(See my other coffee related posts) – All of us coffee drinkers have ended up with containers of beans or ground coffee sitting on a shelf. It is not that we don’t use our coffee, we just are tempted by so many new flavors and blends.
That leaves us with the question of how long coffee will last before it goes bad. The article Does Coffee Go Bad? can answer that question whether you have beans or ground coffee to store. The short answer is a week for ground coffee and up to three months for beans if stored properly.
(See my other Food related posts) – Not too many weeks ago (late May) Central Texas was subject to severe storm that left many without power. That included us. Desperate for coffee on the morning of Saturday May 29 we set out looking for a location that had power.
We found the Illuminate Coffee Bar at 12129 RR 620, suite 102 in Austin. It had just what we were looking for – good coffee and a quiet place to sit, read, and wait for the power to be restored to our home. It had several tables available in their serving area. We found one with available AC power to charge our devices while we savored the coffee. In addition to coffee, they had breakfast items and sandwiches. You can check out their full menu.
Whether you are suffering from a power outage or just in search for a good cup of coffee I can recommend Illuminati!
The Twisted Sisters has a spacious customer service space. We chose some items to eat there for breakfast and others to take along and enjoy later in the day.
Their indoor dinning space was open and accommodated several guests. Even though it was a Sunday morning the cafe seemed to be very busy with both dine in and takeout customer. Several seemed to be regulars.
From this case we got one of the cupcakes in the pink wrapper (Tres Leches I think).
From this case we picked the Apple Coffee Cake in the top left corner. The Cupcake and Coffee Cake were saved to later in the day.
The real haul was made from this case. For breakfast we shared one of the Cinnamon Rolls at the top left and we each had one of the Ham & Cheese Croissants at the center top. i also took one of the Cranberry Scones on the bottom left for later in the day.
They offered quite a selection of food and drink. You cans see their menu here. I, of course, had a cup of coffee with my breakfast.
We were very pleased with everything we bought. The items were fresh and very tasty. I would certainly recommend stopping at the Twisted Sisters if you are in the Fredericksburg area.
(See my other food and location related posts) – While recently traveling through Tucson, Arizona we found the La Estrella Bakery. We are always looking for new bakeries or coffee roasters when we travel. There are two La Estrella locations in Tucson. We visited the one at 5266 S 12th AveTucson, AZ. This is a family owned Mexican bakery that has been in business since 1986.
The La Estrella Bakery doesn’t look like much from the outside, but they had a wonderful selection of baked good when we stopped by. It was almost noon on the day we stopped there so we were not expecting to have much of a selection. We were surprised!
We loved the variety of goodies available .
We each selected 3 or 4 items to have for breakfast and to enjoy on the rest of our drive.
We ended up with a box full of goodies.
It surprised us when we paid our bill that it all added up to just around $13. While I don’t expect to be traveling through Tucson very often, I would certainly take the time to stop at La Estrella again. Everything we tried was very good and fresh.
If you like pastries and are in Tucson, I recommend trying La Estrella!
While recently driving back from Nevada, we took a detour through Tulsa, Oklahoma. We came across Merritt’s Bakery while we were there. It doesn’t look fancy from the outside, but inside there were a variety of goodies awaiting us.
There are three Merritt’s locations in the Tulsa area. The one shown above is the Midtown location at 3202 E. 15th St., Tulsa,Oklahoma. Merritt’s came into being in 1979 when Larry and Bobbie Merritt bought The Cake Box.
As you can see from the image above, Merritt’s has a lot of bakery items to offer.
We selected a few items for breakfast and took advantage of a small seating area inside the bakery to sit and enjoy. Other items went with us to snack on while we drove home. There was a very nice selection and everything we tried was excellent.
As you can see from the image above, we picked out several tasty items. If you visit their ‘Gallery‘ page you will find a long list of goodies for order.
Tulsa is probably not a city we will travel through often. We definitely will remember Merritt’s though. Anytime we are in the locale we will arrange to stop.
(See my other Food and Location related posts) – I have liked Coffee for many years, Recently I have finally converted my wife to appreciate a good brewed cup as well.
While were recently in Nevada we looked for a new coffee roasters to try. We found a gem in Magnum Coffee Roastery. We visited their location at 1335 E. Sunset Rd. Suite A, Las Vegas, NV. Magnum is a family-owned business with the home-base at 1 Java Blvd. Nunica, MI 49448.
