National Coffee Day
In honor of National Coffee Day this week, I thought I’d finally use this as an excuse to talk about one of my favorite things.
Whenever I get excited about a new drink combination, someone inevitably calls me a millennial. Which, honestly, pisses me off a little. Coffee is for everyone. And if anything, I think it's cool that everyone prefers theirs differently.
My favorite way to have my coffee is in a latte. Lately, my coffee obsession has been latte art. I’ve always been more of an iced coffee person, mostly because making iced drinks at home is easier and less mess-up-able . I like to try new syrups and creamers, but my favorites are the hazelnut chobani creamer, non dairy pumpkin spice creamer by Starbucks, and the Torani French vanilla and strawberry syrup. But there is something about a hot latte that makes the coffee feel like an experience rather than just a drink. With iced coffee, I feel like the individual flavors stand out more. With hot coffee, the warmth becomes part of the flavor itself.
My parents are coffee-twice-a-day people, and I’ve realized that the way they make it is less of the shot and more milk, so it’s really comforting and addicting. They make filter coffee, and I always feel like there are only six sips worth of coffee in the cup, but somehow it always seems to be enough.
And then there’s the café experience. Every fall, cafés start pushing out their seasonal menus, and I always get excited to try them. But I’ve noticed that most of the time a drink sounds much better on the menu than it actually tastes. I recently ordered an iced banana bread latte, but instead of the banana bread flavor it just tasted like brown sugar. Last year, I had an apple crisp latte, and it just tasted like water. I think since baristas are probably getting those fall orders so often that it's hard to make every single one of them a certain way, or maybe cafes just overhype their fall flavors. My favorite fall flavor to get is Pumpkin spice. Despite being basic, I think it's the easiest and least mess-up-able. When it’s done well, you get more than just sweetness; you get those warm notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and other spices that actually make the drink feel like fall.
I think that’s what I like most about coffee. There isn’t really a right way to drink it. Some people like their coffee strong, some like it mostly milk, some want it iced, and some people have to wait all year for their favorite seasonal drink to come back. Personally, I am definitely the last one but I also enjoy trying different flavors and finding combinations that I like, as well as occasionally being disappointed by a cafe latte. But even then, I’ll probably still order the next one.
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