Last Tuesday the hubs and I were facing the prospect of making several trips to the bustling metropolis of Coeur d'Alene due to a kitty going to her appointment to get spayed, my hubs having to coach his shooting sports team as he does every Tuesday night, and needing to pick up the kitty post surgery.
Since CDA is a 40ish minute drive from our place each way, we decided to make a day of it and hang out in town. I'm all for a bit of adventure and love to try out new things, so after dropping Slinky Sense off for her procedure, we popped into a newish coffee joint that wasn't too far away from the vet.
As I have mentioned before, our neck of the woods has been in the midst of a Californian relocation invasion for the past couple years. I will admit now that I am a bit grumbly about the invasion on occasion because of several factors, but honestly I know and adore many Californians, and one thing they got going for them is food and drink. Our Cali friends are beyond awesome at both.
So, when I saw that Kaffee Meister was a part of a San Diego family of small joints, I thought that it might be fun to give the place a try, as I've had some of my greatest life experiences and met some of the nicest folk in San Diego.
My first impression of the place was that it indeed was a taste of San Diego. The establishment was packed to the beams that lined the space's open concept gathering place with peoples. Now, I am a bit of an easily amused infant, so I loved just taking it all in. That said, my personal preference in coffee shop atmospheres is more of the academic, bookstore type of vibe, a place full of nooks and crannies and very little noise beyond the steam of the espresso machine.
However, the humans interacting roar was quite something to take in. The hubs and I plunked into to cozy chairs by the fireplace that a couple of older gals vacated and I went up to get us some bean ambrosia.
Some of the best coffee I have ever had in my life was roasted and served to me in San Diego, so I was a bit excited when I ordered my latte and the hubs a gigantic black drip coffee (he's retired military).
All around me was a plethora of sounds and smells. Freshly baked cookies were on a tray in front of me as the delightful barista took my order. Seriously, she had your favorite cousin kind of vibe. An older gentleman was across the room roasting beans, and an aroma of freshly roasted arabica joined the cookie scent in my nose.
The puffy coat brigade was in full representative force. In fact, I felt like a flip flop at a Jimmy Choo convention in my new ISU Bengals sweatshirt and jeans. Apparently puffy coats and tactical pants are the uniform of the cortado drinkers.
Not that I minded, as my face was alight in a smile of joy as the barista of awesomeness called my name and presented me with a white porcelain cup of gloriousness.
Just look at that leafy prettiness!
And the coffee itself was so, so yummy. Silky, just the right amount of acidicness. Yum....
The hubs just grunted his approval as I handed him his coffee and a freshly baked peanut butter cookie. We both sat and sipped our morning drinks.
That said, I can't say the space is really a relaxing destination, more of an invigorating one. There was a family on the couch next to us with a whole pile of hot cocoa drinking offspring. One of the youngins kept running into my leg, and since the offspring was a barely walking toddler, each time there was an incursion, the wobbly youngster got an encouraging smile.
Its mother kept apologizing to me, to which I assured her that I totally got it, as I had kids too. Plus, the little hot cocoa smeared youngling was full of smiles so how could I not be?
That said, after an hour of steady humans interacting roar, the hubs and I bolted. It's nice to see people interacting, but holy ear hand grenade that was a din and a half!
But the coffee was magnificent馃槉
And as most of the time, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's non coffee-flavored iPhone.
