Flavia Combo: Barista's Blend with French Vanilla

Hello, how do you do. I don’t think that we’ve met.
My name is Spree and I’m a Minor Threat.

At around the time we here at OCR took a break from updating this blog, baseball was starting, the Stanley Cup Playoffs were beginning to take shape, and the Lakers were imploding. We made the executive decision to focus our attention on fantasy sports and rooting for teams that had no chance to win it all, watching them make early exits.

But now we’re back and ready to continue our discussion of instant coffee in the workplace. First up: Barista’s Blend with French Vanilla.

They’re starting to replace all the Flavia packets with these new Alterra packets. In our office, the Alterra invasion started with the Morning Roast, followed by House Blend, this new Barista’s Blend, and I just recently noticed the new packets for Hazelnut – although I’m willing to make a Flavia Bet with myself that the Alterra Hazelnut instant coffee tastes just as bas as the Flavia Hazelnut instant coffee. Either way, I lose.

When you think of the flavor “Barista’s Blend,” what immediately comes to mind? That’s right – Starbucks. You know what immediately comes to mind whenever I hear the word Starbucks? That one chick on Real World: San Francisco who wanted to get a job as a Starbucks barista and answered all these interview questions about how to make various coffee drinks and I’m sitting there thinking “What the hell is a macchiato?”

Well, if Barista’s Blend is designed to make you think you’re drinking a cup of coffee from Starbucks, I’m here to tell you that the truth is far removed from your imagination. If, however, you heard the words “Barista’s Blend” and immediately think of a hot cup of asphalt and cigarette butts, then this drink is for you.

I can’t even stomach the entire cup, that’s how bad it is. And to inform you of how strong my stomach is, yesterday for lunch I ate a bunch of undercooked chicken from this local Japanese restaurant simply because I was hungry and didn’t feel like throwing it away. Nothing resulted from that chicken, except I have a gap in my memory from 2:30-4:45 p.m.

Do you know what the worst thing is about this new Barista’s Blend? The fact that these packets will probably just sit here for an eternity as no one in their right mind would drink them. Do you know what the best thing is about this new Barista’s Blend? I’ve got my Flavia bet mixture all ready to go.

Enjoy your coffee.

Instant Coffee At The Workplace And What It Means To Spree

Instant coffee is pretty much universally awful. Can't do anything about it. No big deal. The instant coffee at my workplace is basically a tier below instant coffee in general. (Yes, there's a difference.)

Being the eternal optimist, I've forced myself to enjoy the instant coffee at my workplace for two reasons. First, because it's free and I can drink as much as my heart will physically let me. And second, because it makes all other types of coffee taste like a little piece of heaven. The brewed coffee I get at my local donut shop is some of the best coffee I've ever tasted. Drinking my home-brewed Illy coffee is like tasting dew off a rainbow while riding a unicorn.

How is this all remotely possible? Because drinking the instant coffee at my office for the past 4.5 years has completely shredded my coffee taste buds. If coffee doesn't taste like crap and is warm/hot, it's automatically excellent in my view.

But, you may be asking yourself, how can you possibly be a so-called expert on instant coffee? The answer is because I've done nothing but experiment with the various flavors of instant coffee and associated creamers on a daily basis for the past 4.5 years.

This blog is designed to take you on the journey of instant coffee that may or may not be offered at your workplace.