Hello San Diego

Our San Diego vacation from last October feels like it was just yesterday, and we wish we were back there instead of in New York's cold winter (even if today felt like spring for a day). We normally do separate posts for every place we visit on our trip, but since the first day was mostly spent traveling and we hit up lots of places that are repeats from other recent trips, I'm going to combine them all here to move things along faster.

We flew out on JetBlue from JFK, so there weren't a ton of fast options for lunch. A chose to go with Famous Famiglia's pizza, getting one slice of plain pizza and one slice with sausage and pepperoni, the first of which he found bland and the second a bit too salty. They both could have used more time in the oven, and generally he didn't particularly think too highly of them.

I went to the Boar's Head Deli which had a fancy tablet ordering system, and got a chipotle chicken sandwich with lettuce, avocado, and provolone. I remember the menu saying something about a mango mayo but didn't taste anything like that. This sandwich was supposed to be a panini, but it wasn't very pressed. The provolone cheese was melted, but the sandwich just seemed to come out like it would if I put a sandwich in the toaster for a few minutes, not a panini press. I had thought the chipotle chicken would be chunks of chicken, not slices, but that was not the most logical expectation considering where I went to get the sandwich. It was nice having some avocado, but since that was in chunks, it kind of fell out and made the sandwich harder to eat. The sandwich wasn't cheap, but at least the flavors were good.

In-flight, we got our usual free snacks - lots of water and (for A) some ginger ale, plus some chocolate chip cookies and Cheez-It crackers. We've mentioned JetBlue's free snacks plenty on this blog, and we hope they never stop doing that.

Once we finally arrived in San Diego and got our bags, our first stop was the Ryan Bros coffee stand near baggage claim. Ryan Bros was a local micro roaster, but A had no idea of that when he opted to get coffee. Unfortunately, he didn't think it was that good. He's not judging the whole brand by this offering though, because it was really late and this was just a small kiosk with coffee sitting in those silver cylinder dispensers and not freshly brewed. It really wasn't a very good cup of coffee.

To close out the day, we went for pretty much the same meal we always do when we first get to California, In-N-Out Burger. Is that what most people from the East Coast do when they go out west? We were pretty hungry, so we got three double-doubles, animal style of course, and two orders of animal style fries. It had been so long since we had In-N-Out that we forgot our usual order also added raw onions to the burgers, but it was fine without them. Everything was so, so, so, so good, and we were thankful that we got there at the exact time we did because that branch was packed. It was so crowded that the drive-thru line went out of the parking lot and circled down the street, and at one point after we ordered, we saw the restaurant line go out the door. Can't think of any fast food out here that would inspire that type of line other than Shake Shack (but you definitely couldn't get out of Shake Shack with all this food for $20).

It was a good first day of our trip, mostly traveling, with the San Diego portion kicked off by a delicious visit to In-N-Out. We were pretty excited for the upcoming week of relaxation and good food, and couldn't wait to get started.

PDX Stumptown

I started out our trip to Portland much like I thought I would, drinking coffee. After landing it was close to 1am back here in NYC, but that wouldn't stop me. Stumptown is something of a Portland institution. It's probably the most well-known coffee roaster from the area. When I saw that we had gotten on to the ground in time to visit their airport outpost I knew I wasn't going to pass that up.

The item that jumped out at me the most on their menu was the nitro poured cold brew. It wasn't the cheapest, but you need to pay for good coffee. They have the tap right by the register, and I got to watch the woman working expertly pull a smooth, cascading cup full of dark goodness.

The coffee itself was a cold, smooth entry point into the Portland coffee scene. There was little to no lingering sourness from the beans used. Overall the flavor was bold and rich, and even though I keep using the word, the coffee itself was extremely smooth. Some cold brews come out a bit harsh, but the nitro pour, as it does with beer as well, makes things a little creamier. The coffee kept me awake long enough to get to my parents' house and gave me a pretty good indication of what I could expect from Portland and its magical coffee.

Goodbye Florida

After spending a few days at Epcot, it was time to bid farewell to Florida. We thought we would probably return soon, but it's been five years now and we haven't made it back. So I guess this is still the most recent meal we've had in Florida.

We headed to the airport late in the day after visiting the last few kiosks at the Food and Wine Festival. If I remember correctly, we didn't go to the same food court as we did when we got there, but instead opted to eat closer to our gate. We found ourselves at Qdoba, where we got fairly standard Qdoba fare, so I won't get into it here (especially since I'm not 100% sure of everything we got). We've written enough about Qdoba from other visits.

As we waited for our flight, A also got a coffee drink from some Cuban coffee chain that we don't remember the name of and doesn't appear to be there anymore. He doesn't remember anything special about it this many years later. It was some frozen mocha concoction and clearly didn't leave much of an impression.

That's the last stop on our Orlando trip. Next up - a summary of our trip (reviewed over five years...) and general thoughts about visiting Orlando!

