For you late night, caffeine-addicted zombies, there is an answer to satiate your cravings. The Starbucks drive-thru in Kaneohe (the original drive-thru in Hawaii) is now open 24 hours. Yup, all day and all night. With the holiday shopping season coming up, this is the perfect time to caffeine-up pre or post shopping.
Wait, what? Last I knew it, Mocha Java Cafe in Windward Mall was done for. It’s space was vacated as the new Starbucks location opened up across the way.
But while checking out the future space of the Hokulani Bake Shop, I noticed this sign. The logo looked familiar but the name, MJ Cafe, just sounded so different. Then it finally dawned upon me that MJ wasn’t someone’s name, it stood for Mocha Java. MJ Cafe moved a few doors down, closer to Sports Authority in a much larger space, and they’ve been there for sometime.
So that brings up the obvious question – why didn’t they keep the recognized name of Mocha Java Cafe? Was there a business falling out or an independent branching out. Whatever the case may be, I mistakenly thought Mocha Java Cafe had vacated Windward Mall. I was wrong.
That’s three Starbucks rewards stars right there in that bag.
For a limited time and if your account received the promotion, any purchase of a Starbucks breakfast sandwich yielded you three rewards stars. Not a bad tradeoff, $3-4 for breakfast and extra stars earned. Unfortunately, the promotion ended on October 15, 2013.
What about the breakfast sandwiches? Well, they’re okay. Nothing great, and they do remind me of breakfast from McDonalds. There’s not a whole lot of new breakfast combinations out there you know. An egg, sausage, and English muffin combination is pretty similar wherever you go. Anyways, two sandwiches and six stars later, I’m glad this promotion has ended.
What say you, Starbucks Stars stolen or old stock?
See the bag on the right? Is this an older bag that did not have a Starbucks Star sticker or did someone help themselves to extra stars? Hard to tell.
I submitted my mini review to Zappos for my recent purchase of the Nike Zoom Wildhorse, and it goes like this:
Lightweight and great looking but very snug. After a few wears and runs, the shoe still feels tight. It’s okay for short runs, but I’m not sure if the snugness will affect longer runs. You’ll notice the 4mm differential, but it’s not extreme. You do feel closer to the ground compared to regular running shoes. Keep in mind, these are not Nike+ shoes and don’t have space for the running sensor.
Yeah, I don’t know why but these shoes are bordering on tight. If you’re running with thicker socks, then definitely go up a half size. These trail shoes talk about the height difference between the heel and forefoot being 4mm. You can tell these shoes feel flatter and lower than traditional running shoes, but they don’t feel that different.
The rounded anatomical heel seems gimmicky especially with the angular lugs, but it looks cool. The Wildhorse isn’t well cushioned to keep that lean 4mm differential, but the tradeoff of feeling what’s underfoot is worth it. The outer layer hides dirt well so these shoes won’t look trashed after a few runs.
My only misgiving with the Wildhorse? It’s not a Nike+ shoe. There’s no space for the Nike+ running sensor that works with diminutive iPods. So if you want to track your runs, you’d need to use an iPhone or something else.
Some pictures of the Nike Zoom Wildhorse in black spruce, total orange, and flash lime.
It took me a bit to notice, but there was something different about Coffee-mate’s Peppermint Mocha creamer. Yeah, yeah, I know this flavor is no longer seasonal during the winter and is offered year round. So what was different? Luckily I already had a bottle in the refrigerator to make a quick comparison.
Overall, the Peppermint Mocha look went dark. The snowy blue background is a deeper blue, and instead of showing the creamer lighten the coffee, you get a delicious image of dark chocolate cream sprinkled with peppermints. The peppermint mocha text also got stylized, looking more wintry. So, no, if you see this bottle, it’s not a new flavor, just a new design to an already favorite.
In non-coffee related news about Starbucks, their stores now sell fresh blueberries. Add them to oatmeal, yogurt, or as a side to their pre-packed meals. Yeah, the berries probably cost more than buying from the market, but that’s the price of convenience. And yes, they actually did look fresh.
According to this coffee-focused comic by DOGHOUSEDIARIES, you can’t go wrong if you’re a coffee drinker.
Me, I’m a varied coffee drinker. Mochas are my “safe” drink when trying out new places. You can’t really mess up a mocha, and if you do, I’m not coming back. Americano in the moring, and iced coffee or iced macchiato in the afternoon. It’s all good!
If you’re a coffee lover who happens to have the new gold colored iPhone 5s then you definitely need this. It’s the Zojirushi Stainless Steel Mug
Let’s start with some basic admissions.
With that out of the way, what would you expect when you see that neighborhood grocery, Safeway, now sells donut croissants, branded as Dou’ssants. I didn’t expect a whole lot. Funny thing though. With these low expectations, I bought a four set and was darn impressed with this fluffy goodness. That’s to say the Dou’ssants were delicious.
From the outside, the Dou’ssants look like husky donuts. The outer layer has a little more texture, and they’re densely heavy. On the inside, you can see some layering, but like the Croissant Donut from Saint-Germain Bakery, the construction of the Dou’ssant is like two halves melded into one. The taste reminds me of malasadas, buttery, glazed malasadas. After eating one, that glaze around your lips is hard to wash off.
So here’s my personal take. Of all the cronut variations in Hawaii, the Dou’ssants are your best overall pick. What? Why? Like I said, I’ve never sampled the original cronut so I don’t have a basis for comparison. But the Dou’ssants are very yummy. The price is right at four for $6. Availability is good if every Safeway sells them. I don’t have to go to a Waikiki hotel, I don’t have to go to specific locations downtown or in Ala Moana, and I don’t have to search out a mobile location. Inexpensive, yummy, and widely available – that’s a recipe for success.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around the thought of Vanilla Ice starring in a 1990’s cop show called Vanilla Heat. Can you picture it, or is this awesomeness just too huge to comprehend? Or does Vanilla Heat sound like a bad porno starring Robert Van Winkle? Either way, blame The Impulsive Buy for this tangent.
Back to the point of reviewing International Delight’s new Vanilla Heat coffee creamer. It lives up to its name, giving your java a jolt of sweet and spicy simultaneously. It’s an odd but proven combination.
Here’s an oddity though. I first tried Vanilla Heat in a Starbucks iced coffee I happened to have. The cold drink laced with Vanilla Heat scorched my throat. I don’t think I overadded the creamer, but it definitely was hot. So much so I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish this creamer. But then I tested it in hot coffee and surprisingly, the heat wasn’t so bad. It’s subtlety nice – the way it should be. I’m guessing that the heat from hot coffee kills the heat of the Vanilla Heat, but I haven’t yet had a chance to test this hypothesis.
Check out Target for this seasonal creamer. Who knows how long it’ll be available.
Peet’s Coffee & Tea is coming to Kailua sometime in the near future. It’ll be located in a new development that’s finishing up construction on Hekili Street, next to Boots & Kimos and Zpizza. This will be the first Peet’s in Hawaii that’s outside of Waikiki.
I’m a fan of the changing variety of drinks offered by Peets. While on a staycation at the Waikiki Sheraton, I downed several raspberry mochas. More recently, I enjoyed their Coconut Latte while at SFO before cruising Alaska.
Can’t wait for yet another coffee purveyor in the Kailua community. Down the road would be Coffee Bean and further down is Kalapawai Deli and its espresso bar. On Hahani Street is Starbucks. In between these is Whole Foods and their coffee bar, and across the street is Morning Brew. Yeah, I think this area is well caffeinated.