, the town I live in doesn't have the widest variety of coffee shops that I know of, and I'm sure it gets boring reading about all the different k-cups I've tried (though there are some wonderful new flavors out, like Pumpkin Spice, for the Holiday Season).  So I'm going to try to be better about posting at least once a week so you don't wonder where Indiana Valdez went, but I'm also going to broaden my range and talk about other coffee related things, like books, mugs, etc.

So Many Flavors, So Few Mugs!! (Part 2)

This summer has been so chaotic and stressful that I feel the need to catch up on my blogging to recuperate!  As I mentioned in the last post, I ordered several sample-packs that have only 5 k-cups in the box, most all of one flavor, some a variety.  So I have been trying k-cups like they're going out of style!!  So in this second part of my blog post I'm going to review several other types of k-cups that I have tried.

Van Houtte Madagascar Vanilla Nut
Like many other flavored k-cups that I have reviewed, this coffee was delicious, however, it was not easily identifiable by taste.  I really think that if you handed me a cup of it and asked me to identify the flavors in it I would have a really hard time guessing correctly.  That doesn't make it any less delicious, but it does make me wonder why I can't identify it.  Is it because of the type of vanilla (instead of the vanilla extract tasting, sugar cookie vanilla)?  Is it because it is two flavors blended?  Is it because so many confections have a combination like this that it reminds me of dessert in general instead of specific flavors (almost like not being able to identify all the fruits in a fruit blend because it reminds you of fruit punch)?  Another possibility (since I don't know what kind of "Nut" is in it) is that I only pick up the vanilla or it because, as I recently discovered, French Vanilla is vanilla blended with hazelnut, so the vanilla-nut combination may have me just thinking vanilla.

Green Mountain Southern Pecan
This is one of my new favorites.  The flavor is amazing.  It isn't too sweet (i.e. not candied Pecan or praline) and it is not bitter in any way.  The flavor is warm, rich, and nutty.  It is well balanced and very enjoyable to drink.  It does not taste like pecan pie.  Instead, it is more earthy.  I highly recommend this flavor.

Timothy's Caramel Vanilla Nut
This was another delicious flavor.  The flavors are complex.  If you really concentrate on the flavors, you get the caramel, the vanilla, and the nutty flavors.  However, if you are not thinking about trying to figure out the components of the flavor, it just tastes like an amazing dessert followed by a sip of coffee.

Van Houtte's Creme Brulee
I have to admit that one of my guilty pleasures is to have a well-made creme brulee with a cappuccino.  Although the flavors in a creme brulee are common to other confections, somehow taking sips of this k-cup reminded me of having a creme brulee with a cappuccino.  It was amazingly delicious, probably more for the memory that it evoked.

Van Houtte's Macadamia Nut
My first impression of this was from the smell.  I immediately thought that this smelled amazing, in fact it almost smelled chocolatey.  When I drank it, it had a delicious, nutty taste.

Timothy's Cinnamon Pastry
This was a medium roast coffee, which contributes (I think) to why I perceived the cinnamon taste to be so strong.  It reminded me of spicy cinnamon things, like big red gum!  I love sweet cinnamon, like Cinnabon, but I personally am not the biggest fan of hot cinnamon candies.  This tastes a little to hot/spicy cinnamon to me.  For a sweeter cinnamon flavor, try the Donut House Collection Cinnamon Roll.

For now, I think 6 k-cup varieties is a long enough post and I have several more varieties to blog about.  If you have any varieties that you think I should blog about, let me know!

So Many Flavors, So Few Mugs!! (Part 1)

I have tried many new flavors of k-cups, especially since I ordered a variety box from the Green Mountain website and ordering several sample packs (boxes of only 5 k-cups) from the Keurig website. At this point, I have so many flavors to blog about that I'm hoping to cover as many of them as possible in one post. As discussed in some earlier posts, some flavored coffees have subtle flavors. Even though I want all my coffee to taste like coffee, I want to really taste the flavor in my flavored coffees. So I find flavored coffees with more subtle flavors less satisfying than flavored coffees with more potent flavors. Also, many flavored coffees taste great even though you would probably not be able to identify the exact flavor if someone handed you a cup without telling you what it was.

Green Mountain's Caramel Vanilla Cream: I loved this one. It had a good flavor, though I wouldn't have minded the flavor being a little stronger. The flavors in it were mostly identifiable, though with it being a combination flavor, you might only guess one of the two flavors. This one works great as a mocha by mixing it with hot cocoa.

Gloria Jean's Butter Toffee on the 8 oz setting and Gloria Jean's Hazelnut on the 8 oz setting: The combination was ok, but not great. The flavors did not seem to gel. At some point I might try a different ratio, but I think that these two flavors may not be compatible with each other.

Green Mountain's Golden French Toast: This flavor is amazing. The first few times I tried it, I was of the opinion that it was delicious but would not have guessed that the flavor was French Toast unless I knew. On a more recent tasting, I noticed more strongly the maple hints in it, which for me solidified the French toast-ness of it because my mom adds maple syrup to her French toast batter.

