Cawfee Tawk

There’s lots to talk about in the world of coffee.

Coffee for me is not an addiction, but more of a ritual. I do not drink my coffee black. I like the cream/sugar part of coffee. Call me a wuss. I love mornings (even though my bio-rhythms scream “late-night”), I love breakfast, I love the smell of coffee, I love going to coffee with a friend, I love when Collene says “a coffee”. I can skip a day. I tend to drink it more frequently in the winter. I like a warm drink when it’s cold. I really have never dug drinking tea.
At the current moment my favorite coffee drink is a medium Americano with a shot of sugar-free vanilla or hazelnut…roomy so I can put in milk or cream. Sometime they don’t leave room, and I wonder, do the barristas see me pouring out that ounce of coffee in the garbage can? I usually sneak and do it, but I always feel guilty….someone’s gotta empty that garbage. But roomy is subjective. Beans and Bagels has a sign that says “please don’t dump coffee, ask for room” and I do abide by their sign.

Here’s my history with coffee….

I didn’t take a sip of coffee till I was about 25. Neither my brother, sister or I drank coffee growing up even though my Dad urged us. I’m not sure why. He’d say, “a good cup of coffee will wake you up!” I just never like the taste back then. Then around my mid-twenties, all the girls in my office (it was actually an all-girl office!) would walk down the street to Starbucks on Division/Dearborn and get coffee. I would get a hot chocolate. My childhood friend’s aunt owned a coffee shop on Delaware St. She (the aunt) actually designed the Starbucks logo, but then bought out of their company and opened her own joint. That’s where I tried my first coffee drink, and iced vanilla latte. That eased my way into coffee.

I’m trying so hard to BAN starbucks brand coffee from my life. They raised their prices last summer and I have never like the taste of their coffee. It’s just that it’s everywhere, it’s hard to escape. I have always been a fan of independant coffee houses. There used to be a bunch in Chicago when I moved here in ‘92.

Remember Urbis Orbis in Wicker Park? Third Coast in the Gold Coast (I think that might still be there….great curried chix salad) and there was a place called the Blue Vervain that was open for about a year or two in the early 1990s and was on Southport and School streets area. That’s where I played my first gig in Chicago and hung out with weird hippy bearded dudes in their 40s (god was I lost).

Some of my current coffeeshop faves are Metropolis in Edgewater, Cafe deLuca in Bucktown and Beans and Bagels (both locations). METROPOLIS beans are my favorite by far!

What’s your favorite coffee drink?

What’s the most outrageous drink or longest-named drink you’ve heard someone order at Starbucks? i.e. Venti non-fat triple shot mocha valencia with a steamed soy topper .

What coffeehouse or coffeeshop do you remember fondly in Chicago that is now long-gone?

Discuss amongst yawselves.

January 29, 2008. Uncategorized. 14 Comments.

14 Comments

  1. col replied:

    Great post, L.D.! I love talking coffee. It’s one of those things in life for which I have very specific tastes, which vary depending on the type or brand of coffee I am drinking.
    I used to love Third Coast and Urbis Orbis! During that time I also used to hang out at the Viennese coffee house on Southport. Remember that place? The owner would sing opera sometimes. In high school and college it was Cafe Express in Evanston or Ennui in Rogers Park. These days I really do love the vibe at Metropolis, but don’t seem to get up there much. We’ll have to change that.

    January 29th, 2008 at 7:20 am. Permalink.

  2. col replied:

    Also, I really want to try that new Coffee Studio place on Clark sometime. Looks cute!

    January 29th, 2008 at 7:23 am. Permalink.

  3. kp replied:

    Man. I loved Beans & Bagels on Montrose…Meghan’s awesome smile every morning.

    January 29th, 2008 at 11:26 am. Permalink.

  4. LD replied:

    Yes! the Viennese coffeehouse…loved that place! I’m kinda down on the coffee studio. I had high hopes, but I went in there after a run one morning and just wanted a regular old juice (any flavor would do) and all they had were fancy flavored sodas and $4 coffee drinks….little too high-end for me.

    January 29th, 2008 at 11:58 am. Permalink.

  5. LD replied:

    Oh, Paws on Berwyn is kinda cool, but I never make it over that way. I always forget about Kopi too, that’s one of the first coffeehouses I ever visited.

    January 29th, 2008 at 11:59 am. Permalink.

  6. lauraa replied:

    recall those places in wicker park and hanging out there w/ my pal sari. fond memories there.

    i am not a starbucks fan, i need to doctor it up w/ way too much cream and sugar to make it tolerable.

    my fave coffee = regular ol’ chock full o nuts. black.

    January 29th, 2008 at 12:41 pm. Permalink.

  7. lauraa replied:

    oh, forgot to mention, i did A LOT of homework at scenes over on clark and belmont back in the day. partly because of the coffee, partly because of the cute waitstaff. :)

    January 29th, 2008 at 12:58 pm. Permalink.

  8. collene replied:

    aaah! scenes! isn’t cesar’s there now?

    January 29th, 2008 at 1:21 pm. Permalink.

  9. LD replied:

    Yes….I remember SCENES!!

    I think I spelled Paws wrong, I think it’s “Pause”….like pause for a cup of coffee.

    January 29th, 2008 at 4:18 pm. Permalink.

  10. kittyteef replied:

    Is Meghan still at B&B’s? She rocks the haus.

    January 30th, 2008 at 3:24 pm. Permalink.

  11. the little one replied:

    Okay, so am I realizing that I’m the only non-Chicagoan (or former Chicagoan — Ms. kitty teef) who regularly reads y’all’s blog? Can I then be an honorary Chicoagoan?

    On Starbucks - sorry, but I have to love it because they always have soy milk. I’m a person of kicks. I’m totally on something for quite awhile and then might never have it again. For example, I used to drink disgusting Hawain (sp?) Punch in a can every day until I woke the hell up. My most recent kick is chai tea with steamed soy milk. Ah, yummy. LD - you might like that instead of coffee.

    January 31st, 2008 at 1:23 am. Permalink.

  12. col replied:

    Intelligentsia is also an old fave, and growing! I can’t believe how many locations they have. I love the original because back in the day, the frequenters of Intelligentsia took the name too seriously. You’d walk in and it was like a fucking mensa meeting.

    January 31st, 2008 at 7:17 am. Permalink.

  13. Anne replied:

    you are so right. Coffee makes the neighborhood. I need to find my “coffee place” here in this new city. your post makes me miss chicago and all its great coffee haunts.

    January 31st, 2008 at 8:36 am. Permalink.

  14. LD replied:

    no soy or chai for me.

    or Intellegensia (too strong)

    January 31st, 2008 at 5:40 pm. Permalink.

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