New Thing #359: A New Kind Of Scotch

I guess this is as good a New Thing to post about on Christmas Day as any. One of the first gifts I was given this holiday season was a new kind of scotch that I've never had before.

I should probably know more about scotch and the differences between scotch and whiskey than I do.

But, as is usually my M.O., once I find something I like I kind of settle in.

And for a long time Johnnie Walker was the type of scotch I drank when I was in the mood for it.

But, as this is the year for trying New Things, I gave Highland Park a try on Christmas Eve.

See, I'm not a huge scotch drinker.

But once the holidays hit, I love sitting back at night with a glass of scotch.

I'll have one sometimes during other parts of the year - but my scotch drinking is pretty well confined to the weeks between Thanksgiving break and the end of the winter break in January.

Growing up I remember it as a big company gift - my dad would always end up with a bottle or two of scotch at the holidays from another company. (And it was always the drink we left Santa on Christmas Eve. Hmmm….) And I remember, too, that sometimes his siblings would gift a nice bottle of something to each other. Maybe my grandfather too.

So this year, when my brother was asking about a gift I said, "At the risk of sounding like an old man, you can get me a nice bottle of scotch." He's not the one who gave me this bottle, though, so maybe I'm sending off a 'Give me a bottle of scotch' vibe these days.

This one looked impressive to me - you can see in that picture above how it was packaged, with that black case. It had a corked top, too - that's kind of classy.

And I liked it.

I can't quite put my finger on the difference between scotch and whiskey - scotch goes down a little more smoothly for me. (At some point I'll look it up and read up on the difference.)

But I do know it's a fun little indulgence for me during these relaxing holiday times.

As you read this, in fact, chances are good that I'll be kicking back with my dad and brother and enjoying a glass before our Christmas Day dinner.

And if alcoholic beverages don't do it for you as a Christmas Day New Thing, on Christmas Eve I had an apple and pecan tort that my father-in-law made. (Of course a former judge would make a tort! Right?!) I'm pretty sure I've never had that before. It was a little sweet - at least the pecan part was. But the apple part sure was good. I think I'd really like an apple tort.

Merry Christmas.

New Thing #327: A Starbucks Breakfast

I realize I've been writing about Starbucks a lot this year. You might wonder why, considering my strong preference for Dunkin' Donuts.

The thing is, since I like Dunkin' so much, I've done just about all there is to do there.

At Starbucks I have a routine - either a mocha or a hazelnut macchiato.

And I don't think of those as 'start my day' drinks - they're more 'afternoon pick-me-up' or 'end of day' drinks.

So on Friday I decided to try a Starbucks breakfast.

The way it goes at Dunkin' is once or twice a week I'll get myself a large coffee there in the morning along with a breakfast sandwich and maybe also a donut.

I know what I'm doing there.

The idea occurred to me this week to try a Starbucks breakfast when I went in for an evening Starbucks drink and saw their breakfast sandwiches sitting in the glass case they have there. They looked really good. I just didn't know what to get. (As far as Starbucks food, I've only had some of their food as dessert before - never the breakfast stuff.)

So on Friday morning I got myself a Pike Place coffee (a venti - also a pretty New Thing. Usually I get grande, and lately I've been getting talls for the evening drink), which was better than I remembered. (Though nothing will ever beat the Pike Place coffee I had in Seattle at the original Starbucks - that was an excellent, excellent coffee. But that could have been psychological.)

Then I ordered a ham and cheddar artisan sandwich. It was delicious. The bread was especially good. I might have liked a little something extra with it, but I played it safe and went just with the sandwich. (You can see my order in the picture above. That's when I was back in the poor lighting of my car on a rainy morning. If there's one thing I haven't improved at this year during 365 New Things In 2013 it's having the guts to take on-the-spot pictures. I would have rathered take a picture of the sandwiches in the glass case…but there were people around.)

So that's my Starbucks breakfast debut. It's slightly out of my way to go to Starbucks on the way to school, so it won't happen that often, but it might be something to try every so often on the weekends as an alternative to Dunkin' all the time.

New Thing #324: Jabby Brau

Remember when I told you about Jack's Abby, the Framingham beer makers? Well, my wife found another type of their beer on sale at the store recently.