Green Mountain's Island Coconut: This is surprisingly good. It tastes amazing, but instead of tasting like I am drinking coffee while having a bite of coconut flavored confection still in my mouth, this tastes like someone put a shot (or so) of some coconut flavored liqueur (or even coconut rum) in my coffee. It has a slight after-burn in my throat and there is something about the flavor that reminds me more of an alcohol based flavor. I tried this in a mocha, doing my usual cocoa on the 8 oz setting (this time dark chocolate) mixed with this coffee on the 6 oz setting and it was absolutely fabulous. The coconut/chocolate combination reminded me a lot of Mounds (or Almond Joy) candy bars.

Van Houtte's Spicy Mayan Chocolate: This is one of my new favorites. The flavor on this coffee is simply fabulous. The chocolate taste is a good clear chocolate flavor and the hints of spice are not overpowering, they make the flavor taste more rich. It does not taste like having a sip of coffee and bite of plain milk chocolate bar at the same time. It is a more complex combination of flavors that work well together.

Green Mountain's Perfect Peach Coffee: This was, in many ways, like the Island Coconut coffee. Did they taste the same? No. They were similar, first in the sense that they both were surprising to me. I hadn't expected to like either one. They were also similar in the way that they tasted like they were flavored by a liqueur. This did not taste like biting into a fresh peach and then taking a sip of coffee. Instead it tasted like someone poured some Peach Schnapps into my coffee (not me of course, hence the surprise)!!

NOTE: The Golden French Toast, Perfect Peach, and Island Coconut were all Limited Edition flavors put out by Green Mountain. Apparently, they come out with one specialty blend of regular coffee and one specialty flavor every month. These are available, according to Green Mountain, for a limited time.

I have many other flavors I would like to blog about, but this is already one of my longest posts and it is quite late, so this will need to be continued in part 2!!

What's Fair Trade, and why do I want it in my coffee?

Several years ago, someone introduced my father to Fair Trade coffee.  Unfortunately, it was not a brand that he liked the taste of, so he always assumed that "Fair Trade" would somehow negatively affect the taste of the coffee.  So when I started getting Fair Trade certified k-cups, I started to wonder how many people really know what Fair Trade means.  Have you ever thought about how your coffee gets to you?  Before anyone ground the beans, or roasted them, someone had to grow those beans.  So often that bag of coffee that cost you 7 or 8 dollars was purchased for pennies and the people who did the hardest labor don't make a livable wage.  This problem is what Fair Trade tries to avoid.  By paying the growers a fair price, the growers make a livable wage. While this might end up making your cup a little bit more expensive, isn't it worth it?  Knowing that the people who worked so hard to grow your coffee haven't been taken advantage of and have been dealt with fairly is peace of mind that is worth a few extra pennies a cup!!  That being said, it is important to know that just because something is not stamped Fair Trade Certified, does not automatically mean that it is "unfair" trade.  The certification standards are stringent and include environmental issues as well, therefore some companies may fall short of the certification requirements, but still be paying a fair price.  So the next time you see a Fair Trade Certified coffee, you can feel good that this cup helped hard working people earn a fair wage, and that makes it taste better to me!!

Long Time, No Blog

To all my regular readers, I'm sorry for the long break between blog posts.  I was swamped with getting grades finalized at the end of a very hectic semester.  The downside is that I could not justify taking a break to blog, even though it would have been refreshing!  The one good thing about this is that all that grading required lots and lots of caffeine!!  So now I haven't blogged in a while, have a lot to blog about, and not a lot of other responsibilities!!  So you can look forward to several new blog posts very, very soon!!!  What kinds of blog posts, you might ask?  Well, I've recently ordered over a dozen sampler packs from the Keurig website (only $3 for a box of 5 k-cups, so it's a cheap way to try new flavors with very little waste if you don't like them), not that I've tried all of them yet, but I do have a lot of different k-cups to blog about and some other coffee experiences and insights to share!

to flavor or not to flavor

Around the table one night at my parents' house, my brother-in-law (my sister's husband) asked me what the draw was to flavored coffee.  One of the comments he made indicated that he wasn't sure if the coffee would taste like coffee.  He said that, even when you add cream and sugar, it still tastes like coffee, but was it the same way with flavored coffees?  I had never really thought about this issue, so I don't know how I would have answered him before, except to say that you taste the coffee and the flavor.  However, I recently tried a flavored coffee that I did not expect to like at all, but loved and that experience helped me respond to him.  I recently tried a Green Mountain Coffees flavor called Wild Mountain Blueberry.  Now, before you react, I know that it sounds weird and in all honesty the only reason I tried it was that it came in a mixed flavored coffees box from Green Mountain that included flavors that I was pretty confident I would like (like the Caramel Vanilla Cream).  I expected to not like it, but in the spirit of my code name (Indiana Valdez) I was adventurous and tried it.  It was the most delicious thing I have ever tasted.  The sweet blueberry flavor reminded me of blueberry muffins or blueberry bread.  It actually tasted like I took a sip of coffee while I still had a bite of the most delicious blueberry muffin in my mouth.  If you like blueberry muffins and you have coffee with your breakfast. then you have probably done this before, I know I have.  Because it seemed like such a strange flavor to want to put in your coffee that I had to compare it to something that I considered a "normal" coffee experience, I ended up having the perfect answer as to why I like flavored coffees.  I asked my brother-in-law if he ever eats food while drinking his coffee and he indicated that he does.  I asked him if he sometimes takes a drink of his coffee while there is still food in his mouth, and he said yes to that as well.  I told him that this experience is what flavored coffees are like.  Your coffee still tastes like coffee, but the coffee flavor mixes with a complementary flavor.  So what is my answer to the question, to flavor or not to flavor?  Well, if you ever drink regular coffee while eating food and like how the flavor of the food mixes with the flavor of the coffee, then you might want to try flavored coffees if you never have before.  Here's a sneak peak of some flavors I've tried recently that I'll be reviewing soon, both by Green Mountain: Golden French Toast, and Island Coconut.  Stay tuned!!

