Traditional Macchiato

What a beautiful ugly morning it was! Nasty, rainy, dreary, and dark. BUT, I got to have a wonderfully prepared traditional macchiato this morning from my current favorite shop in town, Kaldi's Coffee Co. Kaldi's is the best in Columbia at the moment for two reasons: One, they value high quality drinks like the traditional espresso drinks and two, they have the best training program for their baristas- resulting in the best prepared coffee drinks. I am a bit biased, I did work there before I started Vida Coffee Co. I can honestly say though, that if I was going to go somewhere other than Vida for seriously good coffee, Kaldi's would be the place. Enough promoting my competition.

The macchiato is what needs the attention today. This morning would have been a guaranteed downer without this beautifully crafted espresso blessing. Let's talk about what a macchiato is, shall we? Starbucks' macchiato is not what should be thought of when the word is used. We are not talking about a 12oz+ size syrupy mass with plenty of dairy and other additions. A true macchiato does not have size options, milk variations, nor syrup choices. What I am speaking about as being the other other "light to the world" is none other than the 2.5oz, 95% pure espresso shot majesty with a dollop (1 Tbs) of frothed whole milk on the top. Sound boring? Let me explain.

The macchiato Starbucks hooks unfortunate people on is a dairy/sugar slurry. They'll add just enough coffee "shots" to the mix to make them think their $4.50 was worth the while. What these unfortunates do not realize is that they have been sold a falsity- a lie. They have been duped into buying a truly tasteless mass of sugars and artificial syrups; a fake, a sugar rush. What these people are missing are the amazing natural flavors of the coffee itself, the natural sweetness of the steamed milk froth, the amazing genuine rush that caffeine provides- swapped for an impostor phony. This is a true tragedy.

My beautiful traditional 2.5oz macchiato cost me just under a quarter the price of a medium macchiato from Starbucks and tasted at least four times better. I wholeheartedly beseech you to avoid these syrupy blasphemies. If you cannot break away from your sugary enslavement, I pity you. Remember, those of you who are trapped in your sugary deception, you're hurting yourselves- and you're supporting the abuse and mistreatment of coffee beans everywhere.

Lord, thank you for the great coffee. Please keep my macchiato traditional and honor intact.