Hot in the Milky Way…

Outside in…

It’s a song, okay? Trust me, it is!

Anyway, it’s back to Coffee Emporium for a hot coffee. I get the Milky Way which is dark chocolate and caramel flavors in a latte. I order a 20 oz with whip for $4.50. I still need to order a regular coffee. The purist form. Because syrupy things mask how good the actual coffee is. As is the case with the Milky Way. Opposite of the superior Glacial I had before, the Milky Way is entirely too sweet. It is still rich tasting, but very sugary. The coffee flavor is hidden. This gets 3 cups. It’s fine. Better than drinkable and I would gladly consume it if I were given one. But I will most likely not order and pay for it again. The friend I was with ordered the same thing and also was not satisfied.

I did get a chance to check out the indoor seating upstairs though. Plenty of tables and outlets. I just don’t like that you can’t go down to the counter and still keep an eye on your belongings.

The outside seating is lovely. Various tables, benches and logs to sit on outside. Coffee Emporium closed at 8pm on this particular day, but we were still allowed to sit outside and hang out. They have a lot of seating in the back, but I assume this is mostly for Sunday’s Wafflemania! But maybe not. Maybe they get busy enough to utilize all of that space at various times which would be awesome.

Bliss!

Perfection in a cup, thy name is Triple Bliss!

With your whipped cream and chocolate drizzle toppings, your three kinds of chocolate in a scrumptious latte, how can I go wrong? I ordered one at Higher Grounds coffee in Freeport, Illinois. When the friend I was meeting saw my drink, her eyes bugged out and she promptly ordered the same thing.

Such decadence. Such chocolately goodness. My friend couldn't finish hers because it was so rich, but as I used to say when I was a kid, "I drank mine all gone."

Although Higher Grounds has many of the things that other excellent shops do (i.e. colorful scheme, local artists displaying their work on the walls, fireplace surrounded by comfy chairs, students and laptop users at various tables, a nicely cluttered counter where the register is) the place itself seems a little plain. Too much open space? Not enough urban feel? Don't focus on that. Focus on the coffee. If you are hungry, Higher Grounds also offers scones, sandwiches, and soups, but my heart belongs to the coffee.

Mmm... The coffee. Bucket of Gold is a caramel taste sensation which gets 4.5 cups. But Triple Bliss. You, Triple Bliss, shall get 5 cups.

In a caramel sort of mood...

I went to Quills Coffee and Books for the first time, although I had been wanting to check it out for over a year. It's a proper coffee shop, a bit more urban in feel once you walk in with nice picture windows and plenty of seating. I like the olive green walls, the wood trim, and the crisp straight lines.

On to the coffee. I ordered a medium caramel latte. Very light. Slightly sweet. An excellent coffee:milk ratio. Extremely yummy for $3.75. 5 cups for this drink because it's perfection in a cup. But maybe it's because I'm partial to caramel. Honestly, without the caramel, I know I would still really enjoy the latte. I can tell. I think they serve Sunergo's Coffee... which is another destination I need to hit.

They also serve a lot of tea drinks that I would like to come back and try. Plus, I got a lot of writing work today. Low distractions, ample parking, and a lot of drink choices mean I'll be back.

I'm going to be up all night...

I tempted fate after drinking the Shockwave. I met with friends at Barnes and Noble and tried out the new Art of Espresso drinks that their Starbucks Cafe is now serving. I had a buy one get one free coupon, so I decided to get two talls and try two different kinds out, asking the barista to make one now and then the other later, which they happily agreed to do.

Both drinks were topped off with a crisscross of caramel or chocolate syrup, which doesn’t belong on espresso, but whatever. I don't know if this was the sole additional flavoring of the espresso or if there was another shot of caramel/mocha in the espresso itself.

Drink #1: Caramel Macchiato… Tasty. Mild. Would recommend this again. 4 cups.

Drink #2: Marble Mocha Macchiato… Decaf. After the Shockwave and the first espresso drink, I decided decaf would be the wise way to go. With the first couple of sips, I thought the decaf made the drink taste kind of eh, but I later determined it was the syrup. It was rich but... metallic. Sort of. It just didn't seem right. It wasn't bad, just a little off. 3 cups.

Because of the BOGO, the two talls were $3 total.