No K-cup? No problem!!

This blog post is about how the Cuisinart brand k-cup pot has features that allow you to make a fabulous drink, even if Keurig (or some other authorized k-cup maker) does not make a k-cup in that variety.  I hinted at these features in my very first blog post, which compared the Tassimo t-disc and the Keurig k-cup side-by-side.  At that time, however, I had never used these features before, so I didn't know exactly how they would work.  The two features I am talking about are the "my k-cup" and the "hot water" button (a unique feature of the Cuisinart pot I recently found out).

My K-Cup
The my k-cup is a plastic housing into which you place a "permanent" metal mesh filter.  You simply open the lid, as if you were going to place in a regular k-cup, and remove the lower portion of the mechanism (the thing the k-cup sits in) and put the my k-cup in its place.  You can then fill that metal mesh filter with any kind of ground coffee you have on hand and can brew it on any setting that your pot offers.  I thought this was going to take a lot of experimenting, but I discovered right away the perfect setting for my favorite kind of coffee.  For the longest time, I was always a drinker of Dunkin' Donuts coffee.  Even after moving to Lubbock Texas, where there is no Dunkin' Donuts within hundreds of miles (I'm used to having 2 or 3 within walking distance at all times), we still ordered Dunkin' Donuts coffee online and had it shipped!!  We used a scoop that was (I think) 2 tablespoons for every two cups of coffee that the pot brewed (one cup according to the coffee pot, not our mugs).  The Cuisinart pot came with a small conical coffee scoop and I was able to fit 2 packed scoops into the my k-cup and so I started out with that on the 8 cup setting and it tasted perfect.  Assuming that you used roughly 1 tablespoon of coffee per cup that the pot brewed, you should have the same level of satisfaction with your chosen coffee, even if you like different coffee.  If it is not strong enough, you could use less water, but you won't be able to get any more coffee to fit in there!!

Hot Water
The Cuisinart pot has a hot water button and it is tied to the cup size, just like the brew button is.  To get 192 degree hot water to use for anything you can think of, you simply need to choose a cup size and push the Hot Water button.  While this is a feature of the Cuisinart pot, this can be accomplished on a Keurig with the brew button, leaving out the k-cup.  I have used this to make instant Cream of Wheat before, with great results.  The Cream of Wheat instructions say 2/3 cup hot water, which is about 5.3 ounces.  There is a 6 ounce setting, so I rounded off to allow just a little extra watter to dissolve all the sugar I like on my Cream of Wheat.  It came out perfect, without me having to wait for the water to boil and then measure it, etc.  I just took a heat-proof plastic bowl, poured in the packet, added sugar, pushed 2 buttons and it was done in a few moments!  One major caveat for this: ALWAYS rinse after brewing a k-cup before using this feature!!!

Mix 'N Match a Mocha!!

Using various combinations of coffee k-cups with hot cocoa k-cups, I have made some drinks akin to mochas that I have found very delicious.  As mentioned before, I use cream (actually half-and-half) and sugar in a standard cup of coffee.  When making these "mochas," I add no sugar but I do add either a splash of milk or a splash of half-and-half.  I find these drinks ideal for filling my travel mug, because I'm end up making about a 14 ounce drink.  Below are a few variants and what they were like.  All of these used either the Green Mountain hot cocoa or the Cafe Escapes milk chocolate hot cocoa.  I have recently tried the Cafe Escapes dark chocolate hot cocoa and find it to be delicious and rich without any of the bitterness that dark chocolate bars sometimes have.  I have not yet tried the Cafe Escapes white chocolate hot cocoa.  I plan to try these "mochas" again, first with the dark chocolate hot cocoa (and maybe with the white chocolate hot cocoa if I try it and like it).

