Cardamom Coffee

Flavored coffee is a gift from the gods. Truly, it's so good! And I'm not just talking about the average coffeeshop either (although I'm getting to the point where I'd kill for a Starbucks. If they're really taking over the world - hey, here! Come HERE! We NEED you!) but about the goodness in a cup you can make in your very own home. I have had brief flirts with flavored coffee syrups before, nice but very very sweet and somehow fairly artificial. (Not that that's really a problem, authenticity is not really what I'm aiming for here.) Those bottles now mainly collect dust in the back of my cupboard.

I'm not really much of a coffee drinker. Which is a good thing, as I have a pretty sensitive stomach, nearly getting an ulcer last december. I've cut way, way down on coffee since then. However, I do enjoy a couple of cups a week. And yesterday, sitting at my desk, I really wanted a cup to go with my lovely chocolate bars that I wrote about yesterday. My timing was off - or perfect, as it would turn out - because the coffee machine at work was getting it's yearly checkup. Our coffee machine generally sucks - but the one on the next floor down is REALLY good. It even grinds the beans as you watch! How cool is that? Anyway, I happily went down a floor, and got my coffee. I use milk in my coffee, so I went back to where our own machine is to get a small pack. The service guy smiled and said "hey, try this instead!" and handed over... the best thing since sliced bread. (What a stupid expression really! I hate presliced bread - never buy it,except if I'm putting it straight into the freezer.)

I cannot find this on the web. Oh well. It's cardamom milk!! A tiny little pyramid of milk, flavored with cardamom!! (There was vanilla too, but this was much better.) I put it in my coffee, and instant bliss happened. I'll try to get my hands on a whole box of these, (because I really doubt my office will spring for the extra expense and order them) it's perfect for december. I don't know if cardamom is a christmas spice in other parts of the world, but in Sweden, it's very heavily associated with the holidays.

Speaking of the holidays, I'll be cooking a thanksgiving dinner for the very first time this year! Exciting! Now, I'll get back to my coffee. It's SO good that I never even got around to having it with my chocolate. I'm having another cup right now, but I stupidly (lazily?) used the coffee machine on our floor. Not as good. But still delicious, with the infused milk. I know that you can buy cardamom-flavored coffee, and you can indeed just flavor your coffee yourself, putting a few grains of cardamom right in with the coffee grounds, but it's not the same. That always ends up a little gritty for me. Mixing it with the milk makes perfect sense. I hope they make more flavors, too!