I\u2019ve never suggested that anyone should sit in a beach chair and ignore the world. I must admit, however, that it works for me. But it\u2019s just one layer of defense against the world\u2019s encroachments. If you really want to keep everyone at bay, it helps to have a mug of something in hand. After all, \u201ccoffee break\u201d is a just polite term for \u201cgo away and leave me alone.\u201d <\/p>\n
We don\u2019t really need coffee for a coffee break, though. There are a lot of things that will do the trick. And since I\u2019m not in the mood to actually do anything today, this is a perfect time to think about some favorite beverages.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll start with latte, a steamed-milk drink that\u2019s usually associated with coffee. A Taiwanese cafe and bakery chain called \u201c85C\u201d (so named for the optimal temperature to prepare coffee) offers latte made not with coffee but taro. <\/p>\n
As Saipan residents know, taro is a staple of tropical islands. Well, as it turns out, it makes a mighty tasty latte. The taro makes the latte purple. Sugar is typically added to this concoction, but I\u2019ve found that it\u2019s pretty sweet even without adding sugar. Speaking of skipping ingredients, the notion of having a latte without the caffeine I\u2019d otherwise get from coffee is sometimes appealing.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, sometimes caffeine is to be embraced, not avoided. Taiwan has this angle covered very well, too. If you\u2019re on the go, one noteworthy Taiwanese product is called Mr. Brown Iced Coffee. It\u2019s available in cans, and, despite the \u201ciced\u201d term, and it\u2019s good even when not chilled or iced. I knew a place in Guam that sold it for pretty cheap, so I was always hauling cases of the stuff to Saipan when I was a human yo-yo bouncing between the islands.<\/p>\n
Another interesting concoction is bitter melon tea. We brew this at home; I\u2019ve never seen it served in a cafe. Bitter melon, also called bitter gourd is, like taro, a staple of the tropics (I point this out because some Saipan Tribune readers are checking in online from places like Montana and New York, so they may not be hip to tropical foods.) <\/p>\n
Everyone I know regards bitter melon tea as an herbal remedy, and hardly something you\u2019d drink for the fun of it. Me, I just like the taste of the stuff, served hot. <\/p>\n
Speaking of bitter, if you like beer, then you might have noticed that the modern array of craft breweries often offers a strain called India Pale Ale. IPA uses a lot of hops. The hops impart a tangy and tasty bitterness to the brew.<\/p>\n
IPA is fashionable these days. A glass of the stuff can easily set you back $8 in some places. Its origins were based on necessity, however, not on taste. As the story goes, back in the days of old, when the British empire held India, India\u2019s hot climate was fouling the beer that the British were shipping. So the British added more hops, which serve as a preservative, and the resulting brew, dubbed India Pale Ale, was better able to survive the rigors of the environment. <\/p>\n
The modern breeds of IPA have pretty much spoiled me. These days I pay more for one pint of the stuff than we used to spend on an entire case of beer in college. I\u2019m not adjusting for inflation when I make that comparison, though, so maybe I\u2019m not as spoiled as it seems. Fortunately for my thin wallet, my waistline reigns in my demand for IPA and its caloric payload, so I usually reserve Thanksgiving vacation for this indulgence. <\/p>\n
One indulgence that I just can\u2019t resist is good old-fashioned coffee. Sure, it\u2019s old school, common, and hardly exotic, but there\u2019s always some sort of new twist on things that worms its way into my wallet. For example, something that got popular a few years ago is the \u201cKeurig\u201d brand of coffee maker. This appliance uses disposable plastic pods to make single servings of coffee. Every cup is therefore a fresh cup. All sorts of coffee brands are now sold in these little pods. <\/p>\n
Keurig started to play hardball with its customers a couple of years ago, unveiling a new line of coffee makers that, from my understanding, wouldn\u2019t accept the older style of coffee-filled pods. I therefore lost interest in buying any of the newer machines. I have no idea what the status of this product is nowadays. Fortunately, our older machines are still working. By the time they conk out I\u2019m sure some new concept will be on the market and the cycle will begin anew.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, two reliable allies on the coffee front, Winchell\u2019s and McDonald\u2019s, always provide a snug harbor. <\/p>\n
Anyway, no matter what the beverage is, be it hot or cold, fancy or common, go ahead and pour yourself some peace of mind. It might be the only break you get today. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve never suggested that anyone should sit in a beach chair and ignore the world….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[15396,15397,38,513],"class_list":["post-245699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-brown-iced-coffee","tag-india-pale-ale","tag-saipan-tribune","tag-taiwan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245699\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}