Toffee Mocha
I made this using the Green Mountain hot cocoa on the 8 ounce setting, with the Gloria Jean's butter toffee coffee on the 6 ounce setting.  As I mentioned above, I added a small splash of milk but no sugar.  It was amazingly delicious.  Using the 6 ounce setting makes the coffee taste and the toffee flavor stronger and more concentrated.  This really balances it out against the cocoa.  I had tried this once before with some sugar in it and it was too sweet for me and then again with no sugar and it was perfect, so this type of mocha was the guinea pig, so to speak, because this was the one where I learned not to put any sugar in when making a mocha because the sweetness of the hot chocolate makes up for the lack of sugar.

Double Chocolate Mocha
I had commented before that the Coffee House chocolate glazed donut coffee was delicious but was definitely in the category of "would love a stronger chocolate flavor."  Since I was wanting this coffee to be more chocolatey, I decided to try this in a mocha.  I combined the Cafe Escapes milk chocolate hot chocolate on the 8 ounce setting with the chocolate glazed donut coffee on the 6 ounce setting (for the same reason as above).  Again, I used no sugar, and this time had a splash half-and-half rather than milk.  The taste was fabulous!!  It was definitely extremely chocolatey.  I think it might have even been more chocolatey than just plain hot chocolate!!

Caramel (Vanilla) Mocha
I have recently gotten a flavored k-cup by Green Mountain that is Caramel Vanilla Cream.  I love caramel and chocolate together, so I tried this as a mocha.  Again, it was made with Cafe Escapes milk chocolate hot cocoa on the 8 ounce setting with the coffee on the 6 ounce setting.  The vanilla is not a prominent flavor, but the caramel/chocolate combo is just perfect!

Take-home message?  If you've found a flavored coffee that you like and you like mochas, brew that coffee on the 6 ounce setting and add it to 8 ounces of cocoa (which can be done with a hot cocoa k-cup on the 8 ounce setting).  Look forward to some more posts about other flavors and mochas made with dark chocolate (and maybe white chocolate) hot cocoa.

No coffee? No workee!!

This saying was on a paperweight (Picture below) that my husband bought for me recently. It is so true for me. Whenever I need to get some work done, I always want to do that work at a cafe/coffee shop. Today, I am working at the Day Break on 82nd and Quaker. They are in a moderately sized strip-mall type shopping center, so they have adequate to ample parking (depending on how busy they and nearby shops are). They have a good layout that allows for lots of table which range in size. There is a section that looks like it could function as a stage of sorts. You have to step up onto it and it accommodates about a half dozen tables and has 3 sets of electrical outlets, one of which already has a power strip plugged in. They play quiet music that sets a good atmosphere and there is some art on the wall. The atmosphere that they set is ideal for both working and conversation. They feature a flavored, light roast, dark roast, and decaf coffee each day. Any of the drinks made with coffee rather than espresso can be made with any of these. Today, I'm enjoying a cafe au lait made with snickeroo coffee. It has a really great flavor that makes me (typically a sugar and cream user) not need any sweetener at all, without being too sweet.
I found out while here that they are now owned by the same people that own J&B, so very soon, the punch cards will be good at both locations!! For now, the main thing I noticed was that I was able to get a Deborah Kaye's Organics amazing oatmeal cookie.

Dirty is as dirty does!

I realize that I had said previously that my next planned adventure was to try the Wild Mountain Blueberry flavored coffee by Green Mountain, and that blog post will be coming soon, but like any adventurer, sometimes unexpected adventures come to you and you just have to go with them! I had the most amazing (aaaaah-mazing) dirty chai at The Arrogant Texan last Friday and since that Friday was the start of the Easter weekend, I haven’t blogged since.

Today I ate my brunch (I hadn’t had breakfast yet, so it was a very early lunch that also happened to be the first food I had) at the café in the Barnes and Noble bookstore on campus. I decided to try their dirty chai. I was immediately struck by how different it was. Somehow that shot of espresso made the differences in the spice profile much more pronounced. I will definitely have to go back to The Arrogant Texan to try their chai without the espresso to verify this, but it seems as though, even though the chai at Barnes and Noble is not as spicy as the chai at The Arrogant Texan, the dirty chai at The Arrogant Texan is MUCH smoother than at Barnes and Noble. Normally when I get the chai at Barnes and Noble, it has a very sweet flavor, with almost a marshmallow-ish aftertaste (which I love). To highlight the comparison, (assuming I got exactly what was ordered both times), I got a medium dirty chai at The Arrogant Texan and a venti dirty chai at Barnes and Noble and yet the Barnes and Noble one was much stronger. This is important because both were ordered to have just a single shot of espresso in them, thus the Barnes and Noble dirty chai had the same amount of espresso “diluted” in more chai and yet it burned in my throat like I was drinking moonshine! If you’ve ever seen in a TV show or movie where someone who is supposed to be inexperienced at drinking alcohol takes a straight shot of some hard liquor and then makes this ghastly face and says sarcastically (and in a hoarse voice) “smooth!” Well, that was me today, not that it wasn't delicious!

The bottom line for me? If you cannot handle straight espresso, you might not be ready for the dirty chai at Barnes and Noble (and therefore probably Starbucks either), but if you are feeling adventurous, it is worth the burn because it had an amazing flavor. Similar to the dirty chai at The Arrogant Texan, there was not a discordant coffee/tea taste, but the espresso made the natural spices of the chai punch more. It is definitely worth a try, but don’t say I didn’t warn you about how strong it is!! I think I might try to get it with just a half-shot next time!

