I took some of my students to a conference in CMH yesterday. Friday morning, stopped at a Starbucks and got the new house blend, which is ok for *$.

Yesterday, got Tim Horton's which was across the street from the hotel. Their regular is so much better than *$ new house blend. Tim's got me through the day and through the drive back last night as I got more before leaving the CMH area.

Our Black Friday shopping plans are taking us within three miles of a Tim Horton's! I'm anticipating a stop before we go to Cabela's, and then after we go to Lowe's near Cabela's! Considering the lack of Black Friday sales, the thought of stopping at Tim Horton's has made my Black Friday.

GoFaresBoy and I will be going past the ones near PKB tomorrow, so we have our Tim Horton's possibilities too.

Starbucks does it for me, because that is on my way to work. I don't care about their size, how they are a giant and such. I can get a regular venti coffee each morning there, I can taste what I'm drinking, that's as much as coffee needs to do for me.

Second place goes to Panera Bread. The SO likes going there and so I guess I like going there.

We did make it to Tim Horton's twice today. Once at 4:30 AM, once around 6:30 AM. It was nice, and the coffee was definitely needed.

Actually, it's the other way around--all Starbucks sizes come with two shots, even the Venti (I was actually talking about this an hour ago with a coworker who used to manage a Starbucks). Most independents will put four shots in their 20-ounce sizes.

Didn't try Tim Horton's brewed coffee when I was in Halifax last year, but their frozen cappuccinos have a unique taste which I quickly got addicted to. (I doubt it's real coffee, but it was good in the same way that coffee ice cream is good.)

My opinion: Starbucks is predictably acceptable but nothing too special. I've never sipped a Starbucks drink and found it memorably good--it does the job when it's the only thing nearby (which is usually the case, unfortunately). I'll take a good independent over Starbucks any day, but I, like several others, have also found independents with horrible coffee--the worst is that bitingly bitter taste that I can't get out of my mouth.

I'm not a huge fan of American lattes, but I fell in love with flat whites made by independents down in Australia (even though they are conceptually very similar to American lattes). I'll take one of those over anything else any day.

our penchant for flat whites stumped the Starbucks stores that opened in New Zealand - they had to add them to the menu

a flat white should have no froth, whereas I think US style lattes may have?

(looking for great coffee in London - try a flat white from Flat White cafes)

Yeah, that's how it was explained on a couple of websites when I searched for it. American lattes do come with mostly steamed milk with a small layer of froth. Still, that shouldn't really make a huge difference in the taste, since you drink through the froth pretty quickly. If that's all the difference, though, you should be able to get a flat white here by ordering a latte, "hold the froth." I still think there's something more, though, but haven't been able to figure it out.

Some sites mentioned that it's a bit stronger than a latte (1/3 espresso to 2/3 milk), so it seems strange that I like it because I usually like my coffee far more creamy/milky than most people do...

Edit: the YouTube video embedded in this site (and the accompanying text) are somewhat helpful...wish I could carry it around with me and show it to baristas (hey, I can--I have an iPhone! :P). The blog post author calls it "a coffee drink that doesn’t taste like coffee." Maybe that's why it's so good--it really does have that velvety, creamy texture. Mmm...that one looks good!

McDonalds here in Australia have McCafe, and their coffees are amazingly yummy- they make a frozen Caramel Latte which is very good too.

I also think my Expresso Machine was the best purchase I ever made.

Did you make it to Tim Horton's today?

Yes and no. Yes, we made it there, but it was after 1:30PM when we were there, so no, I didn't get coffee... only a box of Timbits to take home. Coffee might have tempted me if they had some kind of holiday blend, but they don't.

GFB and I had lunch at Sheetz in New Philadelphia (I had a need for one of their Italian subs). I had a large dark blend/winter wonderland ghetto latte to take along then. I can't find any Pumpkin Spice at Sheetz now. I hope it's not too late. I did pick up a bag of Winter Wonderland to try at home.

I don't know if we've mentioned it here, but now that I've had a chance to drink some of their coffee in the past few months (thanks to Sheetz opening a store in Wytheville VA), I have to consider their brew pretty darn good compared to *$, DD and even Tim Horton's. You get either get already brewed and mix the ghetto latte to your taste with half and half or whole milk or individual flavored creamers OR you can use the touch screens to get your own espresso blend made to order just like *$.

Now if Sheetz had Timbits... LOL!

I've been disappointed in Sheetz since they "reduced" their prices on subs, but then started charging for cheese and toppings. I'll stop for coffee, but that's it.

I stopped in Sheetz on my way home Thursday. They had tons of the Pumpkin Spice left. Come up a little more north into Akron/ Youngstown Ohio If you don't find any soon give me a pm... I'll help you out.

And when we stop for coffee this evening, I'll check mine. If they have some, I can help too. Just remember, tomorrow is PA's annual take your rifle for a walk in the woods day, so I'll be bonding with my rifle.

I'm going to be heading up again at the end of the month. I know the store in Wytheville had it, as they told me "we got it in the little bags, not in the ready for us to brew bags".

That was last week here in WV... and it continues into this week, too.

Thank you two for the offers... but I should be able to find it, as I know many places have it until after Christmas.

I did make some Winter Wonderland espresso this AM and it was good. If I remember, I'm going to take some into the office tomorrow and make it there.