Dark Chocolate Covered Peaberry Coffee Beans

So as a lover of all things coffee related, I had to try Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Peaberry Coffee Beans. For those of you that don't know, peaberry coffee is special, round beans that are the rarest form of coffee. Typical coffee fruit pods produce two beans which is why one side is flat, but peaberries develop as single beans and are completely round. My first thought when seeing these was interest but also a little disappointment that Trader Joe's would "waste" such a rare and delicious coffee bean on a sweet treat. However, I decided to be as open minded as possible while trying them in an attempt to be as objective as possible.

I tend to only eat one or two at a time since this is usually something of a sweet caffeine supplement for me in the afternoon. I drink so much coffee during the day as it is that I probably should never be eating these, but whatever. Flavor-wise they aren't much different than any other chocolate covered coffee I've had in the past, but the dark chocolate is clearly of good quality. I like these as a quick, sweet jolt of caffeine for the post-lunch energy dip, but I still think it's a waste to use good peaberry beans. Save that stuff for actual brewing.

Buy again? Nope. Tasty treat, but a waste of good beanage. I feel like my not buying is a protest to that.

Little Amps Coffee Roasters

Two years ago today, M and I were in Harrisburg, PA on our road trip through the state. Our day started, like pretty much all of our days, with me getting coffee. I did some research, and I found that there was a cool sounding shop called Little Amps Coffee Roasters that served an interesting sounding drink called the Cold Jar. They describe the drink as "espresso shaken with ice and brown sugar, topped with milk". I'm sometimes prone to getting sweet, frozen drinks so that sounded like a fun thing to try.

They serve the drink in a mason jar, thus the name, and it was really tasty. It's one of those drinks where you can't really taste the coffee so I count this a bit more like a treat and not a morning coffee. It served its purpose of infusing me with caffeine, though, so maybe I shouldn't dismiss that aspect. The flavor itself was quite pleasant. The milk and sugar gave it a really creamy, sweet flavor, but as noted, there wasn't much discernible coffee flavor. One of the best things about this drink is that the rim of the mason jar collects some brown sugar, and it gives the drink a little bit of sweet crunch whenever you take a swig. While this wouldn't be my first choice of coffee drinks, I'd certainly consider getting another one of these if we were in the Harrisburg area on a hot day.

Little Amps has two locations. The one we visited was at 133 State Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101

Balconi Coffee Company

If you've read my previous posts on coffee, you'll know I'm a bit addicted to caffeine. Again, it's not that I need it to function, but I do get caffeine deficiency headaches, and the sad truth is that these often spark a migraine. So, unfortunately, I have to continue feeding my addiction to try and prevent myself from collapsing into a curled up ball of misery.

That being said, this addiction has afforded me the chance to venture out and look for fun, new coffee shops everywhere we go. After doing some research into coffee shops to check out in LA, our first visit to a specialty shop was at Balconi Coffee Company. I had read two things about Balconi before we decided to go. One was to try their specialty Almond Essence Latte, and the other was to try one of their Siphon Brewed coffees. Also people love the foam art that is added.

Balconi Coffee Company

I opted for the Almond Essence Latte because, well, when else am I ever going to get one of these? The reason this is such a special drink is because Balconi baristas grind up fresh almond powder on a daily basis to be added into the cup prior to the espresso being poured over. 

Foam art bear!

Aside from the really cute little bear that came drawn into my latte, this drink was something I had never tasted before. The almond powder added a flavor similar to a Chinese dessert called 杏仁豆腐 (xing ren do fu). In essence it's an almond flavored gelatin that is often served with fruit cocktail and the syrup that fruit cocktail is canned in. It was one of my favorite things to eat while growing up, and it's a very comforting flavor.

Siphon Filtering

I was really intrigued by the siphon filtered coffee as it's something I had never seen/heard of before. As much as I love coffee, I'm still rather clueless when it comes to the different preparation techniques. I'll save you the boring description on how it's done, and instead I will send you here. I think if I ever find a good place here in NYC that offers siphon filtered coffee then I'll have to grab one.

Terminal 3

It had been over 5 years since my last trip to Las Vegas, and over 9 years since A's last visit, so when we exited the plane at McCarran Airport, we were both surprised. It was so spacious, bright and new. Where were the old gates with the dingy colors and old slot machines? This new terminal was really nice.

Since we had some time before hotel check-in, we decided to get a snack from the small food court near our gate, which had a Burger King, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and Pei Wei Asian Diner.

A got his caffeine addiction fix at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, which offered a nice Costa Rican blend. Costa Rica is his favorite blend from CBTL so he was pleasantly surprised to find it available while in Vegas, even if it was more expensive than in NYC.

We also got some food from Burger King, after taking a look at Pei Wei (a place we had seen in other cities but had never tried) and not finding anything we really wanted.

I snacked on my usual onion rings.