Arrogant and Dirty!

Today I went to The Arrogant Texan for a break between two appointments. I got my favorite table, right by the window where I can enjoy the sunshine. One of the guys working there had just read the blog this morning and we were chatting about it. I got the Coffee Almond Fudge Swirl ice cream, which was fabulous!!!!!! (I would put more exclamation points, but that gets annoying) I decided to try their Spicy Chai Latte and I was given the option to get it "dirty." I had recently heard of this so I knew what it meant, but he explained it because I hesitated. I wasn't sure if I wanted a shot of espresso in my chai, but I decided to go for it. All I can say, is wow!! The first thing I did after I sat down with my drink and ice cream, was to take off the lid and smell the chai. It had a completely unique spice profile, like I've never smelled before. I could see spices floating on the foam and I just knew that this wasn't the same-old-same-old chai. It smelled absolutely amazing (actually more like aaaaah-mazing)! I wasn't sure if I would like it with the shot of espresso. I thought it would end up kind of like using coffee instead of hot water to brew your tea (which my dad actually did one time when he was tired, but we didn't drink it!!!). Instead it just punched up the taste, similar to how bakers put coffee in chocolate desserts to make the chocolate taste more chocolatey (with no real coffee flavor carry-over). Between the amazing spice profile and espresso shot, the flavor was (to use a Guy Fieri term) "off the hook"!! It was like being instantly transported to some exotic location where the air itself is heavy and spiced. One little piece of Arrogant Texan whimsy that I mentioned previously was the expressions on the sleeves that go on the cups, which I discovered today are pre-printed at the beginning of the day (my favorite is "don't drop it like it's hawt"). By chance, I got the sleeve that says "Legendary!" and the sleeve was right, that dirty chai was legendary!!!.

Barista appreciation

In response to a previous post where I discussed the importance of being nice to your barista, a follower of the blog (who is one of my friends from high school) sent me the photo below. She took this with her camera-phone at a coffee shop she frequents called Cafe on the Common, which is located in Waltham, Massachusetts. The title of her e-mail was "How I appreciate my baristas" and I think that if all my coffee looked like this, I would definitely be feeling barista-appreciation (should we call that "baristappreciation"??)!!



If you have a great barista and you want to share your story, please feel free to comment on a post or contact me by e-mail if you want to include a picture!

Code Name: Indiana Valdez

I posted a link to my blog on the fan page for The Arrogant Texan. Part of what I love about The Arrogant Texan is their whimsy. Whoever maintains the fan page reposted the link with the following comment: "We assume it's like Juan Valdez meets Indiana Jones." This got me thinking about the idea of adventuring. I do sometimes feel a bit like Indiana Jones, exploring new territory. Then I stopped to think, have you ever wondered why "Indy" went on all those dangerous adventures in spite of having a stable professorship? It was something he was passionate about. Starting this blog taught me about what a creative outlet really is. I have gotten more work done each day since starting the blog than I would get done in a typical day before I started the blog. Other than the 10-15 minutes spent crafting a blog post, embarking on this adventure only resulted in one change to my usual schedule: I have been more adventurous, trying coffees I might never have before. So why did adding 10-15 extra minutes to my list of to-do make me feel more refreshed than just vegging in front of the TV or reading a leisure book? I think that's where a creative outlet is different from a leisure activity where your brain checks out. You still invest time and thought, but you get a better return on your investment, feeling renewed afterwards and accomplishing more than if you hadn't set aside that time. Like Indiana Jones, I have a whole academic, professional life separate from this blog, but this brief escape into adventure lets me return to that life with some of the excitement as a carry-over. My next adventure to blog about? Wild Mountain Blueberry flavored coffee!!

Barnes and Noble Cafe

I did not end up working at Starbucks today, but I'm sure you're tired of reading about k-cups for a little bit (I'm expecting a package from Green Mountain, so you're sure to hear more about the new varieties I ordered and the ordering process very soon)!! With that in mind, I decided to blog about one of my other favorite cafes. As a general rule, I love the cafes in Barnes and Noble bookstores. They have always been invigorating and relaxing for me. I cannot place exactly what it is about the atmosphere, but there is something intangible that no other cafe really has. It is my favorite indulgence to buy a book or magazine and relax in the cafe with a beverage and dessert. The Barnes and Noble cafes "proudly brew Starbucks coffee" and yet offer some unique items not available at Starbucks locations, such as the Toffee-nut latte (one of my favorites).

When I lived in the Boston area, I loved going to the huge Barnes and Noble in Kenmore Square that served as the official bookstore for Boston University (where I was going to graduate school). Now that I live in Lubbock, Texas and am working on a PhD at Texas Tech University, I can often be found at the Texas Tech Barnes and Noble bookstore cafe (usually surrounded by a mountain of work, a netbook, and a venti drink!!!).

