Friday, November 21, 2008

Latte-Spying

So remember waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back when, I had a post where I explained how my food sensitivities turned me into a coffee-snob, and how I went from ordering the mocha to the soy-sugar-free-mocha, no whip (oh yeah, and please make sure that's plain soy, not vanilla flavoured)?
Well, this lovely blog post cracked me up because I'm not always like this, but once in a while, I do hover to make sure that my drink is being prepared the way I asked. I know it can get annoying for the barristas, but at the same time, I figure it's only fair: the obvious reason is my long list of food-ingredient no-no's, but there are some less obvious reasons too. I used to get lattes all the time, and I don't anymore, so I really want to make sure they're exactly how I asked for them. It's like dessert now, and at most coffee shops, you're paying at least $4 for that drink, so....... Anyway, take a look at the post. Can you see yourself in this woman? Are you a - gasp - latte spy too?

6 comments:

Jen said...

I have turned into a coffee snob, if you will, and it happened to me much the same way. Except that I was breastfeeding an allergic child, instead of being the actual allergic individual myself. I couldn't drink any milk and back then (only 5 years ago...) Starbucks was the only place that would ensure me a soy, completely clean-the-equipment-it's-so-dairy-free, tasty beverage. The soy chai latte at that time.

Now said child is completely weaned and I order (from Starbucks because now I'm hooked) a grande no-water no-foam non-fat chai latte. It's gotten much more complicated. But I never hover. Like a good girl I just take what I get and don't complain. But my health is not at risk if it's wrong...

noha said...

When I first switched to Soy lattes, I was always paranoid that it was still "real" milk in there, and I would have a friend taste my latte to tell me if tasted real to her or not... Now, when I taste a "real" milk latte, I can definitely tell the difference since I have it so rarely, but at that point, my taste buds were just confused and paranoid and I was too worried to tell the difference.
At one point Starbucks had a red tea latte, and I ordered and forgot to tell her "soy". I was drinking the thing absent-mindedly, taking the elevator back up to my office and telling my friend "Wow, this is amazing! It tastes so much like the tea with milk we used to have when we were little, except more milky..." and my voice trailed off as I realized. Needless to say, didn't finish that drink.

VioletSky said...

Am afraid I never understood the appeal of Starbucks. Way too many options. Personally, I prefer plain, but good coffee. Black. So simple, so elegant.

And yes, I am lactose intolerant, so I learned to not drink milk. Cannot abide the soy milk, no matter how many times I've tried!

noha said...

VS, black??? Honestly?? I can drink my coffee many many ways, but black has just never been an option. YOu're such a purist (lol)... No, seriously, I have deep respect for anyone who's able to drink the coffee black...
I got used to soy milk, but it took a while, and now there are a million other options, like Rice milk, almond milk, hemp milk (doesn't make you hight... lol)...
It's not only starbucks with the gazillion options: we have a store called Timothy's and one called second cup in canada and both also give a million options... For me, it's like dessert, so I love the choices...

Anonymous said...

I drink coffee every morning, but when I findmyself in a coffee shop I almost always order hot chocolate. But when I do order coffee out, with breakfast usually, I want unflavored coffee (Ican hardly swallow a sip of flavored coffee) with sugar and milk. That's it.

noha said...

COTW: Yeah, See I get my morning joe every morning on my way to work, and it's almost a separate entity then breakfast, so I enjoy the taste as a dessert... or I have the plain coffee in the morning around breakfast time, and something "fancy" later... Always from a coffee shop. I really don't like the flavoured coffees from restaurants.
As for hot chocolate, I can't buy that out, because the milk is aleady mixed in and they don't do soy versions...