Thursday, January 25, 2007

Cinnamon Dolce Latte, Why do you Taunt Me?

I am not a coffee drinker. Even in college, I didn't use coffee to wake up in the morning or to stay awake at night. I never developed the taste for black coffee, and my dad is a coffee purist. No cream, no sugar. And he makes it strong. As the Starbucks phenomenon grew, and a friend of mine worked there, I would get the occasional Frappuccino® . I know that's not real coffee, but I love milkshakes, and a Frappuccino® is like a milkshake, but with more artificial flavors. This magical drink helped me to realize that, while I don't like black coffee, coffee as a flavoring with something sweet can be pretty good. So began a flirtation with desserts such as tiramisu and rich molten chocolate mocha cakes.

Fast forward to last January. I was working as a "Mac Genius" (real title) for the company formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc. A co-worker had me try the Cinnamon Dolce Latte from the Barnes and Noble Cafe (serving Starbucks brand coffee). Ahh. Transcendence. I don't know what it is, but I love it. And now it's back. Let me tell you, I don't need the calories or the fat. But it doesn't work in low or non-fat versions, and it doesn't work with the sugar-free syrup. I can't wait till it's gone. But I will miss it. It's kind of like liquid crack * (which is what we called it at the Apple Store). Go pick one up. You'll be glad you did. And you'll hate me for suggesting it. Oh, and don't get the Cinnamon Dolce Frappuccino®. The cold icy thing doesn't go with the Cinnamon Dolce thing.

In other related news, my body can't handle the caffeine of a 'bucks venti C.D. Latte with nothing else in my stomach, so I'm kind of jittery and can't focus right now. I love Thursday mornings.

* I realize that this statement minimizes the terror of the drug problems in our country, but I wanted something strongly worded, and I also like disclaiming things every so often.

6 comments:

jess said...

i like my coffee like i like my men. strong and black. thats actually not true but i thought it was funny.

also my new obsession is drinking tea with cream and sugar. sort of old school british style. maybe not quite as many calories as an orange mocha frappucino but certainly fattening.

Bryan said...

I have never tried tea with cream and sugar. I'll put it on the list for the weekend, when I'm spending all day in my fluffy robe watching netflix movies and the first 5 hours of 24.

Unknown said...

a friend of a fried of mine had an angel investor in his startup company. The guy had retired from being Starbucks' VP of research and development. He was the guy who invented the frappacino.

Unknown said...

Oh, and I think it tea with cream and sugar requires a dark tea, a british breakfast, an earl gray. It's quite good.

jsa said...

I would go with an English Breakfast tea, but not Earl Grey, which is infused with bergamot, and thus tastes a little funny with milk or cream. Stick to a nice Ceylon, Darjeeling, or Assam. The Borgeouis Pig in Chicago has a nice tea selection, btw.

TonyT said...

--Shameless self promotion--

Please reference the following for tea with cream and sugar:

http://chivasconpistolas.blogspot.com/2006/05/memories.html


One of my favorites, BTW.