Iced Beverage Musings on a Rainy Wednesday

I love a good iced coffee drink. Iced latte, iced chai, iced cappuccino. Yes, yes and yes. It's not just the drink that makes me happy. It's the experience. Whether sitting at the cafe sipping it as I read a book, talk with a friend, or people watch with my little mister. Walking down the busy streets or strolling in the park. An iced drink in my hand makes it that much more enjoyable. But buying a coffee every time I go out it simply out of the question. It sure gets expensive, and if you frequent cafés like I do you know that it's not just Starbucks that charges absurd amounts for a cup of joe. And have you noticed that if you want your drink iced they charge you more?? I didn't know cubes of frozen water cost so much. Sure, I have a thermos at home and can make my own to take with me. And this would work fine for hot drinks but for iced drinks, well, it's just not the same.  I want that feeling of the plastic cup in my hand. You know what I mean. Holding it from the top with your palm over the lid and the straw lightly leaning against your forefinger. A simple twist of your wrist to shake the ice around and you hear the dull clanging of the ice against each other and the sides of the cup, releasing the cool throughout your beverage. You know what I mean. Don't you? You just can't get the same feeling with a thermos. This, and the fact that I would like to use more things with sustainability to decrease the negative impact I am leaving on the environment, I was elated when last spring  I found, and purchased, a reusable insulated iced coffee cup at Starbucks. It looks exactly like a venti sized iced beverage drink. It is made of hard clear plastic, fully insulated and comes with a screw on lid complete with green straw. I'm not crazy about the fact that it looks like a Starbucks cup but it will do. Now I can make my favorite iced chai drink at home (thanks to CT Muffin selling the mix and then me finding it online for even cheaper!) and take it with me where ever I go. I am saving money and saving the environment, one drink at a time. HA!

This brings me to today. Lately the money has been tight, the weather has been cold and rainy, and the van has been out of commission.This means we haven't been to the park in a while and I haven't had my café time. So this morning I made my own café time. I baked some raspberry scones, make iced chai and sipped it in peace while Charles took his nap. It was pretty wonderful.