So I gave it a try the other night.

If nothing else, 365 New Things In 2013 has expanded my tastes in beer.

And this is another one that's nice to know I'd enjoy if I ever found it at a restaurant somewhere.

It's true - there are some Boston bars that every so often Jack's Abby retweets who sell the brewery's beers. I would be thrilled to walk into some place and see it on tap.

But I digress.

This particular beer is called Jabby Brau - a name that I imagine has something to do with the flavoring or origin of the beer or something, but I don't really get.

I will tell you this - it's a tasty beer, with a little kick.

I think I still prefer the Smoke & Dagger, but this one is a little more like a casual drink I can have with a meal - the Smoke & Dagger feels more heavy, like a socializing beer.

They call it a "Session Lager". Maybe they mean the same thing.

I don't know. I'm no beer expert.

I just know it tastes pretty good.

New Thing #321: Caramel Brûlée Latte

I'm not much of a fan of peppermint or gingerbread, so when places like Starbucks come out with their holiday flavors it doesn't do a whole lot for me. But I have to admit, the caramel brûlée latte at Starbucks definitely caught my interest.

As did the fact that between 2 and 5 p.m. all weekend they were selling this drink or the peppermint mocha or the gingerbread latte 2-for-1.

And I definitely didn't want one of the other two flavors.

The caramel brûlée latte was very sweet. But it wasn't bad - and it provided me with the caffeine kick I needed for some Friday afternoon report writing.

It's not the healthiest drink, calorie-wise. Click here for that information.

Now, you may remember that I am in love with the hazelnut macchiato. It's the only Starbucks drink I've had in the past year.

And, truth be told, this caramel brûlée latte has not unseated the hazelnut macchiato as my beverage of choice.

But until they start offering the hazelnut macchiato in a 2-for-1 deal, if my wife's picking up one of her flavored Starbucks drinks, well, I'll be getting a free caramel brûlée latte.

And I'll be OK with that.

New Thing #293: A Bloody Mary

Believe it or not...I don't think I've ever had a Bloody Mary. It's not tops on my list for beverages...ever, really.

But Sunday afternoon (early afternoon) my friend Justin decided to start his day with one...so I decided to follow suit.

I figured, at the very least, it was a New Thing.

I'm not sure why I never usually order one. Probably the name. I'm not sure I'm interested in a 'bloody' anything.

Plus, as my friend Dave mentioned last week, if you're not a fan of tomato juice, it's not really the drink for you.

Tomato juice is probably fourth or fifth on my depth chart of juices (Orange, Apple, Cran-Grape [that's preferable to either cranberry or grape for me], then it's a pretty far drop-off to whatever is next). So if I'm mixing a drink, I'd go to a soda before I even got close to tomato juice.

Regardless, it was something to try. It had some olives stuffed with bleu cheese. It was fine.

But I switched to beer after one.

New Thing #289: McHale's Bar & Grill

When I planned my Sunday in New York to watch football, there were a couple of parameters we needed to work around: -The place we went to had to be near 53rd Street and Avenue of the Americas, which is where the bus drop off and pick up happened

-The Jets game would need to be featured prominently, with the rest of the football games available to watch

-The place needed to be relatively affordable.

I thought we'd be drowning in choices in that section of midtown.

But when I got off the bus, it took longer to find an appropriate place than I expected.

Finally, I found McHale's Bar & Grill.

My brother gave me some good advice - he didn't have a specific place to recommend, but he did say I'd fare better heading down towards 8th or 9th Avenue rather than spots close to Times Square.

So, getting off the bus with as much time to spare as I had on Sunday, I was able to scout the area for a place.

I popped into a couple of places around 10am, as the staff was getting ready for the day. It was one thing, I discovered, for them to offer the Sunday Ticket...and another to see for myself whether or not they had enough TVs to show the games. McHale's came as close as anything to offering what I was expecting in my mind. (And, I realized later, New York City - well, Manhattan at least - is not well suited for a large TV screen layout. Most of these places go up, rather than out, meaning their multiple TVs are spread out among multiple floors.)

