You would think that since the Boston Tea Party and the substitution of Coffee for traditional English tea as the drink of choice, that America would have nailed the coffee business.

Try to order a flat white and the barista (for want of a better word) will more than likely give you a look of total confusion and ask….”is that something like a Latte”.

 So you order your Latte and discover that it is possible to produce a coffee based drink that not only has a head like a glass of beer but also tastes remarkably like one.

 But perhaps I’m too harsh this was in Seattle after all, not New York or Boston where coffee I am assured has reached a higher level of evolution. Judging from the Starbucks ads we now need the “Pumpkin Spice Infusion Latte on Soy” to be able to face the trials of the day.

God help me, I’m a simple soul I just want a coffee.

 Then again I would like a nice Arabica extracted just right with proper milk not too hot and served in a glass with a napkin. I am perhaps becoming a “coffee snob”.

It could be worse. I could go to a Bar and order a glass of Cabernet and they might bring it out in a whisky glass…. Oh wait they did that already. Does that mean I’m a “wine snob” as well?

Fancy Seattle Underground Coffee Machine Display. From Seattle’s early coffee drinking era.