Beer Floats

Today was a Monday and it was wonderful! I managed to drag my ass out of bed and get to work by 8:00 am, which I think always alludes to the start of an amazing week.  It seems like if I get off to a bad start, then I am just completely screwed for the rest of the week, so I am looking forward to rising early all week.

I had planned to go to the movies after work, as there are three movies on my must-see agenda -- Buck, Horrible Bosses, and Larry Crowne.  I am pretty positive I will have friends who want to see Horrible Bosses, but the other two I think I will go to solo.  I actually enjoy going by myself, and I am looking forward to another delicious snack at The Flicks (where Buck is playing). However, I ended up not going to the movies because I got off work too late.  I have a habit of always allocating too much time to get anywhere in Boise, and even though I am aware of it, I still can't shake it.  I didn't want to be late or rushed to any movies, and I also had an exciting evening of bill paying and grocery shopping to take care of, so I decided to wait for another night.

It wasn't too hard of a decision as the Monday night TV line up is my very favorite. At 7 pm, Switched at Birth comes on.  It is a show about two teenage girls who were accidently switched at birth - one is deaf/poor and the other is rich/hearing.  It is about as cheesy as any show about high schoolers tends to be, but I love it.  After that, an even cheesier show comes on at 8 pm: Teen Wolf.  I am drawn to it like a train wreck.  It is interesting, exciting, and has plenty of juicy drama.  Also at 8 pm is the new season of Weeds.  I only have Showtime for about another month, so I am enjoying it while I can.  The best part is having my DVR -- I can start the line up around 7:30 and not have to watch commercials the entire time.

Considering my TV plans and the outlook for my night, I decided the perfect pairing would be a beer float.  I have been opening my freezer lately and longing for ice cream, but I try not to buy it.  It doesn't bode well with my veggie and herb stocked fridge and there are enough sweet treats to satisfy at work.  However, it was hot, I was wearing a sweater, and ice cream sounded wonderful.

Believe it or not, I actually bought coffee ice cream (me - the girl who "hates" coffee).  I found a beer float recipe (or more like inspiration as the recipe consisted of beer + ice cream) on Orangette.  She recommended a coffee ice cream with a porter-type beer, so I decided to go for it.

There was a "nice" man in the store, with his girlfriend.  He was definitely drunk or on some sort of drug, as he was a bit nuts but very friendly.  He began by wishing me a WONDERFUL DAY and of course I responded with a thank you.  He then began to intensely help me with the choice of my beer.  Whilst perusing my options, he also stopped to compliment a lady on her tattooswhile stroking her neck.  Thankfully she was more receptive to it than the poor boy who was mortified when the man took an interest in loudly remarking on his deep tan.  I was thanking my lucky stars when he decided I should get the same beer that I was considering.  I probably would have gotten what he had suggested no matter what, just because he was so exuberant.

The beer I got was Monkey Face Porter.  It is described as "a medium bodied robust porter with chocolate and black malt roast character." 

The Orangette recipe talks about approaching a beer float as more of an hot fudge sundae with a beer-as-fudge topping.  I knew I would drink the whole bottle of beer regardless of the amount of ice cream, so I decided to use more beer and less ice cream.  This was a mistake and Orangette was right!  After further review, I concur with her.  This would totally be even better with a majority of the drink ice cream and a minority beer.

To be honest, I didn't love my beer choice.  It was a little strong and too "beer-y" for me.  However, I have been trying things I don't like first try, multiple times, and I have a feeling the more familiar you get with something, the more you like it.  Therefore, I will continue to sample my six-pack, albeit next time it will be with more ice cream.

So the moral of this story is experiment with Orangette's recipe, just as I did.  If you are drinking a beer on a hot day, why not toss some ice cream in?  If you already like the beer, you really can't go wrong.  If you are trying a new beer, it won't ever be worse with ice cream.

#046 Best Coffeehouse?

I have a feeling there is going to be some stiff competition determining the winner of Boise's "Best Pizza" and Boise's "Best Coffee."  According to Living Social, #046 The Best Coffeehouse is The Flying M. They also claim the macaroons are a must try, but I was disapointed to find there were no macaroons to speak of.

I think Flying M can be thought of as a "legit" coffeehouse.  It is my understanding they have their own unique blends -- they roast on a small batch drum roaster that was built in 1995.  Apparently you can even go to the coffee garage (in Nampa) and watch them roast on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  The problem is, I still don't like coffee, so I am going to have to judge these coffee places based on overall atmosphere, attitude, etc., and most importantly - CHAI and non coffee drinks.

I parked pretty far from this place and enjoyed a nice, leisurely walk to the coffeehouse.  There were some really beautiful and interesting buildings on the walk there. 

I got there and was pleasantly surprised that the hours were so flexible. It is open Monday-Friday from 6:30 am - 11 pm, Saturdays from 7:30 am - 11 pm, and Sundays from 7:30 am - 6 pm.  I appreciate the late hours, as another coffee house I want to visit has been a pain in the ass because it is only open until 6 pm on weekdays.  However, one sour note was that by the time I got there (7:30 pm) the gift shop was closed.  I love random gift shops, so I was bummed I didn't get to explore at all.

In addition to the nice hours, The Flying M also hosts many different events, which makes it more than just a place to get coffee or read a newspaper.  Most of the musical events are at the coffee garage in Nampa, but I imagine that is a great place for the locals to go.  There is also an art wall, that has curators and changes monthly. 

I sauntered up to order a drink, and was bummed to find that my choice wasn't hard to make at all.  There was nothing unique.  For instance, the Record Exchange had the London Fog and I had a difficult time deciding at Thomas Hammer (but ended up choosing a Chai Freeze).  Basically my only choice here was a  plain Chai, which is not original at all.  I love when coffee places branch out and serve some interesting/unique drinks, especially non-coffee options.

Thankfully, my chai was reasonable (cheaper than Thomas Hammer) at $3.35 for 16 ounces. 

However, I just didn't like it.  To be honest, I simply didn't think it was very good.  I make chai every morning at my desk, with a tea bag in a shitty little cup and sugar from an automatic dispenser machine, and I would say my morning chai tastes about 7.29484 times better than this chai.  It basically tasted like slightly sweetened 2% milk.  Maybe I got a bad one (yes I am going to give them ONE MORE chance soon!).  It simply wasn't satisfying. 

 To make it worse, it wasn't served with a smile.  At the coffee shops I have frequented so far, everyone has been very friendly.  I didn't think the barista was friendly at all here.

Here is a sneakily snapped picture of the inside.

I like the set up at Thomas Hammer way more as well (modern, cute, funky furniture and accessories).

Moral of story?  Sounds like the Flying M Coffeegarage is better than the Flying M Coffeehouse.  Considering there is no way I want to drive to Nampa for coffee, this will likely not be my favorite coffee place in Boise.  However, it has a great set up for a great coffee house....long hours, lots of space (105 person capacity), good prices.  I will have to try one more time to make sure I didn't go on an off day. 

What do any of you think? Favorite coffee place is?