I love coffee.This is no surprise to readers of this blog. I am forever talking about Starbucks, and coffee in general.
It never ceases to amaze me though, how relaxing it is to sit down with a book and a coffee.
How well these two things go together.
Coffee and books draw me hitherward.
And when I get to this land of…. Hither…. I never want to leave.
I always have to reluctantly break myself free, and tend to things less desirable.
No.
“Less desirable” is the wrong way to say it.
It’s just that things outside of the Land of Hither are of a different phylum.
I am wondering today… what is more relaxing and peaceful than gorging oneself on a favorite beverage and an excellent book?
No.
“Gorging” is the wrong word.
Sipping. Savoring.
That’s more like it.
The liquid slides slowly south as the words travel both directions, up from the eyes, and down to the very entrails of the soul.
For me, it’s coffee. I need the coffee.
It is the potion. The elixir. The nectar.
Perhaps though, you prefer tea? Or some other drink to accompany your journey?
Something cold…. chilled?
Wine?
[If it is the latter, you may be a bit wobbly when you get to Hither.]
Obviously, you are a reader, or else you would not find yourself for a moment here, in the Bookpuddle.
But my question is this… → When you leave here, when you leave this foreign phylum and open your book again, what beverage is at your side?
What is your ambrosia?
Coffee? Tea? Something else altogether?
What do you drink, on your way to….
The Land of Hither***********
No regular drink Cip...lots of soft drinks...coke and ginger ale primarily.
ReplyDeleteRight now as I read this blog? Mike's Hard Lemonade.
I'm a real bore...I like water or juice. Maybe this is why I oftentimes don't feel like a grownup (like making house payments shouldn't be enough to feel like a grown up...), because I don't drink coffee or beer or wine or other spirits. There is a mini Starbucks by my public library and every time I walk by it now, I think of your Starbucks posts! Maybe sometime I will go in and be adventurous! So what do you recommend I order?
ReplyDeleteMmmmm, coffee. Definitely my tasty beverage of choice while devouring a good book. Usually it's home brewed with cream & sugar in an extra tall latte mug. Occasionally I splurge on a Grande Non-fat Vanilla Bean Latte from Second Cup, and I've recently discovered the joys of the Caramel Macchiato at Starbucks.
ReplyDeleteBut you're right, there's just something about coffee and books. They just seem to go hand in hand.
Cheers!
Cold Mol:
ReplyDeleteExcellent. Drinking something cold will NEVER be equal to a nice hot beverage.... but OK. I can go with what you are choosing here.
Danielle:
Well, I am severely biased, I think that Starbucks can DO NO WRONG... anything they have on their menu-board is going to be good... but I prefer the real actual COFFEE.... like a Grande Bold or Mild "Brew Of The Day" [I go for the bold] and for a long while I was severely addicted to the Grande Americano, which is three shots of espresso and water. But they have so many good things. God, it boggles the mind.
Literalicious:
You've mentioned the ONLY two coffee places that can make a coffee BETTER than I myself can make it. Hence, I only go to either a Starbucks or a Second Cup.
Timothy's, in a pinch!
But Tim Horton's, NO WAY!
Nope!
I choose to DRAIN my dishwater, not DRINK it!
Are we on the same page here, baby? Somehow I think we are.
I am not being sarcastic here, but really, my THIRD choice, if I am in a bind?
MacDonald's.
I'm not kidding.
I find their coffee actually tolerable. And MUCH better than Tim's bitter brew.
Well, it's hot here in NM, so I'm mainly a Diet Pepsi drinker and/or ice water. However, I do love Starbucks as well, and go there every time I make the 90 minute trek to El Paso. I just found out my puny little town is being graced with Starbucks in 2 weeks or so...which means YIPPPEEEE in my mind! I can then continue my love affair with mochas and frappachinos.
ReplyDeleteIf I tell you what beverage is by my side while I read, you might not be my blog friend anymore.
ReplyDeleteOh, hell - here it is. Water. How boring.
But I do like a Starbucks coffee! Just not while I read.
