Aloha! E Komo Mai!

One of my favorite types of kope (coffee in Hawaiian) is Kona coffee.  There is strict laws on what can truly be called Kona coffee.  Usually because it's more expensive then other coffees, you will more often then not, have it blended with other types, such as Colombian or Brazilian coffee.  The Kona blends are usually half the price of the 100% Kona.  If the bag says, "100% Kona coffee" you will pay a little more, but because of the soil and atmosphere, you will get an amazing cup of coffee.
The Hawaiian Isles Kona Coffee Company has a great assortment of coffees including 100% Kona, but available at my local Cost Plus was 5 blended flavors, which also fit my wallet.  Kona Classic, Sunrise Kona, Vanilla Macadamia Nut Kona, Chocolate Macadamia Nut Kona, and the one I purchased, Toasted Coconut Kona coffee.
I chose today to try out my newest coffee buy because it was a special day at work.  Today was the release of the Lilo and Stitch Tsum Tsums.  Tsum Tsums, for those who are not familiar, are a mini plush toy based off a video game with the same name.  The dolls originated in Japan, and Tsum Tsum translates to "stack stack".  The dolls are meant to be stacked on top of each other.  They can be worn as keychains or pins with little adjustments and the bottoms of they dolls are made with a special material for cleaning your phone or tablet, as in after you played the game to wipe all those fingerprints off.  They are limitedly released at Disney Stores and Disney Parks which has made them into collectibles so people no longer play with them, but collect as many as they can.  Of course that leads to finding the rare ones on eBay for $30 a piece!
In the game, you line up 3 or more of a matching character to clear lines and get points.  Some characters have extra abilities, like to clear a whole line no matter if the characters are matching or not.  The more points you get, you can unlock new characters with different abilities.  It's a cute game and a fun time waster if you don't play the similar Candy Crush game.  Seeing as it is just coming to America from Japan, you can get way more plush characters and accessories over there or online.
Lilo and Stitch is one of my favorite Disney movies, which takes place in Hawaii, so I was thrilled with today's release and bought one of each character from the set.  The set includes, Lilo, Stitch, Lilo's doll Scrump, Angel, Jumba, and the Ugly Duckling from when Stitch was reading the book in Lilo's room.  If you look closely, the duckling has a tear in it's eye from when it was crying.  Aw.
And to go with the Hawaiian theme, I used my new Stitch mug.  In my store, we don't carry this mug, I found it at the Disney Store Outlet in Camarillo after the Lavender Festival.  It perfectly housed my single serving of coffee, freshly pressed in the French press.  It was aromatic and strong.  In fact, the strength of the coffee flavor made the coconut flavor almost invisible.  I will make another batch soon to see if it was the barista's error or if this coffee is just lightly flavored.  Either way, it was ono (delicious in Hawaiian) and I'd like to see how the other flavored Kona coffees are, once my pockets get a little deeper.
A hui hou, Mahalo!

I like the tiny gold clip that comes with each bag.

Texas Turtle Iced Coffee

Today was a simple Monday.  Back to regular chores and errands now that our friends have gone back to Seattle.  (Miss them already)  So in between the household clean up, the husband took a break to make us some iced coffee.
We got Texas Turtle coffee from Cost Plus, just the 2 ounces so we do one coffee base in case it was too strong of a flavor.  It was very good.  A little sweet, ample pecan flavor, slight caramel taste and overall refreshing.  It is supposed to taste like the turtle candy but I think even with the flavors there, it didn't have enough chocolate.
Then it was back to more responsibilities, also known as quality time with our kitten.

Vacation is Almost Over

For the last day of my friend's visit home, we hung out at her mom's house, having leftovers and going through old stuff.  It was funny to look in the closets and see things that have been tucked away for years.  The dress she was baptized in, her grandmothers old favorite fur coat, random things that are fun to look at but will usually just lay in a closet until the next reminiscing.  Among some of the old things, we found some old how-to-draw books.  (I couldn't find a copyright date on any of these old books, but one did have a price tag of 2 dollars from Lumber City).  I thought is was hilarious that they expected you to be able to draw this professionally in 5 simple steps.  (You guys go ahead and try and let me know how well you do)
Just before my friend and her fiance had to head to the airport, we met up at the Coffee Bean by my house.  The California company doesn't have a Coffee Bean in Seattle as of now, so they had to get their fix like any native Californian gets an In n Out fix.
My friend got her usual, a half hazelnut half dark chocolate ice blended with and extra shot of espresso and whipped cream.  I've had it before, that's a really good drink.  I believe her fiance got a caramel ice blended with whipped cream, and the husband got a green tea lemonade.  The husband said his drink had too much sugary syrup and that it tasted like a Lemonhead.  Not really sure that is a bad thing.  I ordered a caffe latte.  I went in thinking I wanted an iced or blended coffee, but the weather today was gorgeous, so a hot coffee was calling my name by the time I got to the counter.  My coffee was perfect.  Smooth with a nice foam top.  We sat outside, smelling the smokey barbecue joint next door, but we were all still too full from mom's leftovers to go over and actually order anything.
We enjoyed our last hour together but you could see the return to regular life blues in their faces.  It's ok, we will see them again next month.

