Just One More Thing I Can't Do

So I went to Starbucks today, something I don't do very often (I actually did go this morning, this isn't just a cute little anecdote for the purpose of introducing this blog entry). I ordered a medium latte. The barista gave me a blank stare, blinked a couple of times in an attempt to get me to qualify my order with something like "non-fat" or "mocha" or some other jargon. After an awkward pause he asked "you mean Grande?" Like he didn't know what the word medium meant. That was slightly disturbing. As if ordering a freakin drink at Starbucks isn't complicated enough (for simpletons like me anyway), here's something to make it a little more complicated: Latte Art. Yeah that's right. I suppose this is what you get when you have creative artist types forced to work at Starbucks in order to support their "I make art, not money" lifestyle. CoffeeGeek has some examples of this kind of work. And if you've been sitting in your parents' basement for the last five years with your milk frothing machine, honing your latte art skills to the point where you can achieve the perfect Rosetta with your eyes closed, then fear not my desperately lonely friend, there is a place for your kind. It's called Seattle. More specifically it's called CoffeeFest Seattle and they have a Latte Art Competition where you can finally prove to the world that you are the virtuoso that you've always know you were.




So pretty, you almost don't want to drink it...


...but you will cause you're addicted to caffeine. Yeah, that's right, I know who you are.