My Starbucks Moment!
Call me a coffee snob I don't care, but tonight I had a very special Starbucks moment. To understand my delight I will have to give you a little background.
First of all I worked at Starbucks when we lived in central Alberta. Now not only was it Starbucks but it was a Starbucks located in a Chapters! This was a very important place for my husband and I who used to spend many dates drinking coffee, wandering book aisles and then chatting about what we found...this was pre-children. This Starbucks has a wonderful atmosphere and something I really miss about the city we used to live in...don't worry we really miss our friends there too! But back to the point I spent 10 months working at this Starbucks and I really enjoyed it, the pay wasn't great but I enjoyed the job, the people we served and I came to really enjoy their coffee. It helps that when you work there you get 1 lb of coffee a week for free, (much more then any human can reasonable consume a week) 40% off of drinks and merchandise, and any drink (or drinks) for free while you are on shift. So began my appreciation for good coffee.
My second background point is with both of my lovely children milk has really bothered their digestive systems when I am nursing them. Making my desire for milk often not worth the pain the gas causes my poor babies, resulting in less sleep for me. So when I am nursing I try to avoid milk products and anyone who frequents Starbucks understands that just about every drink contains milk, yummy, sweet and creamy milk. (Lactaide doesn't work as a substitute and soy...well I am sorry Yuck!) So Starbucks has been on my avoid list for the last 5 months. This leads me to my point, my Starbucks moment.
Tonight while in town my husband and I decided that coffee would be a great way to finish our little Christmas shopping trip, so we headed to our favorite Starbucks in our city (just so you know, not all Starbucks are equal. The drink has to be made properly or else the taste can be off, making the drink bitter or too cold. The proper procedure must be followed to ensure the proper tasting beverage. Believe me I know, I made these drinks for Pete sake, I can tell when something is done wrong...okay so that was the coffee snob coming out again.) So anyway the moment. I decided that it had been too long I would suffer the consequences of my choices but I have been craving Starbucks for quite some time. So we pull up I order my Tall, 1/2 dark chocolate, 1/2 white chocolate mocha. When my husband passes me my cup first I just smell it. What a lovely aroma of dark espresso, creamy milk and sweet chocolate. The first sip was amazing!!! As I took a few more sips I couldn't stop smiling, just the combination of the smell of the cup and the taste of the lovely liquid made me feel so content.
Now I know some of you are nodding your head transported back to a similar moment you might have experienced, and others of you are shaking your heads tisk, tisking me for being so sentimental about a stupid cup of coffee. I know at one time I probably would have been doing the same things, but I have changed. Who cares that much about coffee anyway?!? But tonight it was my moment. A sweet moment taking me back to many memories of times with my husband on a cold winter night enjoying a cup and great conversation, memories of sitting down with friends catching up on our lives, laughing and sharing our hearts, and memories of 5:30am making sure that first pot of coffee was on for those two early morning customers and maybe making a quick drink for me and my fellow early morning barista before we unlocked the doors.
It may not have seem like much to you but that $4 cup of coffee tonight was something so wonderful, something so familiar, like a warm hug from a friend you haven't seen in a long time :) So next time you are stopping by Starbucks have a cup for me and remember there is a hug somewhere in there from me!
First of all I worked at Starbucks when we lived in central Alberta. Now not only was it Starbucks but it was a Starbucks located in a Chapters! This was a very important place for my husband and I who used to spend many dates drinking coffee, wandering book aisles and then chatting about what we found...this was pre-children. This Starbucks has a wonderful atmosphere and something I really miss about the city we used to live in...don't worry we really miss our friends there too! But back to the point I spent 10 months working at this Starbucks and I really enjoyed it, the pay wasn't great but I enjoyed the job, the people we served and I came to really enjoy their coffee. It helps that when you work there you get 1 lb of coffee a week for free, (much more then any human can reasonable consume a week) 40% off of drinks and merchandise, and any drink (or drinks) for free while you are on shift. So began my appreciation for good coffee.
My second background point is with both of my lovely children milk has really bothered their digestive systems when I am nursing them. Making my desire for milk often not worth the pain the gas causes my poor babies, resulting in less sleep for me. So when I am nursing I try to avoid milk products and anyone who frequents Starbucks understands that just about every drink contains milk, yummy, sweet and creamy milk. (Lactaide doesn't work as a substitute and soy...well I am sorry Yuck!) So Starbucks has been on my avoid list for the last 5 months. This leads me to my point, my Starbucks moment.
Tonight while in town my husband and I decided that coffee would be a great way to finish our little Christmas shopping trip, so we headed to our favorite Starbucks in our city (just so you know, not all Starbucks are equal. The drink has to be made properly or else the taste can be off, making the drink bitter or too cold. The proper procedure must be followed to ensure the proper tasting beverage. Believe me I know, I made these drinks for Pete sake, I can tell when something is done wrong...okay so that was the coffee snob coming out again.) So anyway the moment. I decided that it had been too long I would suffer the consequences of my choices but I have been craving Starbucks for quite some time. So we pull up I order my Tall, 1/2 dark chocolate, 1/2 white chocolate mocha. When my husband passes me my cup first I just smell it. What a lovely aroma of dark espresso, creamy milk and sweet chocolate. The first sip was amazing!!! As I took a few more sips I couldn't stop smiling, just the combination of the smell of the cup and the taste of the lovely liquid made me feel so content.
Now I know some of you are nodding your head transported back to a similar moment you might have experienced, and others of you are shaking your heads tisk, tisking me for being so sentimental about a stupid cup of coffee. I know at one time I probably would have been doing the same things, but I have changed. Who cares that much about coffee anyway?!? But tonight it was my moment. A sweet moment taking me back to many memories of times with my husband on a cold winter night enjoying a cup and great conversation, memories of sitting down with friends catching up on our lives, laughing and sharing our hearts, and memories of 5:30am making sure that first pot of coffee was on for those two early morning customers and maybe making a quick drink for me and my fellow early morning barista before we unlocked the doors.
It may not have seem like much to you but that $4 cup of coffee tonight was something so wonderful, something so familiar, like a warm hug from a friend you haven't seen in a long time :) So next time you are stopping by Starbucks have a cup for me and remember there is a hug somewhere in there from me!
Sigh... I felt like I was there with you, Ash... drinking that coffee... enjoying the company... I understand... I understand...
ReplyDeleteI get it, I totally get it!
ReplyDeleteWe got turned on to Starbucks from Angela Harder who also used to work there too. Angela taught us about how much acid is in the bean and how by choosing the right roast our severe tummy aches would become non-existent.
Anyway, so here we are 6yrs later thoroughly enjoying the warm hugs a perfectly crafted Starbuck's beverage with bold/x-bold beans can offer.
(we are non-dairy folks too & yeppers that brand of soy they use is gross. Hopefully someday soon they will offer almond or coconut milk instead.)
I completely understand! I can't quite bring myself to fully indulge as long as Michaela's still the least bit sensitive to dairy. Soy isn't the same, but it will do for now. But some sweet, sweet day, I will enjoy a proper caramel macchiato with WHOLE MILK and no thought whatsoever to any sort of consequence. It will be bliss! :)
ReplyDelete