Thanks Mom!

For day two of my friend's visit home, her mom suggested we go to the beach.  We got some chow and as a big family went to Zuma.  It was nice but traffic home was bad.  It's expected with this holiday weekend.
Her mom likes to cook and bake and there is always something yummy sitting around, waiting to be devoured.  Today was some amazing leftover homemade spaghetti sauce, freshly made potato salad, and individual pans of snickerdoodle bread.  We were sent home with two loaves.
Nothing seemed more perfect to pair with it than coffee.
I figured to enjoy the bread even more, I'd keep the coffee simple.  One Trader Joe's instant coffee with a couple of scoops of butter pecan powder and espresso powder.  Together, they were out of this world.  A slightly crunchy, cinnamony crust, soft, warm cake, and little bits inside that I think are cinnamon chips.  The warmth and flavor of the coffee was an ideal compliment.  That will be good for breakfast tomorrow too.

Welcome Back

Our friends from Seattle arrived early this morning.  Even though we were all still tired from an early morning, we got a quick Jack in the Box breakfast so we could catch up.  Everyone got a breakfast sandwich of some sort but I thought I would stick to orange juice, water, some raspberry filled powdered donuts they brought from Seattle, and an iced coffee.  I love the mocha and caramel flavored iced coffees from J in the B, but the husband got us each a small hazelnut iced coffee this time.  He loved his but mine was over powered by fake syrup flavor.  I had to wait and let the ice water it down before it tasted normal.  I don't know what happened but that was a first for a place I usually enjoy coffee at.  On the other hand, the donuts were amazing so that made up for it.

Take A Seat At The Balconi

I'd never had siphon coffee before, but I can tell you that it produces a different, smoother coffee then any I've ever had before. The process of siphon coffee works like a percolator but looks like a lab experiment.  The coffee itself is ground finer, and the water is carefully watched so it boils to just the right temperature.  The following link will explain in more detail.  https://bluebottlecoffee.com/preparation-guides/siphon
My friend in L.A. had told me about a great place to get coffee that his colleague had recommended and figured since it was near his house, we could check it out together.  After my friend told me about the place, I came across it on a list from Eater L.A. of the top 44 place to get great coffee in L.A..  Ok, ok, so it's recommended twice, let's go already!
Balconi Coffee Company is a 3 minute walk from my friends house.  As you walk in, there is the small cafe feel with art for sale on the walls and interesting coffee paraphernalia in glass cabinets around the small shop.  Hidden up in the rafters was a disco ball.  Why?  No clue but maybe they use it in some of their art exhibits, like one that was posted up on the wall.  Along the seating side of the bar was a long row of bulbs, ready for someone to order the siphon coffee.  The barista was nice guy and asked if we wanted a treat from the small table top bakery case.  At 9 o'clock at night, there wasn't much left so we passed.  There was a list at the front of the days specials and whole coffees for sale.  My friend and I both had our eyes on the Almond Essence Latte with organic whole milk.
Each cup is made fresh so as we waited at a table for our lattes, I opened up some reviews on this place.  Nothing but rave reviews and calls to try to Almond Essence Latte.  Seems like we made the right choice.
The barista handed us our drinks, each with different latte art.  I got a little girl and my friend got a heart/tulip design.  We took it outside since the weather was so nice.
It could only be described as pure bliss.  The flavors were sweet and creamy.  The almond flavor was prominent but not overwhelming.  My friend almost did the Paula Deen eyeroll of satisfaction.
I will be returning to this place soon so try the different origins coffees.  Upon leaving the shop we saw various reviews from media speaking highly of Balconi, including a 2012 award for best funnel coffee from L.A. Weekly.  Bonus points, there is a crepe shop next door.

Oh no! I started to drink it and she got all creepy!

Oopsie!

The husband accidentally broke our regular French press.  It's only my second most used appliance after our electric kettle, so of course it has already been replaced.  But we didn't go out to get one until after my Skype date with my Seattle friend.  So for coffee today, I had instant coffee and so did my friend, sympathy, of course.
She had instant white coffee, (I've had it and it's pretty good) in a mug she's had for a long time that we recently realized looks like one from the show Friends.  Of course now we refer to it as the Friends mug.  I had some International Delights mocha and added some espresso powder.  It was creamy, chocolatey, coffee goodness.  Instant coffee does not always mean bad coffee.  And I felt the mug was just ironic.