Tag: coffee

Cup of coffee anyone? How about a doughnut?

Coffee cup with a built-in doughnut holder.I saw this coffee mug tonight on a website and thought of a few friends. Wouldn’t it be great to take this to the office kitchen and load up on a cup of coffee and a doughnut? Or, you could slide a couple of cookies in the mouth.

Of course, there are a couple of issues with the whole idea.

First, are there always doughnuts or cookies in the office lounge? It would seem like a great waste of coffee space to carry a mug around that only half of it was dedicated to coffee. I do have a second hand. I always assumed its purpose was to carry around my doughnuts and cookies.

The second problem is that the coffee might heat up the doughnut too much. Then you would have chocolate ooze dripping off your mug as you walked back to your desk. That is, assuming you eat chocolate doughnuts. Personally I like mine glazed (yes, I also prefer vanilla ice cream). Either way, you have a sticky mess falling from your cup onto the floor or on your desk. I would rather have the doughnut drip on my hand so that I can lick up every bit of sugar available.

I am not sure if the second problem is worse than the first or vice versa. They are both serious problems. But carrying a coffee cup that is only half full of coffee seems to be the greater of the two problems to me.

If you are so inclined to purchase one, you can pick up the Face Mug at Amazon for $18.

We now have Starbucks

Like them or hate them, Starbucks is loved by many. We had our first one open in town this last Friday. We knew it was coming and decided to double date with some friends of ours. But, we certainly did not want to go in there on opening night, so we waited till Saturday.

After a very nice meal at our favorite Italian joint, we walked across the mall and through the parking lot to Starbucks. It was definitely busy. We had already decided that if the line was going to make us wait too long, we would hit one of the equally enjoyable coffee places in the mall.Starbucks logo

I have only been in two Starbucks stores that I remember. Both of them were small. Big enough for 3 or 4 of those dinky tables and a stand up bar on one side. This one is one of the larger style stores. There must have been seating for 50+ people. All the seats and tables were filled. The line stretched out to one door, but we were able to stand inside to wait. We decided to take part in the atmosphere.

The average age of our group was 40. We were much older than 90% of the people in there. I remember seeing 1 lady older than us and I will grant that there were probably a few our age. Everyone else was 18 to 24 years old.

I have only had Starbucks coffee 10 times or so, therefore I don’t really know the normal prices. What my wife and I had cost $38 (pesos) each. That is about $3.50. She had a white chocolate mocha and I had a hazelnut something. Both were the small size. (Someone needs to tell Starbucks that small is spelled “S-M-A-L-L” not “T-A-L-L”). The mediums were $4.00 (approx.) and the large we did not remember the price. Anyone know if this is about the same price as in the US?

It is fun to go there on occasion, but I won’t be in there too often. There is no need to spend that kind of money on coffee that I could brew at home. Lest you think I don’t like good coffee, I do. I just know where I can buy good coffee and cook it at home for far less than Starbucks wants to sell it to me for.

They will do well here. We will enjoy going there a few times a year. We hear they have plans to open at least 4 more in town.