Tuesday, July 17, 2012

My Experience with Specialty Coffees



I am unbelievably addicted to coffee.  But not regular coffee.  I need my hazelnut mocha or iced cappuccino.  Every time I go to Smithers, I get an iced capp from Tim Hortons.  And every time I go, I feel bad about the disposable cup. 

I can't seem to help myself in these situations.  The temptation of an iced capp is just too strong!  I've sent in countless letters to Tim Horton's requesting that they develop a reusable version of their iced capp cup, but they always respond that it's just not feasible.  FEASIBLE?  The way I see it, not only will they save money on their disposable cup purchases, they would be making money off the new reusable cups.  I know I'd buy one. 

Then again, they don't have an air of environmental consciousness about the place, anyway.  I was given a couple cold drink cups that look very much like the iced capp cups you get at Timmy's, and I was very excited to try them out.  So I bring my cute pink cup to the counter and ask if they could make my iced capp in my cup.  The girl behind the counter stared blankly at me for a second, then replied, "It won't save you any money." 

Money wasn't the issue.  I assured her that I didn't care about the 10 cents I might have saved, that it was the cup I was worried about.  So she took my cup and I paid for my "green" iced capp.  But then I watched her make my drink in a disposable cup, pour it into my cup and chuck the disposable one behind the counter anyway.  Great!  Now, not only has a cup been wasted, but I also have to do dishes! 

I thought that Starbucks would be better.  They advertise themselves as being a green company.  But it turns out that they still quite often follow the same practice of making the drink in their clear cup, then pouring it into the reusable one.  So if you're getting a cold drink in one of their reusable cups, you're probably okay, because their cups have all the measurement lines.  But your efforts be damned if you would like to use a different cup.  If every company did it that way, you would have to have a different reusable cup for each company! I also understand that if you're going through the drive through and say you have a reusable cup, they make it first in a disposable and pour it into yours when you get to the window. 

I go to a cafe in my little town called Brewstir's Cafe.  I bring in my reusable cup and watch them make my drink in my cup.  Everything I see behind the counter is very reusable.  They wash it all after each use and just reuse it!  Crazy thought, isn't it?  And they are even willing to put my takeout into my own container, they just have to give it a quick wash first, as per regulations.  Good job Brewstir's!  Guess the big guys just can't go that route so they can make every location exactly the same. What a shame....

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