McHale's is on 51st Street, right off 8th Avenue. Downstairs there's a bar with a few TVs. Upstairs is another bar with a larger selection of screens, including a big screen they lowered from the ceiling to show the Jets.

Turns out, it's a popular spot for lunch for the matinee-going Broadway crowd. (The Gershwin, where Wicked plays, is right across the street.) But that didn't interfere with our game-watching experience. We had the Jets on the big screen and one of the TVs behind the bar, with the Browns-Lions game on another TV and the Eagles-Buccaneers game on another. (There's also a back room where the Packers and Vikings games were on, but they were out of our sight in the other room.)

It wasn't all of the games simultaneously like I was dreaming of, but like I said yesterday, that probably allowed me to be more social with my friends, which is a good thing. (And a lot of Sunday's games didn't go my way...so it's better I was only seeing the occasional score on the crawl rather than watching them fall apart play by play.)

The food was OK...not great. (The highlight was a brussels sprouts with bacon appetizer.) The beer selection was fine.

But the best thing about our day was the fact that we could stay there for seven hours and not once did I feel guilty about taking up a table or the need to move on. (Part of this was due to a somewhat inattentive waitstaff. But that was OK with me on Sunday.) When I tried to find places in Boston where I could watch the Jets (before football on my phone!) I always worried about taking away a prime viewing spot or a television the bar wanted to use for a different game.

And I know I shouldn't feel that way, but certain places ended up making me feel that way.

To its credit...that never happened on Sunday at McHale's.

New Thing #270: Jack's Abby Brewing

Here's another thing that makes my wife so wonderful: Not only does she put up with Sundays that are dominated by me watching as much of as many different football games at the same time (side note: This is not as easy as you might think, and it is something I am really, really good at), but last week before the games started she told me, "I'm going to the store today and I thought I'd pick up a new beer for you to try. It's made in Framingham. You know, New Thing."

Sorry guys, she's all mine.

And the beer, incidentally, was delicious.

I had no idea there was a brewery in Framingham. Jack's Abby Brewing located in the southern part of town, best I can tell, and according to the box they - 3 brothers founded the brewery - do their best to use local ingredients. (They also grow hops [do you grow hops? do I have that right?] and crops on a family farm in Vermont.)

The box also says that there are seasonal brews, but the three core beers offered are Hoponius Union, Jabby Brau, and the one I had - Smoke & Dagger Black Lager.

Now, I'm not usually a dark beer kind of guy - but this beer was great. It was smooth, which is not something I can really describe about beer, but I know it when it happens, and this beer was smooth.

It was also large - the beer came in a 4-pack with half-liter bottles, larger than your average beer bottle. Or my average beer bottle, anyway.

I'm kind of thrilled to know there's such a quality beer product being produced right here in Framingham.

They offer tours on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Less than 100 New Things to go - that might have to happen within the next three months.

New Thing #261: Karma Coffee

There are good coffee smells and there are coffee smells that remind you of a dead animal....or worse. Unfortunately, the coffee brewed at Karma Coffee in Sudbury smells terrible.

It's that smell - which isn't always there, but which I've smelled enough to have associated with the place - which prevented me from trying out Karma Coffee before last weekend.

But Karma Coffee is tucked away behind the dance studio where my girls take lessons.

And, as I've told you, my new Saturday morning routine involves taking my daughter to her dance lessons at said studio.

So, based solely on proximity, all future Saturdays (and one past - I went there this past Saturday) will feature some kind of coffee from Karma Coffee.

It turns out the coffee may stink something awful - but it tastes something delicious.

The menu is relatively simple - there's coffee, cappuccino, espresso, iced beverages...for my debut I chose an iced mocha. (My only complaint - maybe I should have gone with something a little more caffeinated. I'm not sure the iced mocha cut it for my first coffee of the day -  I had traces of a headache the rest of the day. But I think that's my fault much more than Karma Coffee's.)

I've had iced mochas at both Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks. This one was - by far - the best I've ever had.

That's a promising start for sure.

The space is interesting - there's a little seating area in the front, and there's a wide open space in the back, including the big coffee-making machine. (I think. I'm not sure exactly how that works.) It's a local coffee brewer - it's not a big corporation. I think that's part of what makes it so good.

