Grams is a Starbucks junkie. I'm addicted to the "nectar of the gods" that they serve hot in a paper cup with a plastic lid. When we travel, I have an uncanny sense that will locate a store anytime there is one nearby. I've been known to drive many miles out of the way just to get my fix.Not only do I love the way their coffee tastes, I enjoy the whole Starbucks experience. I usually opt to go inside rather than use the drive through. Given the time in my schedule, I sit down and drink my coffee right there. I like the communal coffee experience. It's fun to check out the other customers as they rush through or linger over a newspaper or book. All in all it's enjoyable. I love the way it smells ... I enjoy the friendly interaction with the baristas ... I like the music they play ... I like to look at their retail items ... I even like to peer through the glass case at their pastries, although I rarely eat them since they recently dropped their "no sugar added" banana bread. Now, all their pastries have too much sugar. But I can suffer through the lack of pastries that fit my eating plan, because that's not really what I'm there for anyway.
The only problem I have is that it's approximately 22 miles from my house to the nearest Starbucks. Try as I may, I just can't justify a 44 mile round trip just to get my daily Grande Nonfat-2 Splenda Latte. So, unless I have a reason to head across town, I have to either make coffee at home or go to McDonalds or a gas station for a coffee fix. Both of those are sadly inadequate substitutes for the Starbucks experience.
I'm thinking of beginning a campaign to lobby for a Starbucks outlet in Northwest Corpus Christi. I know that it seems like there's a Starbucks on every corner, but sadly, not in my neighborhood.
Enter the Keurig One Cup Coffee Brewing System. My darling husband got this little jewel for me as a Mother's Day gift a couple of years ago. I don't know how I ever lived without it.
It's a coffee maker that uses K-cups that are available in many different brews and flavors. You just drop in the K-cup, close the lid and push a button. Like magic you get a perfectly brewed cup of coffee every time in less than 3 minutes. It's not Starbucks and there's no communal coffee experience, but it's a good substitute and a good cup of coffee. And did I mention it's significantly less expensive than most gourmet coffee. Each cup is less than a dollar.Thanks to this little jewel, I can now stumble into the kitchen and make myself a cup of coffee while wearing my pajamas, something I'm pretty sure even the friendly people at Starbucks would frown on.
So, when you're in the neighborhood, drop in for a cup of coffee. Grams made it!