The Las Vegas location is spacious with a variety of coffee and tea for sale. We have become fond of flavored coffee and Magnum has some good ones. While were were there we purchased four flavors. The local favorite is ‘Vegas Golden Knights’. We also bought ‘Hilanger Grogg’ (butterscotch with a hint of liqueur), ‘Cinnamon Hazelnut’ (Cinnamon & roasted Hazelnut), and ‘Love Potion #9’ (Chocolate, Hazelnut & Cinnamon).
We have enjoyed all four and had ‘Love Potion’ again this morning. If you visit their website you will find a wide variety of both coffee blends and flavored coffee. At the time I am writing this post there are 114 choices of flavored coffee.
if you enjoy coffee and are near a Magnum Coffee location I recommend that you try some of their coffee!
(See my other Food and Coffee related posts) – While we were recently returning home from a trip to Disney World we stopped in Mobile, AL. A little searching on the Internet produced the Carpe Diem Coffee & Tea Co. as a popular local coffee house.
We spent two nights in Mobile and we liked Carpe Diem so much we visited it twice. They offer a selection of breakfast and lunch items, but we focused on their baked goods. It was busy both times we visited. Parking can be a little difficult, but a little patience usually yields a place.
Carpe Diem is located in what looks like an old house. It can be found at 4072 Old Shell Road, Mobile, AL 36608. It is directly across the street from Spring Hill College. We tried coffee and an assortment of baked goods on our two visits. We tried their Cinnamon Role, Blueberry Crumble Cake, Mississippi Mud, and White Chocolate Raspberry Scone. We were very pleased with it all.
We have begun to look for and doing flavored coffee. It is not always easy to find freshly roasted and flavored coffee beans. We were able to find some at Carpe Diem and have been very pleased. They offer several types of freshly roasted coffee beans – Medium Roast, Dark Roast, Blends and Flavored. We bought Snickerdoodle, Christmas Morning, and S’mores flavored coffees. We have been enjoying those since we returned home, but sadly all three are almost now gone. We may have to take advantage of they mail order service.
If you are in Mobile and looking for a caffeine hit (or some baked goodies), I recommend Carpe Diem!
While we were recently in Florida we stopped at Slate Orlando for lunch. We picked it from an Internet search and we were very pleased with the results. Slate is located at 8323 W Sand Lake Rd Orlando, Fl. It is a little hidden away.
They offer separate Brunch and Dinner menus. We ordered from the Brunch menu. I had the Southwest Burrito (Sausage, Cheddar Scrambled Eggs, Poblano Peppers, Salsa). It was very good. All in our party enjoyed their orders.
There were few people there when we arrived, but by noon it was beginning to fill up. The interior was spacious and modern. The waiter we had provided excellent service.
We plan to visit again the next time we are in Orlando. If you are in the area I recommend it.
Their selection was not as good as we would have liked, but we were there in the afternoon. It is best to order in advance to get what you want.
We were able to pick out a few that were very good. I can’t remember what the flavors were now but we liked them all. Cupcake flavors vary from month to month. Check their online order form to see what is currently available. At the time I write this there are 27 different cupcakes available for order at $3.60 each.
The Cupcakery opened in January of 2006 and sold more than 275,000 cupcakes during their first year in business. If you like cupcakes, check this place out if you are in the Las Vegas area.
(See my other Dessert related posts) – One of the places we visited the last time in Nevada was a Kneaders Bakery & Cafe location. The one we tried is located at 11271 Eastern Avenue, Henderson, NV 89052. This is a chain with 47 locations at the time I write this spread across the states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Texas, and Utah.
Kneaders began in Orem, Utah in 1997. From baking bread, their menu expanded. Now it includes sandwiches, soups, salads, and pastries.
They serve breakfast items including their signature Chunky Cinamon French Toast.
Of course, we were only looking at the pastries the day we visited. I know we tried the Cinamon Rolls and cookies. These were good. Kneaders does have a wide variety and it is a large cafe. The one we visited was busy.
On the whole, we enjoyed Kneaders. It is a chain though and the items we found at small independent bakeries like Gama Mexican Bakery, Le Paris Brest Cafe, and Chef Flemmings were better. That said, I would certainly visit a Kneaders again.
John's Notes 