The location of Espresso Yourself Coffee & Cafe couldn't have been any better, as far as what I…read moreneeded it for.
I'd just done a training run that began and ended at the shoe store across the street. At the conclusion, I was given a Paloma-flavored non-alcoholic beer, courtesy of one of my running group's sponsors, but what was I supposed to do with that? It was decided that we needed coffee.
(How ironic, by the way. Receiving a free beer from your sponsor.)
We seem to have gotten there just in time. There was already a healthy crowd of people who apparently weren't runners, based on their physique (lol jk), and several people from our running group arrived after we did. People apparently like this place.
The vibe is quirky and independent, with a lot of random decor, including a Blues Brothers poster and a sign declaring that the Teletubbies are welcome, and a lot of local-interest signage and artwork. People in the City love to remind themselves that they're in St. Louis. You never see anything like that in my native West County.
Truth be told, I wouldn't even go into a coffee shop unless someone else suggested it. It costs less at QT. But I figured when in Rome. I wasn't about to get a sandwich, in part because I wasn't hungry, and in part because I'm always wary of food from places that specialize in coffee, but I figured I'd try one of their fancy coffee drinks instead of just a regular coffee.
I went with something called a Zippity Do Da, or something to that effect. It was a latte, served hot or cold (I of course went with hot), with... if I'm not mistaken, peanut butter, honey and mocha. I liked the idea that there was a peanut butter element, in part because I couldn't imagine what that would be like. Peanut butter, even the welfare version you get at Aldi, is at least somewhat viscous. Was this going to be more like a milkshake? That could be gross, and grossly caloric, canceling out any benefit of my training run. Of course I was going to drink it anyway.
Turns out that the peanut butter was the element that was least prominent in the overall taste of this drink, though you could in fact taste it. I found it impressive that, if you concentrated hard enough, you could detect elements of peanut butter, honey and mocha. It's like when you purchase a fancy bottle of wine, from, perhaps, the aforementioned Aldi, and you really can taste bits of oak, vanilla, campfire and a slight nuttiness. No Diddy. These people are true coffee artists, the cafe equivalent of people who work at Subway.
I'm at the nearby shoe store every once in a while, so maybe I'll return. I might even cop a bagel.
