Category: Cooking/Food/Health

I’m Baaack

Posted on | by Jeremy Person | 3 Comments on I’m Baaack

I left Portland, OR yesterday at 7am and drove for 10 hours straight through (stopped in Medford, OR for gas).  I had a really good time seeing my family again.  I was cleaning up the house, but the computer was calling to me.  It is going to be another busy day today, so I had better get off this thing.  I’m drinking the Stumptown Hollister Mountain Blend coffee this morning and man is that some good stuff.  I scanned the labels of the coffee I got when I was there (Hair Bender and Hollister Mountain).  I’ve said many times I don’t understand why so many people love Peet’s Coffee.  Don’t get me wrong, it is good stuff too, but I’d take Starbucks over Peet’s any day.  I also have to admit I have probably bought into the Starbucks marketing.  I can be bought, people.  🙂  I tried Starbucks Thanksgiving Blend (see, I buy into their little marketing campaigns) and I can’t say I would buy it again.  There, that should stir the coffee pot and get people commenting!  My favorite coffee places in order:

  1. Stumptown
  2. Tully’s
  3. Starbucks
  4. Peet’s
  5. Seattle’s Best

Coffee Snobs Unite

Posted on | by Jeremy Person | Leave a Comment on Coffee Snobs Unite
Belmont and 34th, Stumptown Coffee

When we were eating at Market One yesterday Lana ordered some coffee which was actually really good.  The waiter (who was really nice by the way) came up and even remarked “isn’t the coffee here sooooo good”?  Then he started talking about how he only buys his beans from Peet’s Coffee because Starbucks uses low quality beans.  I must disclose I am a Starbucks fan but also really like Tully’s coffee so when I heard my beloved Starbucks getting attacked I gotta admit it kinda irked me a little.  I’ve been digging around the Internet this morning and found a few rants from others but I can’t find a site that supports his claim that Starbucks uses low quality (or Robusta) beans.  I know there are probably lots of you reading this who have a favorite coffee joint.  In Portland there is a place called Stumptown Coffee which is probably my all time favorite place to go for a cup of Joe.  It is where all of the coffee snobs (not saying I’m probably not one of them too) go for their coffee fix in Portland.  If you are ever in the area you have to go there.  I have personally only been to the one downtown (picture of it above) which I liked because it is a “funky” place; oh and did I mention their coffee rocks?  If you bring coffee back home with you, try the “Hair Bender”.  What is your favorite and why?

Va De Vi…

Posted on | by Jeremy Person | Leave a Comment on Va De Vi…

OK, Lana and I went to Va De Vi tonight in Walnut Creek, and it was pretty good.  They serve tapas which I love because I like to eat small portions of foods, but we ordered I think 6 plates.  Va De Vi evidently means “It’s all about wine” in Spain’s Catalan language, and we saw more wine poured than I have seen in a restaurant in a long time.  Lana and I did “flights” which I haven’t done before where you get to sample three wines which was pretty fun.  We got a cheese plate for dessert and one of them was the “stinky cheese” which was way overpowering but compared to the other cheeses at least it stood for something.  If you are in Walnut Creek I would definitely recommend it for a light meal and I was surprised at the relaxed atmosphere, and it wasn’t too loud which is always nice.  After dinner, we walked around for a little while and I got Freakonomics from Barnes and Noble which I have been wanting to read for a long time.  The ice cream shop closed at 7pm due to the holiday, so I wasn’t able to get my favorite ice cream, but I’ll live.  We brought grandma back In-N-Out because Tyler was running a temperature, so she hadn’t eaten.  It was a really nice night.