The Fourth Question
I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but the coffee at work is hideous. Despite that fact, I'm still a member of the office coffee club. It's hard to beat $3.50 a month for unlimited hazelnut and vanilla coffee creamer. In some places, refrigerated creamer might be considered a luxury, but here, it's a necessity. The liquid that claims to be coffee is quite undrinkable without disguising it with a hint (or four) of flavoring.
When I first came to this office, there was an old coffeemaker that took an hour to brew a pot of really bad coffee. Some people weren't happy about it, not about the really bad coffee, but about how long it took to brew. Then a month ago, somebody bought a brand new maker. Now we get really bad coffee six times faster, in regular or bold strength.
Because life is too short for bad coffee, I purchased a desktop coffeemaker for about ten dollars. It's nothing fancy, but can brew twenty ounces of whatever roast I want. I recently finished off a couple half-pound bags of Kona and Viennese blends, so it was time to replenish my stash. At lunch, I stopped by Starbucks and purchased a pound of Sumatra. Typically, the barista asks me three things:- Would you like this ground?
- What type of filter?
- May I have your money? (Okay, it's more of a silent question accompanied by an upturned palm, but still.)
Today, the barista asked the same three things, but surprised me with a fourth question...
Barista: (accepting $10.15 in exact change) Would you like a free cup of coffee with that?
Me: (failing to disguise surprise) Really? Uh, sure.
B: What size?
Me: Well, uh, how about a grande? *
B: Not a venti?
Me: No thanks, a grande works.
B: Okay, coming right up.
It's been a while since a Starbucks barista offered me anything free. When the chain first opened here, they regularly gave customers a free cup of coffee with the purchase of beans. If somebody bought a travel mug, the first drink was typically free. Over time, those perks seemed to disappear. I doubt I'll be offered another complimentary cup of coffee anytime soon, so I wanted to remember the occasion.
*I would've asked for a venti, but felt it would've been greedy of me. A tall didn't seem like enough, so I went all Goldilocks and chose the size in between.
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coffee3 Comments
lol. you crack me up. you should have asked for a venti chantico. ;) have a good weekend.
i like this entry too! "because life is too short for bad coffee" *hehee* i'm spoiled. i have a choice of starbuck's or pete's at work. sorry, i had to brag. ;p if you buy coffee at pete's, they always give you a comp cup!
btw, this is slightly off topic, but i was shopping around for fragrances recently and check it out-- they had a men's fragrance that had coffee notes! smells divine, except i'm not sure i want a guy to smell better than me! http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P95208&shouldPaginate=true&categoryId=S33333
you can be "coffee man!" kidding. yeah, have a great weekend!!
gg: Mmm... a venti chantico? That would probably be my chocolate allotment for the month. :P Of course, right now, one doesn't sound bad at all.
honeydew: You get a choice of coffees? Lucky! A comp cup with every bag should be the norm. Someone needs to make that a law. :P
I had no idea they had coffee fragrances for guys. That's pretty cool. But knowing me and my love of coffee, I can see myself tempted to sniff and smell myself, which is probably considered poor etiquette in public places. :D The next time I’m near a Sephora, I’ll have to check it out.
Hope you both had a great weekend. :)