Beth, I will still be your friend, even though you insist on drinking plain old water!
ReplyDeleteAnd worse, cheer on the Leafs!
Amanda.... mmmm.... I say 90 minutes is worth it!
It's worth the Trek.
To go... to BOLDLY go.... where no displaced New Yorker has gone before!
[You are probably too young to truly grasp my witty allusion here, so, let me help you out.... umm... Star Trek, circa. Way-Before-You-Were-Born.... they went in the Spaceship Enterprise to.... aww, forget it!]
I have to agree with you that coffee is the perfect beverage. I too drink it as it comes out of the pot, unencumbered with sweeteners and/or lighteners. I am frequently chided for ordering coffee even with meals- particularly in the pizza parlor. I do drink a lot of water throughout the day to balance the dehydrating effects of coffee, and a single glass of red wine nightly (for all those wonderful antioxidants of course)
ReplyDeleteIt depends on the time of the day. Usually two cups of lattes over a book in early morning.
ReplyDeleteSometimes a smoothie in the warm afternoon.
MacDonald's coffee? Surely you jest!
ReplyDeleteI actually do choose Timmie Ho's over that. But it must have cream/milk and sugar.
Brad, ahhhhh. Thank you. Yes.
ReplyDeleteCOFFEE is the correct answer!
I'm savoring one right now, even.
Matt, two early morning lattes and a book, I am SO THERE also. Except for the word "early."
Yes, Literalicious, I am being serious about the MacDonald's coffee. I find Timmie Ho's bitter, I'm sorry. I know, I know, what kind of Canadian can I be? Shouldn't I immediately have my passport revoked?
I guess I am choosing to be handed a coffee by a dumb-grinning conglomerate clown, rather than a down-to-earth smalltown hockey player guy!
A mystery unsolvable, I confess.
Okay, it depends on what day of the week it is, what time of the day it is, and if it is cold or hot outside. Summer means cold drink like ice water or very cold fruit juice. Winter means hot drink. If it is at night during the week it is hot chocolate (mint tea if I'm feeling under the weather or--gasp!--we have run out of cocoa!). If it is the afternoon on the weekend, coffee with a blurp of chocolate soy milk in it.
ReplyDeleteStefanie, every beverage you are mentioning sounds delectable. You are all over the map, and you make me realize that I must diversify!
ReplyDeleteOne thing that is misleading about me is the AMOUNT of coffee I drink.
I don't drink all that much of it, really. It's just that I need very regular dosage. Like, in the morning.
And with a book, yes.... mmm, it is my favorite thing.
However, I often like plain old water. I drink a lot of water. I am not much of a wine drinker, but I severely like beer.
Also, I like all forms of tomato juice, and often find myself gorging on the stuff. By "all forms" I mean those multi-vegetable cocktail type of things. I LOVE them.
Problem though? --> SALT!
They are laced with sodium!
The sodium's the best part! (I also have a fondness for those beverages, preferably with vodka.)
ReplyDeleteBut usually:
Before 4pm, coffee, preferably espresso-based, but any kind will do in a pinch. In July, I drink it iced.
After 4pm, wine, the variety depending on what's available or what's for dinner. In winter months I take a book to bed with me with a glass of port.
I go through tea phases. It must be in a glass, with lemon. I find tea is better suited to reading magazines.
Also soup, in a cup, is an excellent reading beverage, providing great sustenance for long books. I read War and Peace fuelled on instant barszcz.
I read Somerset Maugham in the evening over bacon, eggs, and beer; or in the afternoon on the balcony with gin and tonic.
Isabella:
ReplyDeleteFunny that you mention breakfast in connection with Somerset Maugham. I am not sure if this is the reason you connect the two thing [Breakfast & Maugham] but have you ever noticed how prevalent "breakfast" is in his novels?
I mean, people are constantly going for breakfast, like at all hours. Midnight and 1 a.m.!
It's crazy, the amount of BREAKFAST in Maugham's work! Why was he so obsessed with breakfast?