The Coffee Reviews Part III 
by: Dave King

Coffee Review #5 

Location: The Starbucks in the Chapters in Waterloo, at the corner of King Street and Weber Street.

Coffee: Since it’s been a while since I’ve made the trek up to this location, I have no clue whatsoever what kind of coffee I bought the last time I was there.  My suggestion: Get a coffee with the best personality profile.  Have you noticed that coffee shops like Starbucks generally have profiles for the blends of the day which describe the characteristics of the coffee?  This “personality profiles” are one of the best reasons to go to a coffee shop; they’re like reading the personal ads in the Toronto Sun.  Here’s a sample coffee profile: 

Gold Cost blend
Full-bodied; aromatic; fruity; winey;
bold, yet not overpowering

[Now, if you simply replace “Gold Coast blend” with the name Rhonda, not only do you have a personal ad, you also have a ticket to a good time.]

Service: It’s been good.  If you’re like me, you feel bad if you don’t talk to at least one yuppie university student a day.  Well, you’re in for a treat.  At this location, this very location, you can meet your yuppie quota for the day just by ordering a coffee.  When I’ve ordered a coffee at this Starbucks, they’ve been very nice yuppies.  I love the yuppies, primarily because I am one of them (the plot thickens).  Even if I don’t have a whole set of Ikea furniture or work as a barista, I like to think of myself as a member of the club.

Atmosphere: I enjoy the atmosphere at this location.  It has an area to read, talk, and do school work that has a view of the corner of Weber Street and King Street.  That may not sound attractive, but it does have an appeal.  When you’re sitting in there, drinking your grande dark roast, reading an excellent book, all the while giving regular glances outside at the snow-covered corner, you see that the view has a certain understated ambiance.
     As well, this Starbucks is inside of a Chapters bookstore.  I love being in huge book stores.  I love being able to purchase a book, grab a coffee, smile at the barista (female), and read.  What’s wonderful about excellent literature (provided it is excellent literature and not some pop culture fad such as The Di Vinci Code), is that each book brings a specific perspective to a certain aspect of life.  One theme in literature that has interested me has been human suffering and pain, and how humankind is to respond to it.  This ties in with this edition’s book selection.

Suggested Reading: There are many good books on human suffering and humankind’s response to it.  You can see aspects of it in The Idiot by Dostoevsky, Day (also known as The Accident) by Elie Wiesel, Lament for a Son by Nicholas Wolterstorff, and A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis.  However, I’ll suggest Where is God When It Hurts? by Philip Yancey.  His response to pain is that it is not an evil to be blamed on personal sin, lack of faith in God, or demonic attack to be cast out.  Pain itself is a gift of God; it is an indicator that something is wrong.  I feel this is one of Yancey’s best books.
Overall Rating: An 8 or so.  What other type of rating can you give a yuppie (again, of which I am one)?  If anyone wants to visit this location with me ASAP, let me know.  Box 138