LavAzza Coffee

By Lu

Ok, I'm listening to my sister to stop writing about food for awhile. Believe me, it's tough. I have all kinds of ideas but I can't write them fast enough. All these pacing, mixing it up, and being patient have been proven tough for me when it comes to this blog. It is crazy that writing can be so addicting! I love it and thank you ALL who have been reading our posts! In our short two months, we have received over 4000 hits! Wow, it was more than I could ever ask for. Even though, after watching "The Social Network," 4000 hits seemed so pathetic compared to what Mark Zuckerberg got on his first day of launching Facebook. But hey, like he said (in the gist of it) - most people aren't brilliant enough to come up with an idea like that and made it happened.

Even so, I am so proud of our blog. It has been truly an honor to have all of you as our readers. My sister and I have been having a blast cooking, eating, and writing! I really do need to hit the gym more often as all these eating, cooking, and baking can not be good for my waistline! This is madness!

My last six to seven months have been filled with ups and downs; yet, through writing, I have found my inner peace. It is extremely rewarding and at the same time, addicting, to be able to grab back the control of your own inner peace. You don't know how glad I am that all I had to do was write.

Some of my friends thought I have acquired another addiction, however. It happened just recently, actually; but, when you found something good, it didn't take long to get yourself addicted to it. My addiction is mostly contained in liking something so much for a period of time, until I get sick of it. Then, that's my rehab, and I'm cured.

Last year, I was out of my mind addicted to Quaker Oats' Oatmeal Square Cereals with the Hint of Brown Sugar. It's so good! I still like it, but I don't eat it now like I did last year. Last year, I would buy 5 to 10 boxes and ate it for breakfast and dinner every day. When it was on sale, I would just buy a whole bunch of boxes and horde them. Before Oatmeal Squares, I was also addicted to Greek Yogurt and I had to have it all the time. Now, I would still buy one or two Yogurts, but usually it would go bad unopened in the fridge.

Since I came back from Indonesia last December, I had been staying away from coffee. When I was in Jakarta, if you read my post of Excelso Coffee, I just lost interest of regular coffee if it wasn't Excelso. I just wanted Excelso coffee and I couldn't find it here. I would only buy coffee when I absolutely needed to have it and I would have to settle for Starbucks. Starbucks just did not taste the same anymore after Excelso. It just didn't have the same effect when they told me it was $3.25 for a tall latte. Nuh, I didn't have that same willingness I used to have shelling out the dough for Starbucks. I've just been sticking to my Darjeeling Tea most of the time now.

Lately, I've been making a lot of trips to the city of Chicago - back and forth, and good thing each trip was for fun. I'm so grateful for the friends I have and whom I have so much fun with. At the same time, living in the burbs and having to go back and forth to downtown at rush hours took its tolls. It was tiring. When we went for our outing to Branch 27 for Restaurant Week, I was dead tired. I just got back from a business trip to New Jersey the night before, and when I sat there after dinner, I just needed coffee so I could perk up and drive home.The coffee came, and it was served in a cute cup that bore the logo I sorta kinda recognized. LavAzza it said. I drank it and I was up. It was so yummy if coffee could be yummy. I couldn't get over how frothy that cappuccino was. It was strong and the flavor was just simply fantastic. I was up all night that night. I did brag to people at the table that caffeine never really affected me. I boasted that I could have 4 shots of espresso and I would go to sleep. Not sure if the cappuccino was that strong or if it was just pure psychological. I didn't think much about the dinner; but, I couldn't stop thinking about the coffee and wanting it more.

Then Tina told me that the hotel she works for is attached to a LavAzza store. I was like noooo!!! I never mind picking Tina up from work to go together to our outings, because her hotel is surrounded by my favorite places. Argo Tea is across the street (which I also love), and now I found out that, next to it is LavAzza! There's definitely so much motivation for me to come there and pick her up.

Seriously folks, if you're avid coffee drinker and you know a nearby LavAzza location, do try it. They're the real Italian coffee. They're every where in Italy and Europe probably; but in the US, it seems the locations that made it are only located in the major metros. I think many people did not know the brand; thus, ignoring it thinking it wasn't good. I was one of those people. I remember that there was a LavAzza drive thru by my place in the burbs, and I've never gone there once. That little drive thru place is thrashed and vandalized now. I almost cried because now I realized that LavAzza is the bomb! I would have killed to be able to go five minutes from home instead of having to make the drive to the city for a cup of Joe.They really do know how to make a good cup of cappuccino or espresso. They should know how really because they've been in business since 1895! The creaminess of the froth is just unbelievable. It is always thick and frothy. Some cappuccino froth feels like air and it has lots of bubbles in the froth. This one, just take a look at the picture on the side...look how creamy it is! They also offer any other varieties of Coffee drinks as well as Gelato, Panini Sandwiches, and the standard pastries you can find at a coffee shop. They also sells LavAzza coffee beans and coffee grounds.

Please - I beg you, DO NOT ignore a LavAzza coffee shop if you see one. It is worth a try and you will find yourself addicted like me.

UPDATE May 29, 2011

I like LavAzza so much, I make it at home now all the time! I don't wait to go to the city so I can get my LavAzza fix. I bought a can of their espresso grounds, and I make it old fashion at home using an espresso kettle. Then, I heat up the milk on the stove top and use a hand held frother. It works great! It gets better...my friend Tina, knowing how much I love the coffee, bought me LavAzza's cups and saucers so I can get the full LavAzza experience at home! How sweet, right? It's perfect to every morning.

My cup of coffee at home..