Sunday, June 20, 2010

A little bit of... coffee!

No one will be surprised to see a whole post dedicated to coffee. After all, I am the poster child for coffee drinking mamas. I tote around a hot cup ( or two, and sometimes even THREE ) in the morning.

I grew up liking coffee ice cream but found that coffee *smelled* much better than it tasted. My first sip of coffee was a bit of a shock. UGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

( This is the part that surprises everyone. I hated coffee. I hated it with a strange sort of passion. )

My first really GOOD coffee experience was at Dunkin Donuts, in June of 2003. I stopped at a Dunkin Donuts and got a coupon for a free Coffee Coolatta. It was... slightly better than mediocre. It was vaguely like coffe ice cream blended up with grainy ice. It was sickeningly sweet. But it was COLD, which was what my very new to Florida self needed. Soon after, I discovered STARBUCKS! And really, Starbucks Frappichino was MUCH better than a Coolatta. Just Sayin.

But in June of 2004, I recieved a coupon in the paper that was for a FREE Iced Latte at Dunkin Donuts. I drank my first one in about twelve seconds. It was really, REALLY sweet ( much sweeter than I would have liked ) but it was absolutely delicious. I had a newborn son who wasn't sleeping much, the caffienation was great, and it was tasty.... And I was hooked. Especially once the lady at Dunkin Donuts asked me " Do you want sugar? " and I learned that it could be made sans the quarter cup of sugar in the bottom.

I often told people " I don't like hot coffee. " On the few rare occasions that I made hot coffee, I didn't even drink it. I did, however, have TWO Extra Large Iced Mocha Swirl Lattes a day. At $4.90 each, you can imagine the kind of love that was required.

When I moved to Canada, I went back to my Starbucks Frappicino. The " Iced Capp" so lovingly made at Timmies was *just*nasty*. What is in it, I have no idea. I think it is coffee flavoured syrup, not actually coffee. And when it was -30* here, I don't really want an icy cold drink. I started making my own coffee at home, and it was pretty good. I stopped adding sugar and started adding chocolate syrup. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. I went from one cup a day to two cups a day when Mila was crying all the time. Then I went up to half a pot. Or a whole pot, depending on the night.

I've gotten used to Tim Horton's coffee. I've developed a love-hate with Frappicino's from Starbucks ( Oh, how I loathe paying $5 for a coffee! Even if it is reaaaaaaaaaaally good coffee. )

These days, you'll often find me with my coffee cup in hand. As the temperatures climb, I begin wishing for those frozen drinks. I am too cheap now to pay $5 for a coffee too often. And at 400 calories and full of HFCS, I don't really want to drink it. I am on the quest to make the perfect iced coffee drink at home.

My attempt at a Java Chip Frappichino was awful. Gross. BLECH. I'm surprised the kids liked it,because it was THAT bad. I made mocha iced coffee today and it was... still pretty gross, but drinkable. Through a straw. As fast as possible

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