Shop shelf latte

I got one of these cold Starbucks lattes from Sainsbury’s and once again my attention to detail failed me. As I ripped off the lid, peeled off the foil and unpeeled the straw, I realised that at the end of the straw there was a sharp end meant for poking through the lid and the foil. Oh well, it just wobbled a little in its nice packaging until it was fully consumed. I was curious to taste this and compare it to the real thing you get in store and also to the famous Canadian Iced Capp from Tim Hortons. It was very nice indeed and has just the right amount of sugar. I think they need to create a soya version of this or a lactose free version (maybe they should team up with Lactofree!) but it was a nice treat on a sunny afternoon!


Thanks Starbucks for being there for those important times in life when a little pick me up via caffeine is needed. I had to share the rest with my favourite bear James but he was happy to sip up the rest; another problem is that my eyes are always bigger than my stomach!

She's baaackThe straw drinking coffee gal...remember this post in 2006? The straw drinking trend never emerged, I guess teeth whitening kits are becoming cheaper so people don't have to be soooo careful with their pearly whites...

He's so frothy
If you watch this little coffee van in the mornings and calculate the amount of coffees he serves and do the maths, I think these two gents are making a great living. Like Ernie, the hot dog vendor at Rye High who made 100K+ during his years in front of the university, this coffee van is probably doing just as well.

The only downfall for the coffee van or any outdoor business is inclement weather but Brits don't usually mind a bit of rain so am sure the loyal customers still make it out to the van. When I used to work in the area only on a few really miserable days would Mr. Frothy not pitch up but 99% of the time he was there. For the last few years this van has been in Spitafields market on Sundays and from Monday to Friday outside ABN-AMRO one of the large investment banks in the city. The van is located a few minutes from Liverpool Street Station off of Bishopsgate Road which is part of the bustling financial district.

The two that operate the van are very Italian with their v. Euro dress sense, uber cool side burns and I-tai accents. It is also across the street from Starbucks and sometimes you can see people debating which queue to stand in. Will try and do some more investigations and report back.
Oh and the coffee is good!

A new trend in drinking coffee?
I had two lovely visitors from Canada here recently and they turned heads and made people laugh at the way they consumed their coffee....

Can I have a skinny latte please.... and a straw? Wuuut!?! was what the baristas would say or think - which was clearly visible on their faces when they saw the lovely girls put their straw in their coffee cups.

There are two reasons given for this:
1) Ro started this as she liked to get all the sugar from the bottom of the coffee cup at first and from then just liked drinking it from a straw

2) The reason that most people accept and do the nod and the ureka aaaah..is 'I just got my teeth whitened' and then people realise that beauty has its price and maybe isn't a bad idea after all.

They do have nice teeth though!

May have to do this when I drink red wine. And apparently they have some converted Torontonian's drinking coffee this way....

Thx girls it was fun having you.....xxx