There are roughly 30 more weeks of dance practices for my daughter...and visits to Karma Coffee for me.

The approaching autumn weather also means it's about time to switch back to hot coffees.

That gives me enough time to explore Karma's entire menu - first hot, then maybe cold.

It'll never smell like a pack of ground french vanilla from Dunkin' Donuts...but if everything else on the menu tastes like their iced mocha, I think I'll learn to live with that.

New Thing #246: Mead

Way back at the beginning of the summer, when we were in Vermont and New Hampshire, my wife bought a bottle of mead. She thought it would be a fun New Thing to try.

She was right...except we didn't drink it right away.

In fact, we didn't touch the bottle we bought at the beginning of the summer until the last day of the summer. (Well, one of the last unofficial days - the day before Labor Day.)

I had no idea mead was still a thing. Isn't that what people sat around long wooden tables drinking from goblets in medieval days?

This was actually made in a meadery in New Hampshire (we bought it in Hanover, New Hampshire). It's honey wine fermented with vanilla beans...and it's pretty strong.

I described it as "wine for men." My wife called it "a combination of wine and scotch."

(And yes, I know men drink wine. But I don't love it. If wine tasted more like mead...well, maybe I'd drink it more.)

I couldn't have mead every night. (I'd either need to be living on a street corner near a convenience store or be the king of a 1300s nation for that to be socially acceptable.)

But I could mix it in as a rare alcoholic treat - especially around the holidays.

And to complete the experience, maybe next I'll work on getting a moat.

New Thing #192: All Star Game Merch

My wife and kids went a little All Star Game crazy for my birthday this year. No, they did not get me tickets to the game.

But they did get me some other All Star-themed merchandise.

Among the items - the cups you see at left.

Not pictured: the Matt Harvey baseball my oldest daughter insisted my wife buy at the Mets Team Store.

I have no need for a Matt Harvey baseball, but I like the way my soon-to-be-7-year-old daughter thinks: Daddy has been talking a lot about Matt Harvey. We should get him something related to this big interest of his.

This is a good sign for future gift-receiving by me.

But let me tell you a little bit about these cups.

The last thing I need these days is more souvenir cups.

I could open my own, um, souvenir stand I guess, with all the souvenir cups I have.

But the blue cup you see is a great cup. It's a sturdy plastic, and it's perfect for my smoothies. I got a clear one earlier this year with the regular All Star Game logo, and as you can see this one has the alternate ASG logo with an apple. I hadn't seen that logo before my trip to Citi Field last week.

The orange cup was a birthday gift. (Technically the blue cup wasn't a birthday gift, but my wife took me to the Mets game last week for my birthday, so I guess it falls into birthday gift territory.) The second-to-last thing I need these days is coffee cups - I have many of those too - but these kinds are useful.

3 out of 5 days a week during the school year I bring iced coffee to school. (I make a pot of hot coffee one day, then I throw the rest into a pitcher and put it in the fridge for about three days' worth of iced coffee. The fifth day I usually treat myself to a Dunkin' coffee.) I don't have many cups like this orange one with the straw - it's perfect for iced coffee. (I got one like it as a free gift somewhere but I dropped it and the lid doesn't fit exactly. So until I drop this orange one, this is a great addition.)

I used the orange one on Wednesday - it worked out perfectly.

There was one more All Star-themed gift. I'll fill you in on that next week.

New Thing #180: Jamba Juice

I guess there was a part of me, deep down in my subconscious, that was missing my alma mater after spending time at my wife's reunion. Because last week I had some time to kill between doing some work at school and needing to be back at the school to pick up my daughter from day camp.

So I decided to spend that time near Boston University, going for a run along the Charles River.

And as I drove there I developed a plan which worked out so well for me it's almost unbelievable.

I left work at about 12:30. I intentionally didn't bring anything for lunch, figuring I'd grab something near BU after my run. But as I drove from Belmont to Boston I couldn't think of anything healthy enough to not negate the workout I was driving all this way to do.

My mind kept coming back to burgers and pizza - two of my favorites, for sure, but not what I was really in the mood for on this particular afternoon.

