Last year I was privaledged enough to travele to 10 cities across the U.S.
About half-way through (July), it dawned on me that I was going to all these great little coffee shops and ordering the same drink every time…
12oz. Double Americano with room
…so why not blog about it?
You can look forward to one or two new reviews per month as I visit coffee shops that have yet to be reviewed by yours truly.
If you live in the area you can visit and then post your own review in the comments. If you travel then hopefully you’ll have a spot to check out with a free afternoon if you have one.
josh motlong said:
I’m inspired. Maybe I’ll write about fish tacos in my travels.
Posted on January 12, 2007 at 9:59 am
Jeff said:
I know that Monticello, Arkansas is probably not on your itinerary for ‘07, but we have an amazing little place chock full of ambience, delicious coffees and shakes. It’s called Dad’s Place, and the owner, Jim Whaley, uses his considerable influence there to build inroads for ministry.
He recently started a Dart League on Monday nights that in our small, rural community of 10K already has 30 people participating in.
If you’re in this next of the woods, or want to come, the java’s on me.
Posted on January 12, 2007 at 10:42 am
Aidan L said:
You travelled to 10 cities across the U.S. Not bad at all! :-). I live in England and last year I hardly got out of my own town!
Posted on January 12, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Shawn said:
@Aidan: England is the one place in the world I would love to go to. I’ve heard rumors we might be traveling there in the future. But you guys drink tea not coffee right?
Posted on January 12, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Aidan L said:
For me, it is more of a stereotypical thing now that we drink tea and not coffee. However coffee is very popular over here now. We have many coffee bars, to name a few - Costa and Starbucks, which I believe you have over there? (I once visited and I am sure I remember at least one of them!)
I much prefer tea over coffee though ;-).
Posted on January 12, 2007 at 1:13 pm
BenDShaffer said:
Hola my peeps!
Aidan; I heard that thanks to “designer coffees” (read:Starbucks), coffee is now drank more than tea in England!
Shawn: As I’ve heard the legend goes, during the War (II) when American soldiers were stationed in Italy the couldn’t drink straight up Espresso like the Italians did, so they would put some hot water in it to cut it a bit. Thus born: the “Americano”!!
(by the way; I believe a 12oz. Americano should by default have a double in it, but that my just be my personal opinion!!)
Posted on January 12, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Shawn said:
@Ben: Thanks for the history lesson.
Regarding the amount of shots in a 12 oz. (or Tall) Americano, two should be the default. However I have visited a few (stingy) coffee shops that only put one. So, to make sure I’m always getting the same drink I am willing to take the slack from the barrista who says “Sir, a tall americano already has two shots. Did you want another one?”
Nope. Two is just fine.
Posted on January 12, 2007 at 4:18 pm
BenDShaffer said:
Shawn: that’s awesome. I ::AM:: that barista! Gosh, makes me think twice about making that comment to people.
Posted on January 12, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Shawn said:
@Ben: If you just said “Yes sir. We always put two shots in our tall americanos.” He’d feel smart and in a place of like heart (regarding coffee). If he wanted three he would say “Triple Tall Americano.”
Posted on January 12, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Ronni said:
mocha latte at caribou coffee in Beavercreek OH…. *drool*
Posted on January 12, 2007 at 10:58 pm
Ronalfy said:
I love Starbuck’s Skinny Latte with an extra shot. If that doesn’t wake you up, nothing will.
Posted on January 12, 2007 at 11:42 pm
Ruth said:
Reading all of this, I really feel like i’m a bit unfortunate that I live in a country where there’s no starbucks
Posted on January 13, 2007 at 7:36 am
josh motlong said:
I have 4 words for you if you own your own espresso machine: Longbottom Roastery, Sweet Espresso.
I dare you…
Posted on January 14, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Shawn said:
@Josh: I have 4 words for you if you don’t own your own espresso machine: A lot of money.
Posted on January 14, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Greg Sherwin said:
It’s a sickness — just say “no!”. I speak from experience: 1000+ espressos and 500+ cafés later, you’re going to need therapy.
Posted on January 19, 2007 at 5:28 pm
Shawn said:
@Greg: You’ve been all over the place. So what’s your favorite drink?
Posted on January 19, 2007 at 6:25 pm