My Ultimate Posting

This is a blog which revolves around coffee in some way.

Today I visited Borders bookshop.

I bought a regular latte then browsed the shelves.

I came across and bought the following book.

Enough said,

Egg-Not Latte

A traditional American drink around this time of year is eggnog. It's kind of a strange drink. I think, like marmite, you either love it or hate it. While living in the States a few years ago I got into it. Eggnog is made from milk, cream, egg, nutmeg and probably some other stuff - some people add various spirits, however I live an alcohol free life. You can pick up eggnog from the milk section of the food store. Unfortunately I've not found it for sale in any grocery stores in the UK or Ireland, so I make sure I have some when visiting family stateside. In fact, I'm drinking half a glass now. (You don't really want to drink more that half or you're likely to hurl.)

I noticed a couple of weeks ago at a Starbucks in Dublin that they serve an Eggnog Latte. I don't think it's made from real eggnog, just a flavoured syrup. Anyway, I decided to wait to experience this taste in its true home.

Yesterday, after a lunch with my wife's brother and sister and their spouses [I think the plural of spouse should be spice], we walked through my wife's home town of Oxford, Ohio (another university town). Stopping off at Starbucks I waited for what was starting to feel like an unnecessary length of time to make a drink - an eggnog latte. Leaving the coffeeshop I took a sip. And then a second to confirm what my tastebuds where telling me:

It wasn't worth the wait.

E=mc2

When we where first married we lived in Rocky River, a lovely suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. There where a couple of great coffeehouses in the area which, now that I think about it, I really quite miss.

There was also a great bagel place, part of a chain in parts of the mid-west, called Einstein Bagel Bros. Not only did/do they serve great bagels and delicious muffins, they also have my favourite flavour of coffee - vanilla hazelnut blend.

Anyway, Einsteins Bagels have yet to cross the Atlantic (please come!) so we wanted to make a point of stopping at one during our trip. In fact, such was our desire to get a cup of vanilla hazelnut that we sought out a hotel for our first night that was located near and EBB. And so, bleary-eyed with jet lag I made my way to West Lafayette (a university town in Indiana) on Tuesday morning for breakfast. I wasn't disappointed and I bought a couple of bags of beans to bring home. (Readers are welcome to come over for a coffee taste sensation.)

I have to say, I do like American university towns. The leafy campus, the buzz of students, cool bookshops, and of course great coffeehouses. Plus, I think, an essence of sentimentality because it reminds me of visiting my wife (then my international girlfriend) when she was at university - the place where I first experienced coffeehouse culture.

Cafe Americano

I'm in the USA visiting the in-laws for Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm going to try and write a few postings while I'm here, starting with...

Soup of the Day

Some of the teens we work with are going to learn to knit this weekend. I won't be teaching them, but I do vaguely remember some rhyme about a bunny going around a tree or something that taught you how to knit?!? Wait...I think it's coming back to me...

In through the bunny hole and once round the tree,
Out through the bunny hole and off pops she.

Wow, I'm not sure what part of my brain I retrieved that from. (I wonder if there's any other interesting stuff lurking around in there?)

Anyway, the students are learning to knit so they can make scarves to take to some homeless people in the city. So I tagged along with my wife to a department store to buy lots of wool. While there we stopped for a break at the intriguingly named Chocolate Soup Cafe.

On inspection of the menu I was pretty disappointed to only see vegetable, tomato, mushroom and, of course, potato and leek soup. No chocolate soup at all!

I ordered a regular latte and a scone.

It was while I was paying that I noticed the huge chocolate fountain. I think they pour the melted chocolate on fruit or pancakes, that kind of thing. I asked the girl working there if she was ever tempted to stick her finger in the lovely, running chocolatey goodness. (I was!) The girl replied that she can't stand chocolate - not even the smell. I didn't bother asking the obvious follow-up question.

This has got me thinking though. Maybe the men and women who receive the scarves would like some soup too. Perhaps we should do something about that.

Cafe 101

I heard about a new cafe that has opened in London, just around the corner from St Paul's Cathedral. I decided to pay a visit.

As I walked down the stairs to the basement location I immediately noticed how light, bright and large the cafe was. Lots of big windows for people to see out and in, bright furniture and the sound of people enjoying being together. It didn't have the atmosphere of most coffeehouses I visit - lower lighting, jazz/chill music, slightly moody. This was different and I think that was intentional.

I purchased a regular latte (all teas, coffees and some snacks were Fairtrade) and took a seat in a swivel chair in the corner giving me a vantage point to take it all in and do some people watching. Around me, scattered on tables and display stands, were leaflets, brochures and books. I flicked through a few and it wasn't long before I recognised a few faces in the photos. In fact, as I looked around the cafe there were a few people that I had seen before even though I had never been to this cafe until now. That's because this was the new cafe at 101 Queen Victoria Street, the international headquarters of The Salvation Army - the Christian movement in which I minister.

I think the cafe is a great idea and is open to staff and any members of the public. Along with the drinks, snacks and light meals, Cafe 101 serves up information about Salvation Army ministry around the world through excellent displays, internet points and literature. I was particularly taken with one booklet which described in a concise manner who The Salvation Army is, what it does and why. Here's a couple of extracts:

On Believing...

"Belief in God is the source of the love that motivates our worldwide ministry. It is also the source of our strength. We are an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Our message is based on the Bible. Our belief in God, given expression through worship and prayer, leads to our belief in human worth and human potential.

This motivates our actions, which aim to change individuals, and ultimately the world, for good."

Along with over 15,000 worshipping churches around the world, with a membership of more than a million, The Salvation Army is also involved in mission at the 'front line'...

"Worldwide, our diverse expression of God's love shows itself in help for millions of people every year, through 539 hostels for the homeless, 211 emergency lodges, 202 children's homes, 212 homes for the elderly, 39 homes for the disabled, and a further 725 residential homes for various purposes; 25 general hospitals, a further 12 specialist hospitals, and 346 mobile medical clinics. We operate 1,877 schools, attended by more than half-a-million pupils and staffed by 15,000 teachers; 107 vocational training centres and 72 colleges and universities. We run 1,480 day care centres answering all manner of needs, and 220 addiction dependency programmes. We operate hundreds of disaster rehabilitation schemes, visit over a quarter-of-a-million prisoners every year and trace more than 8,000 missing people annually. We estimate the total number of people we help every year is more than 18 million."


Wow. 18 million! That's Australia.

Sometimes when you're focused on doing your own thing at a very local level you forget about a bigger picture. This was one latte that helped me put in perspective what I/we do. I have to say, I came away from Cafe 101 feeling good about being a Salvationist.

Victoria Rains

While staying in London we decided to take a train into the city to look around. As it was raining we didn't get very far. In fact we intentionally decided to only go as far as Victoria station. Although not known for being a top tourist attraction it's actually quite a cool place to hang out. It's always so busy and has lots of shops, some of which we don't have in Dublin (such as Krispy Kreme!!! Mmm, doughnuts). It also has over 25 places across the station where you could get a coffee. (Yes, I did go around and count them.) Included in this total were three Starbucks outlets proving the claim that the Starbucks strategy is to flood an area with stores in order to force other coffee shops to close. But I guess there's room for everyone at Victoria.

There were also a couple of sushi bars, but I didn't check them for coffee. I didn't want to know. That would just be wrong.

I did, however, buy a souvenir coffee mug from K.K.