Friday, November 26, 2010

The Natives are Getting Restless

So my wife and I are invited to a local coffee shop. Although I lived in the area for years, I have not lived in the area for three years. My wife and I have been BACK in the area for three months. In the three years I was out-to-sea a local coffee shop was started, and started picking up steam. We have heard much about this place from many different people. And many different types of people. The light bulb in our heads shone light on a new place that could prick our interests. . . and so we went . . .

I ordered a double espresso. My drink of choice at any coffee bar. It's like getting a cheese pizza from a New York pizzeria. It tells the whole story. The New York cheese slice is like knowing that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father. It lends purpose to the establishment. If the cheese slice is good, so will be the spinach and broccoli calzone. And so is the story with espresso. If the espresso is good, so will be the cappuccino and so on.

My wife orders a caramel latte. Praise the Lord! The espresso was so bad, I had to chase every sip with a gulp of sugary, sweet, frothiness. This double espresso was how Mark Twain described the Mississippi River: "too thick to drink, too thin to plow." Every sip was filled with bitters. And not like espresso bitter, but more like Kina Lillet Bitters. And it gave me the bitterbeer/Baldknobbers face. Simply put, it was skunky espresso.

This native shop continues to rack up points in the native's minds. It seems the natives are too suped up on caffeine to tell the difference between an espresso and an espresso.

(I'm listening to the "The Natives are Restless Tonight" by Horace Silver on the jazz album Song for my Father. If you haven't heard it, you should take the time to go to Amazon.com and preview every song. It could change your idea of jazz (for jazz haters). The song" Que Pasa" sums up my idea of jazz.)

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