Coffee With A Side of Extra Effort
Posted 12 Aug 2010
Daily Life, Drinks | 3 Comments
Coffee shops often confound me. I don’t like to wander in alone, because the menus are often filled with drink options which are named, but not described, and I have no idea what I am ordering.
Americano? Bravo? Mocachino? Maraschino?
What are all these things? No descriptions are offered on the menu, and I am at a loss, so end up ordering something simple that I know. Often black coffee.
I’d like to order some of the more complex coffees though. They look delicious; and on occasions when I have a friend “in the know” to guide me, I have tried some of these coffee concoctions and enjoyed them.
Today, as I was preparing a tall iced-coffee to start my day, I got to thinking about those more complex coffee drinks. Many times they come served up in layers, like this:
Layered Coffee. That’s what it is. But why?
Well, the layers definitely make it look nice, but as far as I can tell, the “right” way to drink these layered coffees dictates that your first step should be to grab the spoon and stir everything together!
Wait a second, the barista has to put in extra effort to make the drink look nice, then you have to put in extra effort to DESTROY the nice look before you begin to consume the drink.
On the other hand, it does look really nice.
Fast Food. Big Food.
Posted 26 Jul 2010
Commuting, Daily Life, Drinks, Food | 10 Comments
On a drive across the country last week I stopped off at a gas-station to fuel my car and eat some lunch. Along with my sandwich and fries, I ordered a MEDIUM Coke. Medium, it turns out, is still a whole lot of soda.
The cup is twice as tall as my palm.
There was no estimate of the fluid ounces in the cup, but my thirst was definitely more than quenched.
I think I would have enjoyed that much to drink if it was water or juice, or if I didn’t have to get back in the driver’s seat for a few more hours. In the moment though it sure seemed like a massive portion of Coke, especially since the drink was just a “medium”. It turns out that fast food also equals a lot of food.
Ring around the coffee mug
Posted 8 Jul 2010
Why does sometimes my half-finished coffee leave a ring around the inside of the coffee mug and sometime it does not? I always make my coffee the same strength, with approximately the same amount of milk and sugar.
How does the coffee then decide whether to stain or not?
Does anyone else experience these staining inconsistencies?
World Cup distractions
Posted 11 Jun 2010
Daily Life, Drinks | 2 Comments
As today marks the kick-off the World Cup, we wonder how many deadlines we’ll miss over the next month as we focus our attention on the greatest soccer (football) tournament on the planet.
(If case you couldn’t tell, we didn’t really get a chance to give as much attention to chickenmonkeydog.com as we would have liked today. The reasons? South Africa 1 – Mexico 1, and Uruguay 0 – France 0.)
An open environmental approach
Posted 28 May 2010
Daily Life, Design, Drinks | Leave a Comment
In Sam’s Club a few months ago, I suddenly realized I was very thirsty. I bought a refreshing, ice-filled cup of soda. While taking a breather from my thirst-quenching activities, I took a moment to review the cup.
Upon reading the back of the cup, I was impressed that Sam’s Club laid out its environmental approach, but welcomed ideas for improving it. That seems an honest approach, defending the company’s choice of cups, but admitting that there is always room for improvement.
