I’m catching up on some writings and wanted to start with my visit to The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Pikesville, MD on September 5, 2019. Continuing with my seasonal flavors, I decided to go for the Pumpkin Spice Ice blended. This was a definite favorite of mine. The flavors were on point and the consistency was fantastic.

I have a bit of a bias when it comes to The Coffee Bean, though. When I lived in California, this was one of my favorite coffee places to go to on a regular basis. I would go on a walk or run with one of my sisters on the weekends and this would be one of the places we would stop at, depending on our route. So this has sentimental value, since I associate The Coffee Bean with seeing my sister and her family. And stopping for an ice blended drink after running or walking for 3+ miles felt pretty good, especially in the hotter months.

There are a couple of other reasons I’m a fan of The Coffee Bean. They tend to have specialty drinks more frequently than other places, so there is always a chance for something different or new. I also enjoy the way they make their ice blended drinks. The ice is crushed more finely, so there is less of a chance of getting pieces of ice coming up the straw. This makes it a much more enjoyable experience for me.

There was a store inside a hotel in Baltimore, but it was not a full store and had a limited menu. It was still good, but not the complete experience. I was very happy to learn about the store that opened in Pikesville. I’ve been there quite a few times over the past year or so (maybe once every couple of months). It is nice to go into a store and have the people recognize you, even if you haven’t been there for a couple of months.

This was an overall nice experience. I enjoyed the Ice Blended Pumpkin and would definitely get it again while it’s still out. I’ll look forward to the next batch of specialty flavors, and I’m sure I’ll be writing about that as well.