I thought about what I would be having if I was doing lunch at home, and my mind went to smoothies. It was perfect - I convinced myself then and there that somewhere on BU's campus was going to be a smoothie place (you know, catering to the health-conscious college students) where I could grab something healthy after my run.

I kept an eye out as I looked for parking. Nothing. I walked to the Esplanade and looked up and down Commonwealth Avenue where there might have been a place. Nothing.

I ran from behind Marsh Chapel, down about a mile to a turnaround point, and then ran back until I exited near the School of Education. (I give these specifics for the BU readers. They'll know what I'm talking about.) I walked up a part of Commonwealth Avenue I hadn't checked out before...still nothing. Then I crossed the street in front of Warren Towers, and lo and behold, in the last place I would have expected to see one, there was a smoothie place.

It was a Jamba Juice, which I had never been to before. As much as I fully expected to find a smoothie place, I was taken aback when I finally did. This little storefront is located on the ground floor of one of BU's signature dorms. When I was there it was a little sandwich/bagel/coffee place, and I think it has also been a burrito place. It has never been a recognizable franchise like Jamba Juice, as far as I know.

I looked at the menu, but I wasn't really registering what I was seeing. I feel like I settled - I wish I had a chance to re-order. My smoothie was fine, but it was nothing extraordinary. I want to go back and get something a little different from something I could easily create at home.

I ended up having an "Orange C-Booster" smoothie. It was essentially a fancier, thicker orange juice. It's advertised (right there on the menu!) as a Vitamin C and zinc boost as well as an antioxidant boost, and it's made with orange, peach, and banana. (On this day 'peach' served the same purpose for me as 'avocado' on a food menu - it looks so good to me that whatever I ordered had to have that in it.) It was refreshing enough, and it held me over until dinner time, and I did feel healthy having it. So it served its purposes.

The smoothie was 350 calories. They sell 3 sizes of smoothie - "sixteen" (16), "original" (22), and "power" (30). I had original and I'm not sure I needed anything bigger.

I'm not sure how familiar you are with Jamba Juice, but they also have sandwiches. I'm not sure if I'm in the market for a sandwich that this would be my first stop, but it's nice to know it's there.

I can easily see myself swinging by Jamba Juice on my way to Fenway Park the next time I head to a Red Sox game and grabbing a smoothie.

Maybe it'll make me feel a little better about shoving my face full of crap at Fenway if I have a smoothie first.

New Thing #155: Orange Coolatta

It was so hot on Sunday. We were at an outdoor event from noon to 2pm or so - the hottest part of the day.

We were parched.

On the way to our next event, we stopped by Dunkin' Donuts for a quick drink - we needed something cool and refreshing.

I was all set to get an iced coffee when I pulled into the lot and came face-to-face with the sign you see at left.

And boy am I glad I made that decision.

I'm pretty sure I've had a coolatta before - but I think I've only ever had a coffee coolatta.

This one was an orange coolatta - although my wife tells me that the proper name is a 'Minute Maid Orange Coolatta'.

And after Sunday, I'll call it whatever the heck they want me to call it.

It was so refreshing. So refreshing. I can not stress this enough. Look at this thing - tell me it doesn't just look refreshing:

It hit the spot.

The only drawback?

A little bit of brainfreeze.

But that's because I just couldn't get enough and downed the thing.

I can't wait for the next really hot day.

'Minute Maid Orange Coolatta' for me.

New Thing #141: Beer At John Harvard's

Historically I haven't been much for the places that brew their own beer. But on Saturday evening we went out to dinner at one of them - John Harvard's.

There are a few John Harvard's locations - it looks like a couple are in upstate (?) New York - but there's one here in Framingham and another in Harvard Square.

We eat there (or, more accurately, get takeout from there) quite a bit, but I haven't had a beer there in years.

I don't think I liked it.

But on Saturday I did.

I had what they call a Bushwacker IPA (pictured). My wife had the Pale Ale. Both were really good.

I think my taste in beer has changed over the years. Matured, maybe. Or maybe I just have a better idea of what I like in a beer so I'm ordering more wisely.

I love Belgian whites. I don't know if I know exactly what that means...but I think I can pick something off a menu that seems like a Belgian white.

