Coffee is a girl's best friend

Top 3.5 Drinks at Starbucks

1. Latte
2. Cappuccino
3. Java Chip Frappuccino
3.5 Americano

Let me start out by saying I’m a relative newbie to the Buck. I’ve only been drinking coffee for about a year, ever since we moved to RC where there are like, a hundred Starbucks. And Peet’s. And Coffee Bean. And every other mom-n-pop café. RC is like a giant caffeinated dreamland. I read somewhere that Starbucks has a goal of opening 40,000 shops all over the world. Reggie said she wanted to visit them all and compare but first of all, we couldn’t possibly accomplish that in our lifetime and two, this guy is doing it already.

A latte is my fave, hands down. Espresso and hot milk with a little bit of foam. Reg likes extra foam but that’s like a fluffy drink to me. Scones go great with lattes, preferably blueberry or cranberry. Not a fan of the chocolate chip. That’s like a fake cookie or something.

Cappuccino is second best, only because you have to sweeten it up. Again espresso and milk but there isn’t as much milk in it as a latte. It is pretty creamy and I guess if you asked for no foam, it might be more like a latte. Hmmm. Biscotti are good with cappuccinos. Since they’re hard sweet biscuits, they need to soak in the coffee a bit but you have to grab them before bits of them fall to the bottom of your cup. That’s just gross.

I order the Java Chip Frappuccino only when I’m hungry because it’s like a thick milkshake with bits of chips. It’s expensive too (these drinks are all trop chere) but it’s dessert so it’s like a two-fer. I don’t order any food with these for obvious reasons. My sister Lucie gets the mocha frap at the Buck and the blended at Coffee Bean. She says she likes the Bean better than the Buck but she really doesn’t have much taste in coffee so I wouldn’t trust that opinion.

Americanos are for when you need coffee, don’t have a lot of money, and want something better than regular brewed coffee. This is why they get honorable mention only. Certainly not my preference. An Americano is espresso with hot water which seems like it would be pretty boring but it’s actually delicious compared to regular brew (especially at the Buck where they burn their own coffee) and if you get a good barista, you will get a nice foamy crema on top. Yum. But you do have to get a muffin or slice of cake to go with your Americano because you need something to jazz it up.

This is completely making me want coffee now. Maybe I can convince Reggie to drive us out to the Buck near Best Buy so we can grab lattes and look at the big screen TVs.