When you consider this blog's name comes from a coffeehouse, you can assume I retain a smidge of coffee snobbery.
Generally, I share a disdain for chain coffee like Starbucks. But, as you can see from yesterday's post, I will venture into a store to try such delectable items that involve pumpkin. I get why Starbucks are popular. Even I found myself being mildly seduced by the mellow music playing over the sound system, the sleek furniture, the pleasant, readable font on their menu boards; and the feeling that I was in someplace you might find in a larger city rather than rural suburbia.
And to be more contradictory, I hold a special place in my heart for all things Tim Horton's. I love them even more now that our local chain carries the steeped tea. There's nothing better than being able to get a medium take-away cup of strong, black tea with real milk on a gray day.
Still though, I do like the familiarity of going into local coffeehouses and being greeted by name. I'm enough of a caffeine addict that there are three places in town I can go to and have this happen. One of my favorite moments was going into Ryder's Cup and Elise, the owner, knowing the drink I wanted and how I wanted it (chai made with soy milk and a shot of espresso) before I said much more than "Hello!" A more recent bit of happiness was going to Timothy's Cafe downtown and Tony giving me one look before saying, "You want a small chai." He was right. Of course, I think that Jeff at Labyrinth must be stalking my blog because while I'm in the middle of a pumpkin-craze, he's offering a pumpkin spice soy latte made with real pumpkin today.
Of course, I'll always whole-heartedly endorse people supporting their local caffeine-purveyors. It's really hard to duplicate the experience of patronizing a local coffeehouse and the product they offer when it comes to chains.
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5 comments:
That's why we love Boulder, Equal Grounds, Pat's Coffee Mug, Women's Coffee Connection, etc. And 'cause we can walk to ALL of them. I think that's pretty cool.
What is this walking thing you speak of and how can I try it?
Actually, we're only 2 miles from downtown so I have walked to Labyrinth when I was doing book club and the weather was nice. I think I'd walk there more often if not for the fact that Matt doesn't want me on the streets by myself after 9pm.
I'd be willing to bet your neighborhood is safer than ours after 9 p.m. But I love being able to just walk the 2 blocks up the street on a late Saturday afternoon for a cuppa something. Sometime when you're visiting we should do a coffee crawl of all our neighborhood joints. That'd be fun!
Do they have Tim Horton's up where you are? I've seen them all over Canada but didn't know they were also in the States.
Btw imho there's nothing wrong with having higher expectations and demanding a quality product. If that's snobbery, then my nose is way up in the air. I think, though, that snobs are the ones who base their judgment only on other factors, such as popularity and price. For me there's nothing better than finding a top quality product in a divey hole in the wall.
mis 2 centavos.
P.S. You should try pumpkin pancakes. Pumpkin and gingerbread pancakes are the bomb; I get them for brunch whenever I go home.
http://www.kerbeylanecafe.com/p-38-kerbey-lane-cafe-1lb-bag-pumpkin-pancake-mix.aspx
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