caffeine!

after waking up late today and enjoying a cup of peppermint tea, i did my usual email/gizmodo checking. i had baked some pecan shortbread cookies last night and J had asked me if i was going to bake some more today. as i was hunting for a simple yellow cupcake recipe, i came across a blog article about starbucks and "ghetto lattes." now what is a ghetto latte you ask? the ghetto latte comes in various styles and has various names such as "the poor man's latte" or "bootleg latte." it even has it's own wikipedia page! here'a s quick quote from the page:

"Ghetto latte or bootleg latte refers to a latte where the customer has used the free milk and other condiments to convert a cheaper drink into an approximate copy of a more expensive one."

one starbucks barista discussed the fact that by ordering this ghetto latte, customers are cheating starbucks out of money by ordering cheaper drinks and using all the free items at the condiment bar. here's the full article. the customers are probably just trying to be frugal and i'm sure they're going in there everyday spending money because they're caffeine whores. it's not like they're grabbing the milk canister and running for the door and i don't see any signs saying "2 tablspoons per cup" either. not that i'm a ghetto latte connoisseur or anything. and honestly, if the baristas think that the drink the customers make using the condiment bar is the same as the drinks they're making, i do not want to them to be pulling my shots.



this brings me to another thought. several months ago, i had a most wonderful cappuccino made from Blue Bottle Co. coffee at Tuco's Wine Market and Cafe, and now i've found myself craving cappuccinos. i tried one at starbucks, but it was nothing close to the deep flavors and aromas i was in search of, not to mention the giant bubbles and tepid milk they gave me as steamed milk and foam. as Tuco's is more of a restaurant than cafe and they don't open til 11:30am so i had to find other places to satiate my addiction. Mishka's served Illy and it was fine but i wanted something fresher and not from an "air-free pressurized environment." Finally, i went to Pete's Coffe & Tea. i hadn't ventured to that side of town (it's in the opposite direction of anywhere i need to go) in a few months, but decided to early one morning after dropping a friend off at the airport. and hooray cappuccino! a friendly barista, lovely velvety mircofoam and that perfect combination of espresso and sugar. i stepped out into the crisp morning air and returned to the cave that is my apartment to finish my design projects, but with a most statisfying cappuccino in hand.