Washington Surprises

The nice thing about house guests is that they bring PRESENTS. :-)

Grandpa Ted is here with us for ten days, and has brought with him a treasure trove of Washington State happiness. Those miniature peanut butter cups could be used as legal tender in my house, they are disappearing so quickly.



Another highly-anticipated and always-hoped-for present is the tin of Cougar Gold Cheese.

This is an area of deep conflict for a UW graduate. The extremely fine cheese produced by WSU on the other side of Washington State is an anomaly in the commonly known fact that UW is naturally better than WSU at.....well.....EVERYTHING ;-) .

Except for the Cougar Gold. The Hatfield-McCoy relationship between the two Universities has not prevented me from secretly loving Cougar Gold Cheese for decades. It might be one of the best cheese varieties in the world.

But, the biggest surprise to come out of the suitcase this time was the stunning newspaper clipping and INSTANT coffee now marketed by Starbucks. What ?!?

Being an open-minded Seattleite, however (clearly a benefit from the elegant institution of my higher education.... ;-)....) I gave it try. I even pulled out one of the now rarely-used wedding china cups, so as to give this mind-boggling powder the BEST possible chance.

The instructions told me many things - at once mystifying and confusing:

-Starbucks has been chasing this instant coffee for twenty years...

-These packets are my perfect companion on trips out of town... [?!]

-I am to use a full EIGHT ounces of water for that minuscule spot of powder.....

First of all, I admittedly scoffed at the recommended 8 ounces of water and gave myself only 6. It was too strong, even for me. The Starbucks people are right about the ratio.

But, the taste of it -- honestly, honestly here -- reminded me right away of what Starbucks used to be like in those University days, when I would walk in to a shop full of dark, dark beans and the smell of strong, black coffee would hit me in the face, making me want to say, "...one of everything, please!"

For me to write this now is almost as shocking as tossing a compliment over to the WSU Cougs, but I think Starbucks Via is worth a try - as a trip down Memory Lane to when coffee was bracing, fog-lifting and the perfect companion to rain outside.

I don't know how they did it?! Ah, Washington State...there's always something interesting coming out of you.....