Found it!!!!!

This is my last rant about coffee… I promise! I just had to say that I finally found the perfect latte!!! Every morning I go to this small coffee stand just outside the office and I tell the guy exactly how I want my latte. I am very happy to say that the guy is now officially trained! I walk in and without saying anything, other than good morning, I get my latte just the way I like it! Even if I have to call it a ‘cappuccino’.... but then again, when I'm paying only 1.50 for it, including tip... I guess its not that bad after all!

I'm sorry... what the hell is that in my coffee?

Unless you didn’t realize it from my last post… I really like my coffee. At least now I’m a little bit more used to the way they do it here… As long as I can get my latte I’ll call it cappuccino or whatever the hell they want to call it!

So a few days ago after having lunch at this restaurant I decide it’s the right time to enjoy my ‘cappuccino’. I order it from the waiter and a few minutes later I get a latte with some foam… not quite enough as it should have, but there was something floating on the foam! I took cup up to my nose…cinnamon!!! Who the hell asked for cinnamon!!! I managed to scoop it out but lost pretty much all the foam they gave me.

A couple days later… again, after lunch, at another restaurant I asked for my ‘cappuccino’ but this time I asked

“Do you put cinnamon in your cappuccino?”

“No”
“Great! Thanks!”

A few minutes later here comes my latte… I can see from afar that there is a good amount of foam… they might have gotten it right this time! As they set down the cup in front of me I see something floating on the freaking foam!

I take it up to my nose… cocoa!

Once again I had to scoop something out of my latte before I could drink it.

Anyway… to not go on and on about this any longer… all I can say is that every place I’ve been to and ordered a “cappuccino” I have gotten something slightly different. There’s a joke in Seattle that goes on about how you are from Seattle if you can order a cup of coffee in a hundred different ways… well… all I can say is that here you can order 1 cup of coffee and GET it in a hundred different ways!

In search of a good Latte... parte dos

Unless you didn’t realize it from my last post… I really like my coffee. At least now I’m a little bit more used to the way they do it here… As long as I can get my latte I’ll call it cappuccino or whatever the hell they want to call it!

So a few days ago after having lunch at this restaurant I decide it’s the right time to enjoy my ‘cappuccino’. I order it from the waiter and a few minutes later I get a latte with some foam… not quite enough as it should have, but there was something floating on the foam! I took cup up to my nose…cinnamon!!! Who the hell asked for cinnamon!!! I managed to scoop it out but lost pretty much all the foam they gave me.

A couple days later… again, after lunch, at another restaurant I asked for my ‘cappuccino’ but this time I asked

“Do you put cinnamon in your cappuccino?”

“No”
“Great! Thanks!”

A few minutes later here comes my latte… I can see from afar that there is a generous amount of foam… they might have gotten it right this time! As they set down the cup in front of me I see something floating on the freaking foam!

I take it up to my nose… cocoa!

Once again I had to scoop something out of my latte before I could drink it.

Anyway… to not go on and on about this any longer… all I can say is that every place I’ve been to and ordered a “cappuccino” I have gotten something slightly different. There’s a joke in Seattle that goes on about how you are from Seattle if you can order a cup of coffee in a hundred different ways… well… all I can say is that here you can order 1 cup of coffee and GET it in a hundred different ways!

In search of a good Latte...

For the last 6 and half years I lived in Seattle, Washington… beautiful city! Anyway… some of you may have heard of a lil ol’ company called Starbucks. Well Starbucks originated in Seattle and needless to say the city is covered in them! Coffee in Seattle is a way of life! Between Starbucks and all the other local chains you can pretty much find a coffee shop in every corner. Hearing things like “I want a double tall half caf non fat extra hot no whip sugar-free vanilla white chocolate mocha” is really not that big of deal! By the way that’s 12 ounce cup with 2 shots of espresso (one caffeinated and one decaf) with steamed non fat milk heated a few degrees over the norm and to add flavor it has sugar free vanilla, white chocolate and in this case no whipped cream which normally goes on top of a mocha ;)

Ok… going back to the point of this post. I am addicted to coffee!!! Some people might not see this as a problem because Dominican Republic actually has amazing coffee… the problem is that besides espresso and drip they don’t really have a clue! Let me elaborate…

For starters there aren’t that many coffee shops in DR and the few that are around serve crap that looks more like a freaking cappuccino blast from Baskin Robbins!

So I am looking at the menu in one of these so called coffee shops and after browsing through a ton of these “coffee” drinks I find a small section at the end that contained an espresso, a cappuccino, a mocha and a café latte. GREAT! I proceed to order a latte and the guy behind the bar looks at me and goes

“Que?”

“A latte.” I say. “You know espresso with steamed milk”

“Oh you want coffee with milk”

“Yes”

So I see the guy pour out the shots of espresso into a cup and he then proceeds to pour milk into it right out of a carton…

“Whoa! Aren’t you gonna steam the milk?

“Why?”

“I ordered a latte”

“You wanted a cappuccino?”

“No. A cappuccino has mostly foam and little bit of milk. A latte has milk AND foam.”

(Laughing) “Mostly foam?”

“Yes”

“So you want a ‘latte’?”

“Yes!”

“Oooookay...”

He turned around and started to steam the milk. He then pours the milk in and yells to the cashier.

“Cappuccino coming up!”

I didn’t feel like arguing any more and I took the coffee cup from him… at least I had my latte… no matter what they want to call it.

Hello!

I would like to take a few moments to introduce myself... well... sort of. My name doesn't really matter. The important fact is who I am and where I come from.

Those of you, who I invited to read this blog, know me... but if you just happened to stumble across this blog or used to read it before I came along, all you really need to know is that I was born and raised in Dominican Republic and at the age of 18 I moved to the United States and lived there for almost 11 years. Went to college for 4 and half and worked for another 6 and half.

Seven weeks ago, I moved back to DR. The way of life that has been “normal” to me, is now completely different!

As of today you will be able to see how I get reacquainted with my country. You’ll learn about things I like and things I don’t… Well, for starters it will be a lot of bitching on my part! I’m going through some sort of reverse culture shock or something, but eventually as the shock diminishes the tone of my posts will shift to the good side. Feel free to comment on my ramblings… maybe these things are common in other Latin American Countries… maybe they are true to other developing countries… or maybe this shit happens only in DR!!!