All posts filed under: Coffee

Cool, Sweet Summer Treats from Starbucks

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Things are definitely heating up in Metro Manila, with temperatures rising well past the 30ºC mark. While I’m missing those days of wearing long-sleeved tops and those nights of bundling up in my blanket, I’m happy to have an excuse to indulge my love for ice-cold beverages. And when I say beverages, I mean coffee, of course! If there’s one coffee shop that’s my go-to for my caffeine fix, it’s Starbucks—as you may well know from my past posts. To usher in their summer offerings, Starbucks held a Frappuccinos with Friends bloggers’ event yesterday at one of their newest branches in Bonifacio Global City, Starbucks RCBC. My friend/editor/co-blogger Liana invited me as one of her two guests, and I was only thrilled to tag along. Prior to this, I’d been to only one of Starbucks’ events, the launch of their Reserve stores, which I covered for Hitlist. While that was rather formal, this affair was fun and relaxed, marked with bright, colorful balloons, tasty snacks, and refreshingly cool new drinks. I’d fought through a horrible round of traffic to get to the Fort—thanks to …

Starbucks Espresso Confections

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I don’t know about you, but I’m always excited whenever Starbucks launches their seasonal drinks. I love the thought of going to a coffee shop that’s so familiar to me and being able to try something different. Last holidays, they changed their traditional red-cup offerings by jazzing up the whip and sprinkles on their Toffee Nut Latte and Peppermint Mocha and introducing the Christmas Cookie Latte, which I really enjoyed. This year, they’re starting on a sweet note with their Espresso Confections—the Chestnut Praline Latte and Raspberry Truffle Mocha. This official photo from Starbucks is so gorgeous, I just had to post it. Check out that cheesecake. Mmm, I can almost taste its rich, creamy goodness. I had the chance to drop by Starbucks after my spa date with my BFF last Sunday. I knew that I had to try the Chestnut Praline Latte. Luckily for me, my friend ordered the Raspberry Truffle Mocha—mostly because she was drawn to the cotton candy-colored whip—so I got to try both drinks in one go.   First, let’s talk about the …

Coffee with a dash of story

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I haven’t made a secret of how much I love Toby’s Estate (see here and here), but this only made me adore them more. Nothing makes my favorite cappuccino taste better than a surprise story excerpt. I just checked the link printed on the cup, and while this particular story is featured here, apparently the main site moved here. Check it out—it’s all about Toby Smith’s coffee-flavored journeys. Didn’t I say that coffee mixes perfectly with traveling? I’m an even bigger fan of Toby’s now that I know he (Toby Smith, I mean) has a way with storytelling. That’s all I need—a man who travels, appreciates good coffee, and writes, too. Here’s an excerpt from the continuation of my cup story, where Toby writes about studying up on coffee in Brazil: I learned a lot, and much of what I learned was what not to do. That’s what coffee is about. Trial and error. Roast, taste, try again. Toby Smith, “Woolloomooloo“ Sounds a lot like real life, doesn’t it? Many times, we don’t know what we’re doing, but we muddle through, …

Cafe Hopping SG 2014 (Part I)

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Most people don’t go to Singapore thinking ‘coffee,’ but that’s exactly one of the things I look forward to the most when I visit my sister there. For such a small country, Singapore’s got a really happening third-wave coffee scene. During my recent trip, I made it my mission to sample as much of it as I could. Unfortunately, due to limited time, funds, and my hyper-acidic stomach, I didn’t get to go all out. I did visit 7 coffee shops in 13 days, which isn’t too bad. And this is where I share my thoughts on each of them! Since I’m no coffee connoisseur—in fact, I regularly violate the ultimate no-no of taking my cuppa joe with sugar—I’m not going to compare the nitty-gritty of the beans and brewing and whatnot. Instead, I’m just going to talk about what I liked about each of the places I visited. As before, my pursuit of coffee led me to areas of Singapore I hadn’t yet discovered, which I think is a cool side benny. Some people follow the food; I …

Coffee and tears on Independence Day

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If there’s one thing you should know about me — other than what you already know, i.e., my wanderlust, my dream of becoming a published author, and my thirst for good coffee, of course — it’s that I am a huge bookworm. HUGE. I’m talking hours spent glued to my Kindle, forsaking sleep to finish that nth novel, lone wolf living in the land of make-believe kind of huge (okay, maybe not so much the last one).  There’s a catch, though. I prefer to read stories with happy endings. I don’t mean happy endings wherein people part ways on a hopeful note. Nope. I mean happy endings a la Disney, wherein the people who should be together do end up together and things are tied up in a neat little bow by the time I hit the last page. I want an escape from life’s messed-up crap, not another reason to cry buckets (because, yes, I am a total crybaby). Which is why I have yet to read John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars despite all the great things I’ve heard …

Going gaga over Toby

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…Toby’s Estate, that is. It’s the new Aussie coffee place that has made its way to Philippine shores and keeps me coming back for more. Considering that its two branches are both located in the busy, made-far-by-traffic city of Makati, that says a lot about its coffee. It’s simply delicious.

I want me some Mr. Coffee

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Came across this cool cafe while I was exploring Singapore’s Tiong Bahru district. Unfortunately, I had just gotten coffee at Forty Hands, so I passed up on trying Flock Café–which means I’ll just have to go back. Not that it’s such a hardship. Look out for my post about the ultra hip Tiong Bahru!