12/5/2021
The inspiration behind this item is my tendency to order very sweet specialty beverages at Kean. They are tasty and beautiful, but I think they undermine the benefits I would have seen from intermittent fasting (delaying breakfast to 9 or 10). I also find that I'm moodier and more interested in snacking after that hit of sugar. There are also a few days where the barista backlog is so long I feel I've wasted my time waiting 15 minutes + for a specialty drink when drip would have been available asap. I remember waiting behind Yvette and being slightly envious she could tear out of the shop with her plain coffee and get on with her other errands. The last time I went, I found that the urine smell of new mulch in the landscape was so terrible, I wouldn't have picked up the nuance of whatever roast was on offer that day. I also sometimes find that people start smoking on the patio which also dulls the enjoyment. Maybe this will motivate me to move immediately or just not sit there if the ambient smells will detract from the experience.
So my plan to break this sweets habit but continue to support this awesome local business and have a 3rd space I can go to when I drop the kid off at preschool is to buy a $150 Kean gift card and use it only for drip coffee. I may also grab info about the types of coffees I'm tasting while I'm there. I've cycled on and off cutting back on caffeine and sweet drinks in the past. For a while I was buying cortados to try to lose some of the mom weight, but a few rocky poor sleep days with no breakfast and I found myself wanting to treat myself to the fancy beverages again. I think giving myself an "out" of being allowed to buy a croissant or fancy beverage with a credit card will help. It also helps for approximate tracking to know that $150 should cover slightly more than 40 drips depending on the size and how much I tip (15% to $1). Let's hope this works!
12/7/2021: Kean card purchased with much self-conscious delay and the LastTM Borgia for Here I'll be having for a while. I also met an 81 year old retired oil & gas Dude ("twice your age... I'd guess you're about 41" (he was over by 3 years, I said, "but I've been out in the sun a lot" as an understatement for the year training for an IMAZ), Del who stopped by to talk at length about subjects that might make others uncomfortable (Montana small town mores vs. anonymity of SoCal, courting older Vietnamese ladies, topless cafes, the book he is reading about a gas station owner who also fathered a lot of children of rich famous Hollywood celebs). Married to his second wife 35 years. I asked his secret, only 5 years into my own marriage and wondering about how this all worked with the topless cafes, and got a vague "hard to keep a man faithful, but some do it." Then he sauntered off.
12/14/2021: I have one day of plain joe behind me and one splurge day today on a fancy beverage. It was pouring rain, so I wanted to feel justified sitting inside, hunkering down to type a letter to my brand new penpal. If I was going to snack on a croissant, why not go for broke? I did want to try the Tanzania that was on offer though as Jane Goodall mentioned shade grown Tanzanian coffee helping to protect Gombe habitat. Oh well.
10/19- learned from the roaster that South American is more smooth like milk chocolate. Africa is more flavorful like dark chocolate. Went with a Kenya Karatina (mostly picturing distance runners with sustainable livelihoods). " Hops and vanilla aromas, a thick, full body and sparkling lime acidity. Flavors of dark chocolate, blackberry jam, malt, and molasses. Long and juicy finish with grapefruit and cinnamon notes."
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