...coffee is my love language...

Coffee.  I love it.  I know the baristas all over town.  Nine out of 10 times if I pull up, they make my drink without me asking.  Its so nice - like I have friends everywhere.  My hubby and I even drove up to a coffee shop about an hour away, and yep - they knew me!  (That was kind of a set up, because I have a friend up there and I always stop by that drive-thru DB on the way home, but it caused a good laugh for my hubby!)

For 18 years I have drank a 20 oz chai with skim milk and a shot of espresso.  Delish.  Oregon Chai.  Not Starbucks.  I love Starbucks, but not their chai.  I just get a latte when I go there.  But anywhere else, its a 20 oz chai with skim milk and a shot of espresso. 

About 5 years ago, Dutch Bros started calling this a Dirty Chai.  Apparently other people like this drink too, as it has a name!  But my sweet hubby would often bring one home for me (he knows that coffee is my love language!) and when he would order a 20 oz chai with skim milk and a shot of espresso, the barista would usually say, "O, a Dirty Chai!"  So one day he got brave.  He pulled up, ordered me a Dirty Chai.  As soon as he said it, he knew he'd made a terrible mistake.  The barista was a cute young girl, and she looked shocked and then mad.  If you knew my poor husband, you would be cracking up!  He is the kindest man, who never offends anyone.  Well, she was offended!!  Of course he explained and it probably wasn't that bad, but it mortified that poor guy.  He's staying away from saying "Dirty Chais" from now on!

But that was my drink.  And I still love it.  But then all this adrenal/thyroid crud kicked in and so I have stopped.  Sigh.  I still drink coffee!  But either make it at home or have an Americano. I just can't do the sugar anymore.  But I still drive by and look wistfully at all my friends, remembering the decades of coffee love.  And I wonder if they miss me?  I miss them!  (I also wonder if their budget misses me, as I am sure I paid their electric bills for many years!)

And even though I have changed drinks, and honestly I have a goal of only cutting back so much that coffee is only a treat now and then, I will always have a love affair with coffee.  The warmth, the smell, the color, the taste, the effect, the environment of a coffee shop, the friendships strengthened over coffee...   the list goes on!!

Thank God for Coffee!!!