"One extra-mini coffee with milk and a single ice cube, por favor"

When I lived in California, I scoffed at Starbucks coffee and the suckers that paid for it. It was so easy to find better quality coffee at more reasonable prices in all those cute little independent coffee shops that offer a better atmosphere and overall coffee experience. Even the chains that compete with Starbucks, like Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, or Peet's Coffee, for example, had them beat. On the few occasions I stopped in a Starbucks, out of pure convenience because they're located on just about every corner, and oftentimes on the same street within a coffee bean's throw from one another, I normally ordered a simple coffee with milk, hot or iced, depending on the weather, and when I had $$ burning that hole in my pocket, I'd surely splurge on a frappuccino. As exception, I was always fond of the festive flavors, and this October, I'm especially missing the pumpkin spiced latte, or any flavored coffee for that matter!!!

The days of drinking Starbucks coffee solely out of convenience have since passed. For one, because it's not even an option to me anymore, as the ONLY Starbucks on this island that I now live on is located INSIDE the airport terminal. Even if I was craving Starbucks, I'd have to first purchase an airline ticket to get to it. Hey, another excuse to travel, right? The other reason being the complete and utter absence of iced coffee on the island, leading me to fiend for a Starbucks iced drink of any kind to the point of enthusiastically giving the baristas all my $$, like a crack addict desperately pleading "just give me my iced coffee, I need it!" any and every chance I get.

You'd think it would be easy to find ice cold drinks here seeing as it's an island that enjoys a year-round mild climate (translation: never-ending summer), but alas I've been subjected to too many room temperature fruit smoothies, lukewarm coffees, and tepid teas to count. Just to share one representative example, I found a cute coffee shop with an ambiance that I found pleasing and requested a large iced coffee with milk (some very distinct words that don't seem to go together in Las Palmas) and in turn was given a steaming hot coffee with milk in what reminded me of a tall shot glass, with a single melting ice cube, hence the "lukewarm" coffee previously mentioned. Umm ya, so I politely asked for more ice and they gave me the second disapproving glance of the day before telling me they don't have anymore ice...?!?!? I tried a few more times in other places, specifying that I wanted my coffee in a regular water cup with 3 cubes of ice (more disapproving glares), but since the coffee is still served piping hot, I still end up with watered down coffee (see photo). I finally gave up and now make two large cups of coffee at home every morning, and place the second cup in the fridge in anticipation of my large iced coffee in the afternoon. I've since learned it's not "have it your way," so when I enjoy a coffee at a cafe, I have it European style.

So that's one thing I miss about living in California, large iced drinks on demand, but with that said, I have to add how much I love the simple satisfaction I get from a good tasting quality cup of (small) coffee here, not to mention the fair prices, and the easygoing lifestyle of stopping to have a coffee at any hour and all throughout the day with friends. It's a give and take, and I need to remind myself to appreciate what I have when I have it, and on that note, I'll end this post to go have an extra-mini coffee with milk, while quietly looking forward to the iced spiced pumpkin, eggnog, and peppermint lattes that await me this Christmas in California.

Can you guess which one was mine? Just like Starbucks.

Note: To be fair, pictured here are what they call "cortados" (1/2 coffee and 1/2 milk) - it's in what looks like a shot glass, right?! Well the "cortado largo" (same, but larger) looks like it's in a "tall" shot glass. I've also seen regular cups of coffee that are larger but contain less coffee and more milk.