I'm not even sure the Bushwacker is the closest thing to a Belgian white they have - but I think I also like IPAs. (I don't even know what IPA stands for.) But I wanted to try it...and then I was glad my wife was trying the Pale Ale so I could have a taste of that too.

It was such a good experience I'm kind of looking forward to going back and trying some of their other brews - they have a nice page on their website showing the types of beer they offer. (I like the looks of the Kolsch.)

They also have jugs - primarily of the Pale Ale, but I wonder if there are other choices - to take home. I'm willing to explore that as well.

It's also opened my eyes to the possibility that I'll enjoy other breweries' selections. For a long time I didn't really like the beers at Boston Beer Works. Apparently, that's a chain. And there's a brand new location opening here - Framingham Beer Works.

Stay tuned for that New Thing...because I will be trying it out.

New Thing #89: Scoreboard Sports Bar & Grill

Last week I told you that I was going out to watch the first night of the NCAA Tournament. That was new, and as it turned out, we went to a place I had never been to before to watch the games.

It's called Scoreboard Sports Bar & Grill, and it's in Woburn, Massachusetts.

Unfortunately, that's a hike from where I live - but that was about all that was inconvenient about it.

The set-up is great - there are tables throughout the dining room that are surrounded by TVs.

The friend I was going with said it was a great place for the basketball, since they would have all of the games on multiple TVs...it was indeed a great place to watch the Tournament.

(Except for some inexcusable reason, they had a couple of TVs tuned to ESPN and ESPN2 for the majority of the evening - one was showing NFL Live and the other a cheerleading competition. That's bush league stuff for the opening days of the Tournament. I will say, though, that the hostesses were great about coming around and turning the TVs to whatever channel was requested. While we're on the subject of other sports during the Tournament, I guess this is a big place to gather and watch the Bruins, because they were featured prominently, competing with the basketball. The place seems to do a lot of cross promotion with the Bruins, but you'd think for the opening night of the Tournament they might have held off on the hockey.)

I'm not sure how great of a spot this would be to watch other sports...and the food wasn't the greatest I've ever had. I don't even know if they have the Sunday Ticket, but it's out of season so I guess there wouldn't be signage anyway. But the layout of the place was such that it might be worth the trip to watch the Jets the occasional Sunday I felt like taking a ride for some football.

The staff was nice - I was the first of my friends to arrive and I occupied a booth for more than one person for longer than I should have been allowed to. But they didn't hassle me. That's a big score in my book.

Woburn is too far of a trip for me to make this place a regular hangout. I left earlier than I would have liked because I had a long drive home ahead.

But it might be worth going back to the Scoreboard for the NCAA Tournament, in part because of an important fact I haven't mentioned yet: It's located on the ground floor of a Crowne Plaza Hotel.

So the next time I go to watch some basketball...I might just get a room and save myself the drive home.

New Thing #82: Reusable Starbucks Cup

I was in Starbucks not too long ago to get a(nother) hazelnut macchiato. At this point you might be thinking that I am a huge Starbucks drinker.

The truth is, I'm not.

I'm just addicted to this hazelnut macchiato right now.

But while I was there, I saw these reusable hot coffee cups.

And I figured, if I'm going to be be constantly drinking hazelnut macchiatos, I can at least be kind to the environment.

First, let's address the line between Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts.

Given the choice, I'd probably go Dunkin' french vanilla, or iced dark roast, over anything from Starbucks. (Even the hazelnut macchiato.)

Starbucks is a dessert drink. It's an afternoon pick-me-up type drink, not a first-thing-in-the-morning drink for me. Dunkin' is for long car trips. Starbucks is for sitting around the house on a lazy afternoon.

Such was the case Friday evening - after a long week, needing a bit of a kick to make it through the Friday night basketball games...it was the perfect recipe for a hazelnut macchiato from Starbucks.

And it was the first opportunity to use the reusable cup.

It cost just a dollar - I bought it last weekend on one of my hazelnut macchiato runs. It's not like that dollar investment is saving us money. Using the cup gets you 10 cents off the coffee purchase - you'd need to get 10 cups of coffee just to get your money back on the cup...there's no way it lasts for 400 cups of coffee to earn you a free cup of coffee. (It's a thin cup too - I wonder if it even lasts 10 uses.)

