Oh how I love coffee. And on top of that, I love me a caramel americano...from Avellino. Delicious, right? Oh, but the pain and suffering I have endured during my last two Avellino visits is making me second guess my beloved caramel americano.
First visit: I walk down to get some coffee with Emily for me and Jason (because I'm a nice coworker). I order two tall caramel americanos. We sit down with one of Em's friends, chatting and waiting. After about 5 min, Em has her drink, there are no more drinks coming, and the barista is in the back. I think, "Um, did they run out of caramel? Are they getting more beans? Where did they go?" So I go up to the register - no cups waiting. The cashier comes up after a couple minutes and I sheepishly say, "Oh, um, are my drinks...." but I don't even have to finish because the cashier hurriedly grabs two cups and does her prep thing...I don't even have time to notice that the caramel bucket isn't out...
So I head back to the office, two drinks in hand. It isn't until I am back in my office that I take my first drink of sweet, rich, caramel-y coffee goodness...but wait! Something is missing. There is no caramel-y goodness....it is caramel-less. I immediately run out to the front to confirm my fears - did Jason have any caramel in his? No. I can feel some slight rage coming on and I begin to rant to Jason who, after a few minutes of listening, calmly picks up the phone - "Hi, my coworker just bought two americanos from there..."
Oh no, I really didn't mean to "make waves." It's not actually a big deal. I take it back! The conversation ends with Jason giving our names to the person on the other end (I'm thinking for Avellino's unruly customer shit-list). "We have two free drinks next time," he says. Although I'm a little uncomfortable with it, I'm also a little elated. Woohoo! Free coffee! ...I just hope they don't spit in it.
Second visit: Three days later, Jason and I head down to Avellino (I made him come with me, knowing I would never have the courage to actually mention the free drinks myself). Once again, I look forward to that sweet cup of caramel-y goodness. When we're up to order, Jason mentions the freebees and orders a caramel americano. I say I'll have the same, but with EASY caramel. Now, a little history here: the past few months I've been asking for half the caramel they usually put in - and it's always met with the barista saying "ok, easy caramel." So when I'm ordering my FREE americano, I happen to say "easy caramel." I thought, hey, I know the lingo now. I'm an official Avellino regular.
After ordering, I see the barista take a giant scoop of caramel from the bucket - we're talking about double what they usually put in. I figure that must be Jason's americano and I've just been getting half as much caramel for so long that I've forgotten how much the regular amount is. I take a look at the order of the cups, however, and it's looking like the mega-caramel one is mine. Apparently to this barista, EASY caramel equals EXTRA caramel.
So I wait for my drink just to be sure, and wow, it is beyond sweeeett! Not good sweet either. I don't have the balls to turn down a free Americano, so I take it, knowing that I'm actually having my dessert for breakfast today, but thankful for free coffee nonetheless. From now on I'll stick to saying "halfthecaramelyouusuallyputinagrandeamericano."
Avellino, I still love you. Just make my coffee right next time.
Mexico (I've only been twice but have loved it each time) and it is no secret that Salem has a large latino (mostly Mexican) population. Here's why it's great. You walk into virtually any grocery store and can get the same foods you can get in Mexico! My favorite are Canelitas - these delicious cinnamon cookies.