The cafe in the Tech bookstore is more spacious than most B&N cafes. Many tables are located near power outlets and ethernet ports, though the campus wifi is also available (affiliation with University required). The food is delicious and they have a fairly wide variety, from muffins and bagels to salads, fruits, sandwiches, and desserts (plus more). Also, the lunches are amazing. For under $8 you can get a bowl of soup (You have to try their amazing Italian Wedding Soup or their fabulous Chicken Dumpling Soup, though I do have several other favorites), a grilled sourdough pretzel (I love the Asiago), and a venti latte!! This is a complete steal! If you paid full price for the latte, this makes the soup and pretzel under $2 each! It is a hidden gem in the student union because most people do not know about their combo lunches and that it is only an extra dollar to have a venti latte (some of which cost close to or over $4 a la carte) compared to a venti iced tea of coke. The atmosphere is not overly crowded and the staff are amazing!!

I've discovered that it is wise to be nice to your baristas!! Too often people are rude to them and I find that when I smile and ask how they are doing, the most common reaction is a mix of shock and gratitude that someone cared. Most of the people working there know me and help me out, like seeing me back in the line and double checking that I'm getting my usual so they can get it started or bringing my lunch to me at my table (the manager of the cafe has even taken special requests from me about what soup will be served on certain days)!!!

My take-home message about the Barnes and Noble cafe at Texas Tech is that the food is delicious and reasonably priced and the people are excellent at customer service, though their reactions to my friendliness show how under-appreciated they are! If you are at Tech, stop by the Barnes and Noble, but no matter how rushed you are please have a smile for my favorite baristas!!!

Even more k-cups!!

Eventually, the novelty of my new coffee pot will wear off and I'll blog more about other things! Tomorrow I will be working at a coffee shop (probably Starbucks) and will very likely blog about that!! For now, though, the variety of k-cups are the freshest thing on my mind and I can't help trying 1-3 new kinds each day, though I am running out of new things that I haven't tried while I wait for a shipment to arrive!! I have 3 new varieties (and some new blends) that I have tried since the last post.

Gloria Jean Hazelnut flavored coffee. This was quite delicious. I tried it on the 8 ounce setting and it was perfect. I later tried it on the 6 ounce setting mixed with the Van Houtte French Vanilla discussed previously also on the 6 ounce setting. This combination was yummy, a little bolder, but not as strongly flavorful as I would have liked. If you tasted it, you would not immediately know that it was hazelnut and vanilla.

Caribou Coffees Caribou Blend. I found this one to be quite delicious. Not too bold, not too weak. It did not taste at all watered down on the 8 ounce setting. It had a good flavor. I think this was a good everyday coffee.

Donut People Donut Shop Coffee. This was weaker than some of the other varieties that I've tried, but did not taste watered down on the 8 ounce setting. It was, like the Caribou Blend, a good everyday coffee. Unlike the Caribou Blend, which had some distinct flavors, I found this coffee to be generic.

I also tried brewing the hot cocoa (discussed previously) on the 6 ounce setting and then adding to it the butter toffee (also discussed previously) on the 6 ounce setting (though there was not enough room in the cup for all 6 ounces of the coffee). I added a touch of sugar, but I don't think I really needed it. It was AMAZING. It tasted like a caramel or toffee mocha. It had a phenomenal chocolate and buttery toffee taste. I loved it. I plan to try it with a bigger cup to get more of the butter toffee coffee in the cup, rather than wasting some!

Emeril's Big Easy Bold, Big Easy Intense

Today I am drinking a coffee made (or more correctly marketed by and giving royalties to) Emeril. It is called Big Easy Bold Big Easy Intense. I have never had Louisiana style coffee or chicory coffee before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Also, the words Bold and Intense generally make me expect bitter coffee that I'm going to choke on. Because this came in a sample pack, there was no description of it to determine if it is supposed to taste or be anything like Louisiana style coffee, so I really didn't know what to expect. The first thing I noticed was the aroma. It was very pleasant and aromatic (I chose not to say strong because it didn't smell like the coffee was too strong, the smell of the flavors in the coffee were strong) and there seemed to be flavor notes that I didn't recognize. The flavor drinking it is AMAZING. It is surprisingly smooth to drink. It reminds me of the Mocha Arabica that I used to have in this amazing Moroccan restaurant in the Harvard Square area of Boston. Strong flavors, but smooth to drink, with a decided after-taste (not in a bad way). It is smooth and flavorful in your mouth, but leaves a little shock of boldness behind! Yum!!

More k-cup flavors

Because the Keurig is new to me, I will devote several blog posts to all the new flavors that I try for the first time!! I had already posted on the Coffee House Chocolate Glazed Donut, which I had said fell in the category of wishing the flavor was stronger. This morning I tried another flavored coffee in this same collection. It is the Coffee House Cinnamon Roll flavor. This was surprisingly strong in the cinnamon-bun like flavor. It surprised me immediately. I absolutely love this one, it is probably my new favorite!!

