everycoffee

[everycoffee]

Cypress Coffee

I'm pretty sure this is a local place, not a chain, but I could be wrong. I had to drive through a car dealership to get there, which made me feel like an idiot, but the baristas were very nice. I got the standard iced vanilla latte and a specialty drink called the Summer Love Latte (served hot).

Sweetness (7/10)

Look, it stood alone fine. The summer love latte in particular was good without any added sugar, but both definitely could have been improved by just a single pump of simple syrup. They did have a self serve bar with sugar packets, but how am I supposed to dissolve a sugar packet in an iced drink?

Coffee flavor (7/10)

Unlike D&M, Cypress' espresso shots did not have a specific flavour to them besides "coffee." It was still good, though, if a bit stronger than I'm used to. (Not in a dark roast kind of way, as in the coffee tasted more concentrated.)

Caffeine effect (8.5/10)

No jitters! Even on an empty stomach. The coffee kept me going all day, but I did crash a bit several hours later.

Ice (2/5)

Could have been more ice in the vanilla latte. That said, it was good ice, the drink stayed cold for longer than I expected, and tbh the taste improved after the ice was about 1/2 melted.

Flavor profile

Not much to say here, really. The vanilla latte tasted like a vanilla latte. The vanilla syrup was good -- not synthetic-tasting, but very faint.

The summer love latte, according to their app, has "rose syrup, vanilla syrup, honey, espresso, and milk." I love floral flavors and honey, so I was really excited for this one. Unfortunately, I didn't taste any of that. It might as well have been a slightly sweeter version of the iced latte (which I attribute to the honey). The flavouring was so faint, it might as well not have been flavoured.

Worth (3/5)

Together, both drinks cost about $11. Both were 12oz. Compared to the cost of other 12oz espresso drinks, and givem the novelty of the summer love latte, it's really not a bad price. Given my other ratings, I don't think I'd be willing to pay that much regularly, but it was still a decent treat for myself.

Overall rating (6.1/10)

I feel bad that Cypress' score is so low, but I suppose it was only a slightly-better-than-average coffee experience. Do I think it's worth it to support a local business? Yes, absolutely. Would I take someone new to the area here? Probably not, unless we're already nearby for some reason.

[everycoffee]

D&M Coffee (part 1)

I’ve been to D&M one time before, but this time I went through the drive thru. I will never understand it, but this is the second coffee place I’ve been to since I moved here where the entire transaction happens at the same window and the barista insists on small talk while you wait. It’s not bad; each time this has happened, they’ve been really nice and friendly, but I’m an awkward bitch.

Anyway, I got a medium iced vanilla latte and a specialty drink that I thought had coffee, but it doesn’t. It’s a Redbull based drink. So this rating is only taking the latte into consideration. I will update D&M’s rating in the future, once I’ve tried their specialty drink.

Sweetness:  7/10

The drink was not very sweet, and I’m convinced that the only “sweetener” in it was the vanilla syrup. It was still good and didn’t really need more sugar, but I feel like even half a pump of simple syrup would have made it better.

Coffee:  7/10

I’m hesitant to rate things too highly because this is the first coffee I’m rating, but I do want to give it an 8/10. I could taste the espresso in the drink, it was nutty and delicious, strong enough for my tastes without being bitter, and overall it served the drink well. However, I feel like it would be too much in a hazelnut latte.

Caffeine:  8/10

A few jitters, but it did keep me going.

Ice:  2/5

Listen, I know that more ice keeps a drink colder for longer and less ice is a speedier route to a watery drink. However, there has to be a balance between keeping the drink cold and making sure you’re actually getting a good amount of coffee. I feel like I barely got any latte with my ice, and on top of that, they use the big, unsatisfying cubes that diners tend to use. Not a great ice experience. I’m still giving it 2/5 because it wasn’t that awful semi-circle ice.

Worth:  3/5

Both drinks together were about $11, making the latte approximately $5. That’s not a bad price for coffee in an area where the cost of living is so high, and it did taste really good. But that ice score is bringing this down. While $5 isn’t bad, I tip every time, and even if I didn’t, that’s not a feasible everyday expense for me. It is, however, a more than fair “I’m in the area, so why not?” expense.

Flavour profile:

Vanilla -- not overly synthetic like some vanilla flavouring is, but still clearly not real vanilla. It was better than I expected.

Nuts -- I couldn’t tell you what kind, but when I say the espresso was nutty, I mean it. It wasn’t overwhelming and blended well, but was still noticeable.

That’s really about it. Obviously, there was milk, but it didn’t taste like milk, you know what I mean? On the D&M Coffee website (which needs work for both functionality and accessibility purposes -- D&M hmu), vanilla latte isn’t listed, and latte is only listed as “espresso + milk,” so the limited flavour profile makes sense.

Overall score:  6.7/10

A decent score for the first review. D&M coffee is good, definitely better than Starbucks (which is coming up, dw), but not spectacular, and I think this score reflects that. That said, we’ll see how it stacks up after I actually try that specialty coffee drink.

(I’m actually really looking forward to it. It’s called the Bees Knees, and although it isn’t listed on the website, I’ve been told it has honeydew flavouring. I’m a slut for some honeydew.)

[everycoffee]

It turns out that I have more college to do than I thought, so since I'm stuck here until I graduate, I've put myself on a mission from god to try every coffeeshop in my Washington state college town.

Here are the rules:

Each place I visit, I will get both a standard medium iced vanilla latte and one specialty coffee drink advertised by the shop. This is not limited to cafes specializing in coffees. Drive-thru, sit down, chain, local, gas station, bougie cafe, whatever. Any place that serves pre-made coffee drinks is on the chopping block.

Each will be rated on the following:

Sweetness (/10): Is the drink sweetened? Does it require sweetener, or does it stand alone well? Is it sickeningly sweet, like a dessert? This is not an inherently good or bad thing. It's just to help categorize the drink.

Coffee flavour (/10): How does the coffee itself taste? Can it be tasted at all, or do other flavors cover it up? Is it strong or weak? Does it have a particular flavor, like a breakfast roast?

Caffeine (/10): This isn't the amount of caffeine reported in the nutrition facts. After drinking, how strongly does the caffeine effect me? I'll space out my coffee purchases so I don't build up a tolerance quickly.

Ice (/5): Is there a lot of ice? Is it chewable?

Worth (/5): Is the price worth it? Did I get what I paid for? Is this feasible as an everyday coffee option, or a once in a while treat?

Flavor profile: Just a list of flavors I notice and how strong they are compared to what is actually in the drink.

Overall rating (/10): An average of the above numerical scores, adjusted as needed to account for subjective things like taste.

Please note that I am not a coffee snob. I just like shit that tastes good.