I guess all that writing about almond lattes yesterday got to me – I was running an early errand this morning and decided to stop in for one. That’s when I found out Starbucks no longer has almond flavoring! First they’re closing 600 stores and now this??? What is the world coming to??
[By the way, for those who don’t know me very well yet, that is totally fake outrage. I actually strongly prefer independent coffee shops to the Seattle Giant, although I’m not so righteous about it (obviously) that I don’t use the Starbucks drivethru occasionally for convenience].
Nonetheless, I expressed my surprise to the chick in the green apron as she handed me a cinnamon dolce latte instead.
I said, “I can’t believe you don’t have almond anymore.”
And she said, “Yeah, it’s actually been gone for a while now.”
And I said, “Really? I guess haven’t ordered one in a while. I’m surprised.”
And she said “Well, life changes. Things get discontinued. You have to move on.”
Amen to that, Starbucks Barista. You have to move on.
Sign up for M.J’s Mailing list & read Late for the Holidays FREE! Sign Me Up!
MJ Pullen
It was about 3 months ago that almond disappeared from the Starbucks repertoire. I guess I should have expected it — every time I ordered my almond latte (yes, best drink ever), I’d get some version of “grande ALMOND?? latte?” and I’d say yes. Was it that almond was the flavor equivalent of condoms, where the barista took sick pleasure in letting the rest of the store know someone was silly enough to be an amaretto aficionado? Or maybe it was an acknowledgement that my taste for almond was so rare and refined that the barista marveled at having seen me in the wild, like a bird watcher who suddenly realizes that the brown bird on his porch is a rare tick-gulping barnswallow.
I think your barista was more of the condom-hawking variety, since her advice was less wistful recollection of a moving encounter and more world-weary tough love.
As Gabriel Garcia Marquez tells us, “It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.”
First, whenever I catch the scent of amaretto I will think both of unrequited love and now, condoms. Thanks for that.
Next, it’s tough to know how to handle disappointment when you lose something you love – like almond lattes. Denial, anger, bargaining — I’ve been through them all. But ultimately your friendship is the healing gift. I know that in this, and life’s many other struggles, I am not alone.