So it's definitely a purchase made to have an environmental impact...not an economic one.

Another problem - with iced coffee season fast approaching (I think...who knows really with the weather we've been having), it's not a cup from which I would drink an iced coffee (or hazelnut macchiato, as the case may be). The only reusable iced coffee cup they sell at Starbucks runs about $10...though the counter lady (barista?..also, I engaged her in conversation - that, too, is a New Thing!) says they're probably going to put out a similarly cheap reusable iced coffee cup.

The biggest problem right now is that on Friday evening my wife went to Starbucks with the cups to get the coffees. So I'm not even sure how to do the reusable cup thing. Do I have to approach the counter holding the cups high (chest-level maybe?) so they see them? Do I have to declare I have them when I walk in the door so they don't think I picked them off the counter then and there? And what do I say when it's time to order?

I'm thinking, "2 hazelnut macchiatos. And put it in them there cups. Please."

New Thing #71: Hazelnut Macchiato

My wife and I have a deal - When I make the purchase at Starbucks, she needs to tell me exactly what her order is, how to say it, and the conversation always ends with me asking her, "Is there anything else that they're going to ask me that I need to know?" I don't like standing at the counter looking dumb because I don't understand how to order at Starbucks.

So when I offered to pick up a couple of coffees Saturday evening, I was tentative when she said, "I think I saw a sign at Starbucks that they have something called a hazelnut macchiato. I'll have one of those with whipped cream."

I made sure she gave me an alternative if there was no such thing.

Right from the moment I walked in, though, there were multiple signs touting this New Thing. (That's a terrible picture of one of the signs at left...I kind of snuck the shot and the sun was in the wrong spot - what a disaster.)

I knew then that I had to get one too.

Here's the thing about hazelnut: I've always loved the smell of it. Really loved it. It smells delicious.

But I can't recall whether I've ever had it.

At Dunkin' Donuts I'm a plain, french vanilla, or dark roast kind of guy. But I'm always tempted by that hazelnut smell. And at Starbucks I stay pretty routine (see the lead-in to this entry for evidence as to why) - usually a mocha of some sort.

But for some reason (OK, we all know it's because of the New Things) on Saturday I decided to try the hazelnut macchiato - I got mine iced.

It was great - I think it was better than an iced mocha. Tasted more like an iced coffee rather than a chocolate drink, which I liked.

My wife thought it was good. She says she would get it again. Unprompted by me, when I asked her to describe it, she said it was better than a mocha.

So there you have it. Hazelnut macchiatos are better than a mocha.

I liked it so much I got another one Sunday. I have a feeling I'll be having many more this spring.

New Thing #65: The Ear Inn

The other New Thing from my weekend in New York came when we visited the neighborhood where my friend Justin (he of the many music suggestions) works. We waited for him at a bar not too far away from where he works, as I understand it.

It's called "The Ear Inn" - and the story behind it is pretty great.

I wish I had known all of this when we stopped by Saturday - I treated it only as a place to pass some time - but there's quite a bit of history to The Ear Inn.

The building is a Landmark of the City of New York, and how it got its name is the one thing I was aware of this weekend: When part of the 'B' from the neon "BAR" sign went out, rather than wait through a lengthy review for a new sign by the Landmark Commission, the establishment just became the "EAR". I'm not sure how long the "R" has been completely out, but the Ear name seems pretty well-established at this point. (Apparently there was also an Ear Magazine, about music, printed upstairs.)

That all happened in 1977 - before that, the bar had no official name. It was known as 'The Green Door'.

There's a tremendous history of the building dating back to the 1700s - I read about it at the website for the bar, which you can click over to and read yourself. A couple of my big takeaways - apparently the location of the house (Spring Street) was originally just feet from the original coast of the Hudson River, and it's one of the few Federal-style houses left in the city.

This is all very exciting to me.

I'm in love with the colonial history of Boston. But I think I slight New York on some of its colonial history. I think one of my New Things this summer will be to further explore some of the history of New York in that downtown area.

Thanks to the Ear Inn for inspiring me to do that.