Here a shmear, there a shmear

Dear City Gay:

We have a new bagel and coffee place that could become part of my new weekend routine. The new place is an offshoot of Java Jungle, but the new Java Jungle not only has the usual coffee selections, but it has bagels and shmear galore. There are also plenty of sandwich options (for breakfast and lunch), and I look forward to trying some of those in the future. The cinnamon and sugar bagel with honey butter was definitely a nice way to start a day full of holiday shopping.

Yay for new places in the country!

Loves,
Country Gay

Take That, Seattle

Dear City Gay,

For my first official post on our new blog, I decided to go with a topic near and dear to your city's heart: coffee. While coffee certainly isn't unique to your city, it seems to have a stronghold on the drink, and many people automatically associate Seattle with coffee. However, I sometimes find Seattle coffee to be a bit too stout. (Yes, stout as if it were an ale.) I'm sure this is because most of the country coffee shops I am used to overdo the chocolate aspect of a mocha or avoid using espresso that is too strong. However, one coffee drink choice that cannot seem to be replicated in your big city is the Bowl of Soul.

While Java has shops in bigger cities, it is a mainstay of coffee social life in Twin, and one of the most popular drinks, as you know, is the Bowl. While other coffee shops simply offer mochas, the Bowl of Soul steps up the basic mocha by incorporating coffee with the espresso and Mexican hot chocolate. The bitterness of the coffee is a nice complement to the espresso, and the sweetness of the Mexican hot chocolate provides a balance to the bitterness. When one is lucky to get a talented barista who knows the perfect amount of coffee to use, the end result is perfection. Often, the sweetest part (literally and figuratively) is the whipped cream and sprinkles (chocolate sprinkles and cinnamon), and the crunchiness of these crystals works nicely with the homemade whipped cream. (This certainly is a good thing compared to the sugar crystals formed with the meringue of your lemon tartlette.)

Coffee is an integral part of my trips to Seattle, but I will always look forward to getting home to a hot Bowl of Soul, even on a day when the temperature is nearing 100 degrees.

Love,
Country Gay

*I apologize for the ridiculous size of the picture of coffee. I am lacking in some photo shrinkage software.