Unlike some of the Burger Kings at home, these were nice and crispy, so they were a good snack.  I hope Burger King never gets rid of the onion rings, because it's nice to have an alternative to fries.  I just wish they would serve (non-sweet) curly fries here in the US like they do in Europe.

A also got a Whopper Jr.

The burger was fine, about the same as it is at any other outlet.  A doesn't really like going for fast food burgers at the big chains, but when that's the only real option, a Whopper/Whopper Jr is one of the better choices.

We were planning to eat a "real" lunch once we had checked in to our hotel, but we needed this quick snack to tide us over until then, since it was already late afternoon in NYC and all we had each eaten was half a sandwich and piece of chocolate.  Not the most exciting meal but Terminal 3 doesn't have a ton of options (something we'll touch on a little later when we recap our return trip) and most of them are chains you can get in any city or any airport.  But I guess it's not that surprising considering that many of the popular Vegas restaurants on the Strip are imports from elsewhere as well.

Pudding

My first experience with full-on, coffee shop coffee in Spain was at a quaint little cafe called Pudding. M was nice and used her data plan to keep looking for places for me to get some good coffee, and this one just happened to be right by our hotel. As was my custom throughout this trip, I ordered a cafe con leche. It was nice to have it come in a nice mug, and it was my first "real" coffee in my life.

Cafe Con Leche

The coffee was really hot, and I wasn't really ready for that. I was still used to the American mega-breweries like I mentioned here, and so I hadn't gotten to the point of sitting back and enjoying my coffee. After my initial mouth-burning experience, I decided to slow down and enjoy my coffee slowly. Much like the cappuccino I had the day before, the coffee was very rich and smooth. The steamed milk was perfectly foamed on top, and the coffee had a nice flavor to it.

M didn't mind that I was slowly drinking my coffee because she was enamored by the decor of the place. I do have to admit, it was a very whimsical place. It's a toadstool laden fantasy wonderland.

We spent a lot of time hiding amongst the giant toadstool lamps and murals. We probably looked really silly, but we had fun. It was a nice start to our day.

Jamaica Coffee Shop

We wandered around the Eixample area of Barcelona for most of the afternoon and found ourselves wanting a drink break.  Perhaps it was all the walking that our bodies were not used to because of our usual sedentary lives, but we were hungry again and decided to also get a snack.  The Jamaica Coffee Shop, on the corner of Rambla de Catalunya and Carrer de Còrsega, looked good and we stopped in.

We got two drinks - a frappé xocolata (chocolate frappé) for A and a fruites del bosc (berry) smoothie for M.

A enjoyed his frappe. It was back in Greece that he fell in love with the cold, coffee drink.  This was, as evidenced by the picture, laden with chocolate syrup.  It had a rich, chocolate-y flavor to pair with the cool coffee.  M liked her berry smoothie.  It was sweet, smooth and cold - perfect for a break on a warm afternoon.  The flavor of the mixed berries (raspberry, blueberry, blackberry) was really good.

We also got the pollo barbacoa (bbq chicken) sandwich, which came with some potato chips.

The sandwich had grilled chicken lightly covered in bbq sauce, some sliced tomatoes and lettuce on a hero-type roll.

The sandwich was pretty good.  It tasted light and healthy, which was nice for a snack.  As with most of the food we had in Spain, all of the ingredients were very fresh.

Our stop at Jamaica Coffee Shop was a nice break before we continued on our walk around Eixample. Sometimes you just need to take a break!

Atrium Palace Cappuccino

I am afflicted with migraines from time to time. Some of them, I have found, are caused by my apparent addiction to caffeine. Because of this, M was very nice and helped me find places to drink coffee every day. Our first full day in Barcelona was really centered around getting a feel for the city as we really weren't acclimated with anything yet. Luckily, our hotel had a Foursquare special for first time check-ins that offered a free drink from the cafe. M was nice enough to use her check-in to get me a coffee.

I opted for a cappuccino to ease myself into European coffee. Sure I had coffee every morning in Greece, but those were all hotel coffees and not actual cafe coffees. This was still a hotel coffee, but it was at least an actual restaurant/cafe coffee.

Cappuccino

I've never actually had a coffee shop cappuccino before so I wanted to see what this was going to be like. My initial taste of just the foam was nice since the top was dusted with cocoa powder. For some reason I thought it was coffee grounds (which actually would be disgusting) so the sweet cocoa powder was a welcome surprise. The cappuccino itself was nice and smooth. It was also really hot. I'm used to mass produced coffee places like Starbucks that come out decently hot but are often just warm. This hot coffee was a nice change. What it also helped me do was learn how to sit back and enjoy my coffee as opposed to just sucking it down as quickly as possible to get my caffeine fix. Maybe I just need to try better coffee shops here in NYC, but I digress...

This cappuccino ended up being really smooth with the right balance of bitterness and creaminess from the steamed milk. It was a nice start into my European coffee adventure.