The other day, my mom and I decided to stop by a cafe and spend the rest of the afternoon chatting over coffee. 
Our usual hang out place is Starbucks, but it’s always crowded around 3pm, so we went to Figaro instead.
If there is one thing I love, it’s iced coffee without cream, milk, or sugar. Sadly, if I get a drink like that from Starbucks, I end up not finishing it because there’s a sour(?) taste when their brew is iced. 
I thought Starbucks’ coffee was the best and I didn’t want to try Figaro’s version, but I was really craving for that cold, bitter drink. 
Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. 
Figaro’s iced coffee is one of the best blends I’ve had so far! It’s very smooth and it doesn’t have a sour aftertaste! My mom ordered the Americano, and she liked it a lot too! 
I think Figaro has beaten my love of Starbucks and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. 
I think I’ll try their other blends next time.
I like the Frost blends of Figaro, though I'm not really into frapp and cold drinks... Starbucks coffee doesn't really taste that special to me, and the place is always cramped so my parents can't "relax". Though lately we have settled for the brewed coffee of McDo. It's cheaper, and you get refills!!! :D
ReplyDeleteI am looking for a hot coffee blend that has mint in it. So far, I tried the Christmas coffee in SB, but that's only seasonal. And I think Coffeeworks also has it, but I don't quite recall if it tasted good. I like mint in my drink, though most people I know thinks it tastes like toothpaste. XDXDXD
Come to think of it, McDo's iced coffee is not bad either. :D I always ask them to separate the syrup too~ But they also have a light, sour aftertaste. ._.;;; Not as bad as Starbucks' though. xD
DeleteI like chocolate with mint, though I'm picky, because too much makes it taste like toothpaste. xD I don't like that peppermint blend from Starbucks, haha~ I remember there was a taste testing for it, in those tiny, tiny cups... My mom liked it, so I gave her my cup too. >.<;;;
SADNESS! Nobody understands my passion for mint!!! XDXDXD
ReplyDeleteI'm not too fond of McDo's Iced Coffee (well, not too fond of Iced Coffee in general), but it tastes OK. Not too sweet.
Maybe, one of tehse days, we should do a review on coffee (instant and brewed!!!)
Ahaha, churi-churi! >.<;;;
DeleteIt tastes better without any syrup in it, I tell you! xD Or maybe my taste buds are so dead from lack of sleep that I need that strong bitterness~
You know there's an instant that's brewed coffee. :3 I'll try to find my photo of it. xD It's heavenly~ ♥
I go to Starbucks because there's no indie coffee shop near me. But Starbucks is and *always* has been overrated. Making coffee is a labor of love, experience, and a great deal of care. It's why when they do international coffee competitions the criteria is pretty much like a wine competition.
ReplyDeleteWhen you have have such a large company, like Starbucks, and franchise it, quality control usually just goes out the window. That sour taste? or sometimes it's bitter? They're over roasting it. They've had a problem w/ that for years but they tell their shops to do it because it brew's/keeps faster/longer. Sometimes you'll find a shop who know what they're doing, but most of them are in it because its Starbucks and they know they can make a profit no matter what.
Starbucks is defiantly over-hyped, over-rated and well marketed. It's why in countries where they take their coffee seriously/way of life (Italy, Ethiopia) there is no Starbucks and they don't want anything like Starbucks. I go to Starbucks, but I've always kind of seen it as a gimmick/novelty ie: using slick Italian names for the sizes and drink names, way way WAY over complicating the drinks, something that when you tell an Italian that they look confused and say it comes off as pretentious lol Dx People are surprised when I try to convince them that everything about Starbucks is 100% American.
... I miss my Portfolio coffee house in Long beach :c also... long post >.< sorry lol
Wahaha~ Epic rant is EPIC! ♥ I love it~ ♥ ♥ ♥
DeleteWell, as they say, advertising and/or marketing works. :3 And they need to keep their coffee longer since everyone's just hanging out in their store. xD I guess they try to cover it up with milk, cream, and sugar, but that weird aftertaste just... there. *_*
Frankly I didn't care about it so much when I was younger. I guess them taste buds are maturing / GETTING OLDER. >:
ahah D: I seem to get ranty when I need sleep lol
DeleteThey're really probably the greatest example of awesome marketing for a mediocre product. Which makes me sad because people end up thinking they're the be-all end-all of coffee and because of that they push out good tasting, good costumer service mom&pop/indie coffee houses out of business since people go for Starbucks and turn their noses at something they don't recognize :/.
Which is why I miss my Portfolio or The Library @ LB. Their stuff tastes great and they're very community based so they'll both have poetry night or local bands perform, they're also hotbeds for local buzzes on indie store sales, bands, etc. You can't really get that @ Starbucks and they just *feel* different. Both of them are older then the Starbucks craze so they had a solid fanbase when the craze started.
And unfortunately I don't have that out where I am now :( Most of the community out here is new so when everyone moved out here they went to what they recognized (Starbucks) instead of the coffee houses that were here already and they went out of business. There's only one indie one I know of and that's 15min away. The 4 coffee places within 7 minutes near me? Starbucks lmao -_-
D: Holy ranty post 2.0! sorry lol
DeleteAHAHAHA~ I heard (or read?) the "Holy ranty post 2.0!" in Robin's voice. All it needed was "Batman" in the end of it! xDDD
DeleteIt would be nice to set up a cafe that serves real coffee here with the same concept as Portfolio and/or The Library. It would certainly help local bands and artists here, but Starbucks is now everywhere. Where I live, there are 2 SBs in one street! TAT;;;
And I forget how far a 15 minute drive actually is for you guys. xD Here? 15 minutes is really close thanks to all the traffic. xDDD
It depends on where you are/where you're going here :o rush hour traffic can be average 4 hours when it should be 50minutes on the freeway. But in the city, definitively not as bad as there Dx
DeleteI was watching a documentary about this Filipino lady who started a coffee shop business, I forgot the name of it though. Anyway, her coffee had won awards internationally and it was all coffee grown and crafted in the Philippines. She was talking about how hard it was to start a shop in PH because of the brand loyalty Filipino's have to Starbucks where they weren't even willing to try her coffee, even though she did well in HK, Singapore, even Japan :/
I think that's kind of a problem here too, people are so used to Starbucks they're unwilling to try a smaller and unknown brand. Even if it's better tasting lol OTL Same reason why Italy is so adamant about Starbucks staying OUT of Italy.
>_> god I really need to stop with these long posts... make me stop Dx I don't notice how long they are on the reply window~ huhuhu
DeleteBut it's like you're blogging in my blog! I love it~ ♥ At least these long replies make you write more (and so passionately~) xDDD
DeleteDang! I need to know the name of that coffee shop! Because unless she makes coffee from the coffee beans an animal's pooped out of its system (I forgot what that coffee's called but it's super expensive and I am not going anywhere near it), I MUST TO TRY HER WORLD CLASS BLEND! >_<;;;
Maybe we should fly to Italy together and sit in cafes all day sipping delicious, delicious coffee~ :3
I was thinking it looked like I was blogging in your blog too xD blogception
DeleteI don't remember her name :/ or the coffee name. I do know she did the civet(motit) coffee though lol xD But it wasn't the only one she made lol
aha, I wanna go to Italy 8D delicious food~ <3
♥ "Blogception" ♥
DeleteBlogspot, Y U NO +fav/+like in comments?! D8
I will try to find out. 8D And aah~ Now I crave for pizza, pasta, and ravioli~ ♥ ♥ ♥