Tag: mocha

Crazy Mocha Coffee Company – Pittsburgh, PA

On By Rob GIn Going PlacesLeave a comment

On one of my previous visits to Pittsburgh, I tried Crazy Mocha Coffee Company and I liked it. When I was going to be there last week, I noticed that there was one really close to the hotel where I was staying, so I knew I would be there at least once.

I went there on a Wednesday morning after a long walk and decided to try a Peppermint Mocha Frappe. The consistency was perfect, and the flavor was great. The peppermint flavor went well with the mocha, and was a nice and refreshing treat.

I decided to go with a chocolate chip muffin for breakfast from there as well. This was a very good muffin. The sugar crystals on top added a nice burst of sweetness. The inside part was nice and light, and this accompanied the frappe nicely.

On Friday morning, the weather was really cold (20 degrees with a wind chill in the single digits), so I didn’t want to venture too far from my hotel. I went back to Crazy Mocha and decided to order a white chocolate mocha frappe. This also had good consistency and a nice flavor.

My original plan was to have two visits to Crazy Mocha, with the second one happening on the day I left (Saturday). Since it was so cold Friday morning, I ended up there. And Saturday morning was no better. The weather was in the teens and felt even colder. I wanted to limit how far I walked, so I stuck with Crazy Mocha for the third time. I got a Peppermint Bark Mocha Frappe this time. The consistency was great once again. The flavor was really good, too. This was different than the peppermint mocha because they had a peppermint bark syrup that they used, so there was the white chocolate base in there.

Three visits, three really good coffee drinks. Definitely has me looking forward to my next visit to the city!

Mad City Coffee – Columbia, Maryland

On By Rob GIn Going PlacesLeave a comment

When I planned out my morning, I had two things in mind. First was to get breakfast at Rise, which I did. Second was to get a coffee drink at Mad City Coffee in Columbia, Maryland. I used to make my way to Mad City Coffee every few weeks when I lived in Ellicott City, but I haven’t been there as much since I moved into my house. They offer plenty of food and sweets, but I just haven’t tried them yet. I’ve only gone there for coffee. Their coffee is good, so I’m sure their food is good as well (and they always have a lot of people in there eating, so I am sure it’s good). Maybe one day I will just have it as a goal to eat there as well.

As you could see by the first picture, they take pride in roasting their beans in house. They have a nice, large roaster, and I’ve been there a couple of times when they were in the process of roasting.

They have quite a few offerings in terms of flavors. There are more than just these pictures, but I thought I would share some.

When it came time to order, I went with an old standard, the Mocha Frappe. They do a good job with this drink. The straw is a little skinnier than I’m used to, but there was no problem drinking the frappe. There was no iciness, so it had a nice, smooth consistency. This is made with espresso, and I could taste hints of the roasted flavor. One of the reasons I like my coffee drinks with espresso is because the flavor of the espresso provides a nice balance to the sweetness of the added flavors. I’m on my third punch card here, so this is a place I will continue to go back and visit from time to time. Definitely an easy way to continue to have a very Positive Day!

Saturday Morning at Filicori Zecchini – Potomac, MD

On By Rob GIn Going PlacesLeave a comment

I decided to drive down to Filicori Zecchini Saturday morning. I had a plan for the morning which involved leaving the house about 8-8:15 AM. It was a cold morning – 25 degrees, a little colder with the wind chill. It took awhile to scrape off my car and warm it up, but I was able to get out right around 8:15AM.

I enjoying driving down to Montgomery County because the best route for me to take is going through some rural areas and some very nice suburban areas. Good farm areas, and then some beautiful homes. There was one stretch of the drive where there was a leaf-fall of yellow and green. Imagine a waterfall, but with leaves. It was really neat to see, but I was driving and was not able to stop and take pictures. I just enjoyed the visuals as I was going along. There were leaves randomly falling here, there, and everywhere, but at that one spot, there were a couple of trees and the leaves were coming down like a waterfall. It made my eyes happy. My ears were happy because Sirius XM has 3 Holiday stations that I was listening to.

I got to Park Potomac a little before 9AM and decided to do a quick walk through of Harris Teeter. They had some really nice holiday goodies, but nothing I wanted to get right then and there. I then decided to make my way over to Filicori Zecchini.

When I worked in Baltimore, there was a Filicori Zecchini that was a 10 minutes walk from work, and I would go there every so often. I enjoyed going there. I’ve been to the one down in Potomac a few times as well and I enjoy going there as well. If I’m going to head over to Gaithersburg or Rockville, I usually rotate between Filicori Zecchini and PB’s Cafe. I decided on the Mocha Frappe. I enjoy this drink. The espresso has a deep flavor to it, and the chocolate is more dark than milk, so you get a nice, rich flavor to the Mocha Frappe. It definitely reminded me of why I like to keep coming back. They have some nice pastries there as well, but I wanted to hold off since I was hoping to get an early lunch.

After I left, I headed over to Cost Plus World Market. I got there before it opened at 10AM, so I walked through Trader Joe’s and Great Harvest Bread first. It was a very productive time in those shops, so I was amped that my morning was going as planned.

I then went on my way to where I was planning on going for lunch. This is where there was a snag to my plans. The place I had wanted to visit is no longer there. It was a place that served Katsudon and I was really looking forward to trying it. These things happen, so I had to improvise. I figured that I would try to go back to Common Kitchen in Clarksville and try something new. I got there close to noon, and it was packed with people. There must have been some type of event, because there were kids everywhere. The lines were extremely long, so I decided that I would take a pass.

I ended up picking up some Taco Bell, so it was not exactly what I was planning, but still hit the spot. I could have gotten hung up on not getting what I wanted to eat (my first or second choice), but I was just happy that I was able to have such a productive morning and that I was able to see some of the things that I saw. So it was still a very positive day for me, even if it didn’t work out exactly like I wanted.