For better or worse I’m back. Thanks to @bluedogcollar and @memeweaver for covering the Coffee Break for the last few weeks.
To get my daily requirement of caffeine, I had to drink a lot of fast food coffee on the road. My preference is pretty basic – hot, strong, cream, and no sugar. But, I can’t drink from a cup in a car without wearing half my beverage, so I experimented a bit. I tried the Wendy’s Frosty – ccino. It was okay, they don’t add a lot of Frosty, so it wasn’t as sugary as I expected. The McDonald’s Mocha Frappe was terrible, tooth-achingly sweet – never again! The iced latte was better but not great. Their plain iced coffee though was surprisingly good.
I was also forced to get my afternoon coffee out because, for some reason, my sister is incapable of brewing a pot without getting coffee grounds all through it. In addition to the Caffe Misto, which I normally get at Starbucks when Fanny wants a Pup Cup, I tried the Honey Almondmilk Flat White, liked it a lot, and can see myself ordering it again.
What are your favorite road trip drinks, Deadsplinters?
When I was still wet behind the ears and would set of on yet another cross country road trip, I would guzzle Mountain Dew and pop No-Doz until my body was buzzing and my stomach was screaming uncle.
These days I typically go for a Starbucks Frappucino and call it good.
I never developed a soda habit, it’s the one vice I never succumbed to, lol. I don’t believe I’ve ever even tasted Mountain Dew but it has the reputation for being high in both sugar and caffeine. Maybe on my next trip.
I used to drink soda like the apocalypse was coming, but have dropped off my consumption by about 99%. I will have one every once in a very great while, but these days I actually prefer water.
Same. I totally dropped soda years ago. I was really overweight and ended up losing 60 pounds. Not just from cutting soda — I did a low-carb diet. Once I weaned myself off the stuff, I haven’t been able to tolerate it any more. I don’t like any drinks with sugar added, or really anything added. Black coffee, unsweetened ice tea, water. That’s it. Any soft drink tastes like syrup to me now.
Sadly, I did not have the same epiphany. I still very much like sweet things. Like my wife. Or, if I’m having coffee, I’ll put a dash of pure maple syrup in there. Mmmm.
Cafe mocha with almond milk, no whip. Hot or iced, depending on weather and time of day.
I have a confession to make. The almond milk flat white was the first plant based milk I’ve tried. Ridiculous isn’t it? And I liked it.
When I’m on the road, I like the coffee at Sheetz.
I freaking love Sheetz! Sadly we don’t have them here and I didn’t see any on the trip.
Iced mocha or Thai coffee.
I’m not familiar with Thai coffee. Is it similar to Vietnamese?
Haven’t had Vietnamese coffee but Thai coffee is an iced coffee w/ milk & condensed milk or some other sweetened milk and sometimes some spices.
Pretty much the same thing. I like it as a dessert coffee but it’s too sweet to drink cup after cup. Which is how I consume coffee.
I also like a flat white, though I rarely do afternoon coffee.
Also rarely drink soda — and it’s ever rarer for me to get a real one vs. an occasional diet — but when stopping for gas on a road trip, I often hear the siren song of a high-test full-sugar Pepsi and find myself standing in front of the cooler even if I wasn’t planning on getting it.
Road trips are a good excuse to have snacks you wouldn’t normally allow yourself.
Ah, Sheetz. That comment puts me in mind of the great WaWa vs. Sheetz debate. Even a movie? I go local with Turkey Hill, if I am ever actually away from the house.
#teamsheetz in that debate. But I think I’m gonna need to watch the movie now.
I know they exist, but it’s odd to me that coffee is so hard to find in bags like tea bags. For times on the road they’d be so convenient if they were easier to find. You often can’t trust convenience store coffee but the hot water is pretty much always fine.
Hmm, that’s an idea for me next visit.
It’s called a bullshit fucking Keurig, and I’ve never had a decent cup of coffee come out of one.
My daughter had one in college, it seems like more trouble than it’s worth. It’s now on a shelf in my garage.
The problem with Keurigs is you still need the dumb machine. And then the machine controls the amount of water per pod, not you. It’s just a dumb system.
Dunkin for me!
Any particular flavor or type I should try?
My analyst got me hooked on oatmilk lattes, but they are $5 so that’s a treat. Otherwise, Iced, cream, no sugar!
I don’t have a Dunkin nearby but when I head up to the ‘burgh this summer I’ll try both.
QuikTrip unsweetened iced tea:Â bug cup + ice + about an inch of their unsweetened pineapple papaya green tea then fill the rest with unsweetened black tea.
I’m an iced tea snob, I don’t like anyone that uses that reconstituted powder for their iced tea. So typically I bring a water bottle filled at home/refilled along the way and will also get bottles of Coke Zero or Diet Dr Pepper depending on what I’m feeling like at the time.
I like iced tea, pineapple papaya sounds really good. Is Quik Trip a regional St Louis place? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it.
Based in Oklahoma, there’s dozens in the St Louis area. Also locations in Kansas City (KS and MO) market, Atlanta area, several Texas cities, Phoenix, Charlotte, and a few other markets.
QT is one of the few strong brand loyalties I have. Like I will drive 5-10 minutes out of my way to refill at a QT compared to another gas station chain.
I’ll look for it, thanks