The other new k-cup that I tried today was the Tully's Extra Bold Kona Blend which is labeled extra bold, but is a medium roast (on the scale of light roast to dark roast). As you may have noticed from earlier posts, I use cream and sugar in my coffee as a regular practice, unless I am having a cappuccino or latte. I used the same amount of sugar that I would normally use for an 8 ounce cup, but may have accidentally used slightly more cream. I brewed it into a cup that normally holds about a cup and a half (I got it on sale at Starbucks and it is one of my favorites). The cup has a leaf design inside the cup and I usually pour my coffee to the bottom of the leaf and my cream to the top of the leaf. Because the 8 ounce portion does not come all the way up to the bottom of the leaf, I have to guess by the color if I have put in enough cream. So, because this coffee is darker than the lighter roasts I typically drink, I may have put in more cream. I loved this coffee as well. Even though it was "extra bold" and medium roast, and therefore stronger than my usual coffee, it was not in any way bitter. It had a great flavor that I could tell was stronger, but tasted amazing. I haven't had that many strong coffees that I like so this was also a pleasant surprise.

As you might have noticed, I make sure to name the brand of the items I'm posting about. I do this primarily so that there is no confusion. Lots of companies probably make a "breakfast blend" or "French roast" k-cup and I may love one and hate another and I want to make sure it is clear which one I'm talking about. Also, all the k-cups I've talked about so far are affiliated with Green Mountain Coffee. In the very near future, look forward to a blog post about my experience ordering directly from the Green Mountain Coffee website.

Arrogant Texan

I have to give high praise to The Arrogant Texan located in Lubbock, TX directly across University Avenue from the Texas Tech campus. They provide an atmosphere better than most coffee shops. They manage to combine a coffee shop, an ice cream shop, and a vintage candy store all in one. The tables are small with the types of chairs you see in old ice cream shops with the twisted metal backs. They provide free wifi with purchase (they do this by printing the network password on the receipt) and there is no limit to how long you can be online or how many devices. They almost always offer the option of having your drink brewed "piping hot or ready to drink." Their piping hot option is about the standard latte/cappuccino temperature, and their ready to drink option is a little cooler so it doesn't burn your tongue. They will let you try every single flavor of ice cream, in fact they even have a fun banter about trying to encourage this. Often times, they will write fun expressions on the recycled sleeves they put around the coffee cups. I have had their cappuccino with various flavorings in it and I have had their Arrogant Texan hot chocolate (which is spiced with cinnamon and other flavorings like Mexican hot cocoa). I haven't tried a single thing I didn't like!!

Flavored coffee k-cups

I have tried the following flavored coffee in k-cups: Van Houtte French Vanilla, Coffee House Collection Chocolate Glazed Donut, and Gloria Jean Butter Toffee. I liked all of them. I brewed them all using the 8 ounce setting. On all of them, I wished that the flavor was a little stronger and more prominent because they were all a little on the subtle side. I also made a blended coffee drink with one of them. I brewed a Green Mountain Hot Cocoa on the 6 ounce setting and then added to it the Van Houtte French Vanilla also on the 6 ounce setting. I used half the amount of cream and sugar compared to what I would use in an 8 ounce cup of coffee. It was really delicious!

K-Cup "Perfect" Iced Tea

Celestial Seasoning makes k-cups that are designed to make iced tea by brewing directly over ice. They are fairly concentrated and so you put lots of ice in the cup and it brews 4 ounces of hot tea which melts some of the ice to dilute it. I've tried the sweet raspberry and the sweet lemon, both of which are flavored and sweetened with sugar. I like both of them, but I especially like to mix them together. They also make a sweet peach and an unsweetened (unflavored) black tea. I have not tried these two flavors but plan to soon. I wish they would make the flavored ones either unsweetened or artificially sweetened too.

Keurig k-cups vs. Tassimo t-discs

Before getting my Cuisinart brand pot that makes Keurig k-cups (even though I said this in the previous post, thanks Mom and Erika!!!!!), I already had a Tassimo pot. I love my Tassimo pot, it is very cool. This blog post is a side-by-side comparison of the two, with honest pros and cons from my perspective. In the end, I like the Keurig better because of a few advantages. One caveat that I have to acknowledge at this point is that I have a Cuisinart brand pot, not a pot made by Keurig. It may have features that a pot made by Keurig does not have (or that not all pots made by Keurig have). I have tried, whenever it is a special feature of the pot, to mention this, but may not do it all throughout this blog post. Another caveat that I need to add is that I have had my Tassimo for at least a year, maybe longer, and I know that there is a newer model out, but I don't know if it has any different features so you may find a newer Tassimo pot that may not have the same pros and cons that I experience with mine.

