"The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat ... So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino."
--Joe Fox (Tom Hanks), "You've Got Mail (1998)
This quote came to mind recently as I have delved--albeit, tepidly--into the world of specialty coffees. Not at home, where we start the day with "regular" coffee. But most every day about mid-morning, as that is wearing off, I have found myself staring at the endless menu boards at various local beaneries. I know what kind of drink I like (from another movie that stars Meg Ryan: "I know it like you know a good melon"); but equating a taste with something printed on a board? It might as well be in Chinese.
So my new best friend, a barista down the street from the office, has been patient and coached me in what to say. This feels like a breakthrough. I almost feel like I've re-learned how to speak.
Here's what I like: Mocha Frappalatte. ("Mocha Frap" for short.) A real peppy drink.
Who, exactly, came up with all these coffee variations? Mocha. Espresso. Latte. Cappuccino. Skinny latte. Likely, he or she is sitting happily on a beach in the Bahamas with a brimming Swiss bank account, sipping, of course, one jolt of java after another.
4 comments:
Good coffee really is special. when mom gets a fresh-brewed cup on weekends, she just sits there, holds the cup with two hands and sniffs it. For a bit, she's at one with the cup. It's pretty cool. Sort of like when Ernie the cat catches a mouse.
A good cup of coffee is almost a religious experience. Also, we get Bisquick to make it every night before bed and he does a great job.
Now they name colors of sweaters in frou-frou catalogs *after* kinds of coffee. That is the true sign of the end of the world.
Maybe Ernie's mice are latte-flavored. I love coffee but hated to spend the Starbucks, etc. prices for it even when I had money. Now I have a poor person's confession; Some 7/11's (my generic name for all quick markets) have machines that make not-bad cappucinos. I think it's $1.39 for a medium cup. I've become an expert. I squirt a bit into a cup but don't fill it up if the liquid looks more like water than coffee. Tell Brad Barnes the next popular sweater color could be 7/11.
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