I'm Just Going To Leave This Here

And Now For Something Completely Different..

What kind of coffee elitist would I be if I didn't post reviews on cafes every now and then? For those of you who live in the same area I do, it's not a big surprise that this was coming.
Morning, afternoon, or evening, The Creme Coffee House is a hotspot for just about everyone. The atmosphere that surrounds it is always positive and relaxing, a trait that occasionally is lacking in sleek, whitewashed coffee shops. This culturally sound, sociable, and friendly place completely outdoes any Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts by lightyears. It doesn't stop at the environment, though. The menu of drinks is not the largest I've seen at coffee shops, but it's far from short. A variety of drinks are available, including seasonal drinks.There is also small selection of sandwiches as well and a few other food offerings (like pastries and breakfast items). To be completely honest, I've never had a bad cup of coffee from The Creme. I've had several of their specialties as well as some seasonals and some just plain black. Every single one I've tried thus far is always a different taste, but never sacrificing flavor.
As an example, just today I sped by with a few friends and ordered one of their regular dark roasts, black naturally. The body, in general, is very thick and enveloping, with just the slightest tinge of acidity, something I was surprised to find in a dark roast. Very full-flavored, and I finished it very quickly. easily a 9/10 cup of joe.
The service for The Creme, I've noticed, is always pretty hit-or-miss hearing from other people. If you don't plan on sticking around for awhile, or if you've got somewhere to be, you might find yourself straying slightly from this cafe for the fact that the baristas do take their time preparing your coffee, especially if you're paying for a specialty. I think what most people don't understand, or choose to ignore, is the fact that they're not in a Starbucks. Here, your coffee is prepared meticulously and tentatively. All the love a coffee shop can give is poured into every drink made at The Creme, and it shows. One complaint I've thankfully never heard is anything on the part of the baristas. Always friendly and sweet, I've never met a cuter or kinder group of staff.

Overall, 10/10 would recommend

Casimir Pulaski Day

I'M NOT DEAD!!1!11!!!!!!!1!!1
I'm sorry for not posting, I've just been destroying myself internally with school and I'm lazy and I hate myself. Can we continue? Gr8!

I received this blend for Christmas. I don't even want to know how expensive it probably was. Beans and Baristas is a small cafe in Evansville (IN) who sell specialty coffees, teas, and pastries for.. a lot of money. Not without sacrificing quality, obviously. I wish I could say more about how these beans are roasted or the qualities of the company, but it's hard finding information on small businesses and their suppliers, so unfortunately, we'll just have to skip it.
The roast smells so good. You do not understand. It is so sweet and swallows you whole in just this caramel/butterscotch-like warmth. Syrupy and thick, a perfect balance of both. There's just no other way to describe it. Highlander Grog sounds nothing like what you get out of this. The coffee is very balanced, nutty, and sweet, with a slight touch of acidity. The buttery-ness is where I can see people easily mistaking this for a specialty latte, had they not seen the coffee. It's very hard to accomplish something like that and I definitely believe I'll see about getting another bag once I run out.
I very much recommend sharing a cup of this with someone.

Overall 10/10. I wouldn't change a thing.

The Perfect Sonnet

Lovely tuesday evening, all!

This is a Mahogany medium dark roast by Caribou Coffee, the second largest coffee retailer in the world next to Starbucks. Caribou takes pride in its pure green coffee beans. Not literally of course. What I mean is they are extremely pro-coffee grower relationships and pro-environment.
If you've been keeping up with the times recently regarding our precious bean, the coffee belt or bean belt (the area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, ultimate resource for coffee, and the only place where the atmosphere and terrain is just right to grow it) is getting smaller. This means coffee, specifically wild Arabica, is going extinct. The cause, you guessed it, global warming. Now for people like you and me this is extremely disheartening and downright frightening. However, if it is any consolation, humanity IS taking some measures to save coffee. One example being Caribou. Caribou is committed to saving the bean, along with other environmental needs (rainforests, energy efficiency, etc.) and collectively, all of us coffee drinkers and our sanity.
Well I think I've thoroughly bummed you out. Now onto the good stuff. As soon as a smelled the beans, I knew this was going to be a good cup. My intuition spot on. The fact that it is not completely dark might spark some of your interests.This blend is so smooth and woody. It makes me almost nostalgic. I highly recommend this as a more wintry blend. Sitting by a fireplace and getting all cozy is also highly suggested. The robustness is just enough to make you want to cuddle up and read something. Strength surprisingly played a bigger role than I expected, as it is quite intense, but not without being well-bodied.  My only complaint is that I wish it had been slightly sweeter.

Overall, extremely uplifting 9/10.


Buy the beans!

Suckcess

Hello again!
So tonight I'm trying the Veranda Blend by Starbucks.
Future Disclaimer, I probably won't be trying very many blends by this company. Mainly because of the fact that Starbucks gets enough endorsement for its coffee for being a large chain, but also because of the intense amount of contempt I have for them for reasons I will explain at a later date.
But I digress!..
As it states on the bag, this blonde roast promotes itself as "mellow and soft" and, as I've said before, blonde roasts aren't my favorite roasts considering to me they are extremely light in taste. Which can be construed as either a good or a bad thing depending on your preferences.
Mellow is absolutely right. This is a notably mild coffee. So mild that there is literally nothing exciting about this blend. Though I'm not entirely surprised to be disappointed. My expectations for Starbucks never has been exceedingly high. Not that I do not like a nice, subtle, earthy blend, but this is pretty boring.
I must admit, though. A great wake-up coffee if you're not into a lot of bitterness or can't quite exactly handle an oily, darker roast yet or if you're more into natural, easygoing flavors.
Overall, 6.5/10.
I might drink it if I was really feeling a blonde roast and there was nothing better.


Buy the beans!

From the Morning

At this moment I'm drinking this phenomenal stuff my boyfriend picked up for me (in an Aperture Laboratories mug for all your Portal needs). It was roasted by an Italian company known as BonJo Coffee. Bonjo's coffee beans are dry roasted in small batches using convection heat, then gently, and slowly air cooled in a highly controlled environment. Ensuring a much more flavorful bean, producing a more delicate coffee taste. This company takes pride in their dry-roasted, time-consuming methods and it shows prominently. 

It's a Columbian Supremo blend and, predominantly, and I say this with complete confidence, one of the best blends I've ever tasted. Remarkably aromatic and soft, and not a single bit of harshness or acidity to it whatsoever. Also a very, very slight woody flavor. This blend is absolutely perfect for cold, frosty-breath mornings. I suggest throwing on a sweater and some soft acoustic music to enjoy this with. My suggestion being Nick Drake's Pink Moon.

Overall 10/10. I very much enjoyed this stuff.

Buy the beans!