The Tassimo pot is very high-tech, and as a result, fairly idiot proof. You put the t-disc in and the laser reads the bar code and that tells the machine (1) how much water, (2) what temperature, and (3) is there a steep-time where the water needs to stay in the disc and if so, how long. You cannot alter/change/customize this process, but you also don't have to experiment with how much water to use and don't have to go through menu settings to choose the brew temperature. Like I said, you just pop in a t-disc, put a cup on the stand, and push the one button and poof you get a cup of whatever you chose to make. The Keurig, in contrast, lets you customize it more, which can be good and bad because it takes some experimentation (which wastes k-cups) to figure out what you like best. If you don't like a k-cup flavor because it is too strong, you can make it weaker by choosing a larger cup size. My Cuisinart pot has 5 different cup size settings, all of which may be used with any k-cup; these are 4 ounces brewed over ice (you put the ice directly into the cup you are brewing into, this setting is used for brewing iced tea), 6 ounces, 8 ounces, 10 ounces, and 12 ounces.

The Tassimo is a little more difficult to clean because of the way the t-disc sets in, there are more surface areas that get dirty in the process. To rinse it, you use the special clear plastic rinse disc with bar code. I've found that this never gets everything left behind by the previous disc. You end up having to remove the two inner pieces (the one that punctures the t-disc/runs the water through and the cradle that the t-disc sits on) to wash them manually. This may not be true of all Keurig pots (ones that are actually made by the Keurig company), but the Cuisinart brand pot that I have has a single button that says rinse. Because of the way it is made, the only part that really gets any of the coffee (or whatever else you made) on it is the spout that the water comes out of. This rinse cycle uses only about 4-6 ounces of water, so there is not much waste, and the pot is completely clean and ready for the next brew cycle with no carry-over flavor from the previous k-cup brewed.

The Tassimo pot, as alluded to before, is very straight-forward in its functioning because it does not have lots of options. This is great for some people who don't want to be bogged down by lots of choices. If you had asked me the perfect temperature to brew yummy coffee, I would NOT have known. The Cuisinart k-cup pot comes with a default brew temperature, but you can change it. For me personally, I like the ability to customize. But if you like for someone else who is an "expert" to tell you to just push a single button and it will be perfect, then you might like the Tassimo pot better. The Keurig offers a lot more in the way of customization. On my pot, through the menu options you can choose your default cup size, brew temperature, if you want the pot to automatically turn off after a certain amount of time, if you want it to turn on at a certain time of day (so it is fully warmed up and ready to use before you wake up so there is no wait time). It also, as mentioned before, has 5 different cup sizes (i.e. how much water will be run through your k-cup), all of which can presumably be used on any k-cup. Obviously the raspberry sweet tea is meant to be iced, but since the 4 ounce over ice still brews hot, I would guess that there's no reason you couldn't use the other settings and then pour it over ice. The other features, one of the pot and one of Keurig in general, that allow for additional customization/flexibility, are the hot water button and the "my k-cup." The hot water button on the Cuisinart pot allows you to get plain hot water out of the pot to make any drink that just requires adding hot water. I haven't tried this feature yet, so I don't know how you choose the amount of hot water, but I'm sure I'll blog on that later. The "my k-cup" is a small metal mesh filter in a plastic housing. This allows you to put any kind of coffee grounds into the filter and use it in lieu of the pre-packaged k-cups. This allows the Keurig to do everything the Tassimo does, plus what your "regular" coffee pot does, plus what an electric ketle (for heating water) does.

The Tassimo pot has four types of t-discs: cofee, tea, hot chocolate and milk based (i.e. latte or cappucino). One plus to these discs is that the hot chocolate and milk discs use a liquid concentrate rather than a powder. The cappucino and latte discs are actually a two disc set, one is espresso and one is milk. The Keurig k-cups have the additional category of iced teas. In this area the two are somewhat equal because, even though there is the one additional category of k-cups, by splitting the milk drinks and selling milk separately, you can combine t-discs in unique ways to make drinks like macchiatos.

The Tassimo pot has a drip pan, which is used for more than just the occasional accidental drip after brewing. The Tassimo pot dumpes water into it from a side port as part of the brewing process. This creates a problem with trying to use a larger cup because you have to remove the drip pan and put a towel down to keep it from spilling. The Keurig pot does not waste water in this way because any water in the line that is not hot enough will be recycled by being pumped back into the reservoir.  In addition, the Keurig has a taller place for the mug to go, therefore accommodating even standard (approx. 14 ounce) travel mugs (but not super tall tumblers).

In the end, while the Tassimo and the Keurig both have pros and cons, I like the Keurig a little better for the following reasons. The Keurig provides more flexibility and customizability. The Keurig is easier to clean. Also, something not previously discussed in this post, it brews much more quitely. Lastly, the Keurig pot accomodates a taller cup/mug.

Keurig Coffee Pot

I just got a Cuisinart brand coffee pot that uses the Keurig K-cups. It was a random surprise gift from my parents and my sister helped with orchestrating the surprise (my mother and my sister both have the same coffee pot). I bought a flavor of coffee today and offered to give my sister a few k-cups and she said that she wished that the three of us could be more coordinated about which flavors we get. She has a whole box that she doesn't want because she didn't love it. This is what sparked the idea for this blog, Adventures in Coffee. In this blog I'm going to blog about coffee/cafe experiences. Certainly not everyone has the same tastes, but it helps to know others' experiences (like customer reviews).