coffee nerds

we had this afterhours coffee shop meeting tonight and it was FUN! first, we sat around and ate adriatico's pizza and i don't really know what all happened during the meeting part. probably something about how we are the best coffeeshop in the city (thanks, citybeat!). i was too busy looking at the garlic butter sauce and trying to think of ways to get it all in my mouth without anyone noticing. this is the first time i have had adriatico's since moving back. so lets just fake like i was super intense on the pizza because it has been four freaking years! why would a girl wait so long?

besides the point. the point is, that after we closed up the meeting, a few of us coffeeheads stuck around and nathan whipped out all this amazing stuff. a weeks worth of preparation for a "signature drink". that is what they call them at the barista olympics. now, i am not one for messing with coffee, i like to have an americano with a touch of cream- but this combo had a lot of my favorite things going on:

-pears poached in

-honey/vanilla broth

-hand (i did it!) whipped cream that had marinated with fennel bulb/vanilla/sugar

-camomile tea

-coffee emporium ol' black magic espresso

the way it went down in the cup:

pears were mashed with some of that honey liquid in the bottom of the cup. the tea filled the cup about 2/3, then espresso shot, finished with some of that whipped cream.

good god. i think that it was supposed to be a star anise sort of whipped cream, but using fresh fennel was amazing (see birthday wishlist- this is gonna become the best ice cream ever made). i normally try to limit my coffee intake in the evenings, but i could have polished off this entire drink. nice mellow sweetness from the pear/honey mash. using tea for the americano water is really blowing my mind, i am having a hard time thinking of anything else. this concept will definitely get some experiment attention from me. and the whipped cream added richness, creaminess and depth, while still being light enough to let the pear come on through. it was hard to remember that this was a coffee drink. but i had a few sips, looked around and saw that it was dark outside- and let my willpower take over. if only i could say the same for the garlic butter. ha.