Winston-Salem is HOT!

CoffeeCat isn't talking about just the mercury!

Chelsee's hosted live music two nights in a row! Keep your eye on this arts district treasure for more entertainment! Hint: you can do some shopping while you're there - Chelsee's has a neat collection of gift items and cards for one-stop birthday shopping.

Speaking of gifts, I'd like to pat myself on the back for buying coffee shop gift cards for my nieces' Christmas gifts. I've enjoyed some quality time with them over hot chocolate, milkshakes, smoothies, and (for me) iced coffee. As they say, 'tis better to give than receive  . . . but CoffeeCat says, if you can give AND receive, why not?? Shout out to my coffee shop buddy Catherine!

Check out today's Winston-Salem Journal business section for news on the rising price of coffee, featuring Krankies staff & customers. Mary Jane Skelly says it best: "Coffee for me is like a necessary expense. So whatever it costs is what I will pay for it because it is something that I need to function." Hear hear!

So, even if budgets are tight, remember you can buy coffee beans from most coffee shops and brew 'em at home. CoffeeCat likes this option when I am too groggy from a cat nap to get out to the coffee shops!

When stuck in a heat wave . . .

Stop, Drop, & Roll

Stop into your favorite local coffee shop,

Drop onto a cozy, comfy sofa or easy chair,

Roll a smooth, iced drink past your parched lips!

Coffee shop fans, this weekend threatens to break records with the temperature and heat index, but Triad Coffee Shops are breaking records of their own with the number and variety of entertainment options available. We have posted a sampling of them on the Events page, but there are sure to be others. Check out the Events page, the animal rescue events on the Howls & Meows page, and follow the links on our Coffee Shop Guide to find just the right event to put some cool fun into your weekend!

They came, they drank, they barked!

Mocha Mutt and Coffee Cat enjoyed a joint outing this evening - - the fundraiser for the Forsyth County based Sergei Foundation. Café Roché on Hawthorne Road was the perfect setting - plenty of patio space for the canine guests, who appreciated their own water bowl & frequent dog biscuit treats, plenty of staff and volunteers on hand to take care of the human guests and to answer questions about the Foundation, a wine tasting in the back and music in the front of the café made for a lively atmosphere that literally had "something for everyone." Daphne Nichols provided excellent musical entertainment.

And the winners are . . . .

Congrats to Krankies, Brew Nerds, and Cafe Roche - named The Best Coffee in Winston-Salem by Smittyheads! And a shout out to Smitty!
http://www.smittysnotes.com/best-of-winston-salem_2011.htm

Does life get any better?

How could life be better? It's a coffee and cat weekend. Friday: iced drink at Chelsee's during the monthly Gallery Hop and enjoying lots of artwork featuring cats in the galleries & gift shops. Saturday: volunteering at a fundraiser for Siamese Cat Rescue Center. Sunday: Relaxing in Krankies with coffee and writing about meezers (that insider language for Siamese!). The only way life could be better: if I didn't have to switch to decaf halfway through my writing. I am bzzzzzzzing with  good coffee vibes.

CoffeeCat hopes all my fans are enjoying life just as much as I am on this beautiful, HOT summer day. Next task: finding a sunbeam for a cat nap.

It's Coffee Shop season!

Or, as Coffee Cat would say, every season is coffee shop season!

Winter trips to the local coffee shop are a no-brainer - warm air, cozy sofas, hot coffee, baked goods - what's not to love?

Fall is coffee shop season - - with the days getting cooler and shorter, hot drinks, hot apple cider, pumpkin flavored everything - - you can't let autumn pass by without visiting your neighborhood coffee shop!

Spring -- yum - - fruity, cold drinks make their debut, and, with unpredictable weather outside, who can resist the predictability of climate controlled, comfy seating areas, cheerful, friendly baristas, and a wide selection of drinks and food?

Coffee Cat and Mocha Mutt are a little concerned that coffee shop fans will feel displaced in the summer time, and we just can't let that happen! Triad Coffee Shops have a wide & creative selection of iced coffees and teas, fruit smoothies (some tea based, some yogurt based) and many offer ice cream and milkshakes with ingredients from local creameries. Fans, it just keeps getting better in the Triad! Mocha Mutt can't wait to celebrate the summer season with a frozen hot chocolate - - the hotter it is outside, the better the frozen hot chocolate tastes.

Therefore, once again, it is Coffee Shop season. Take a friend with you to grab cool refreshment, or go alone and make new friends, see a band you haven't seen before, or join a book club or game competition you haven't joined before.

If you can't decide what to try, ask the barista - chances are, he/she have tried many of the seasonal menu items and can give you the "inside scoop" on delicious options!

Cheers!

Coffee Shop Hop

I recently enjoyed a weekday visit to a couple of Triad Coffee Shops. Usually, my visits are reserved for weekends and late evenings, so this was a rare opportunity to see another side of coffee shop life. The first coffee shop on the tour was a cozy, well-appointed shop with comfortable furniture, beautiful works by local artists, and a lively game of mah-jong in progress. While others enjoyed the social scene and a friendly competition, I settled into a comfy easy chair and sipped a yummy, iced chai latté (expertly blended by the barista!) and a chocolate chip muffin (warmed up to gooey goodness by the same very pleasant barista). These treats sure did make the pile of paperwork I had much easier to attack. Before I knew it, my snack was gone, I was slurping the last drops of my chai latté, and my paperwork was done. Yippee!!

It was time to move on to another coffee shop and more yumminess, and, of course, more paperwork. The next stop on the tour is a popular hangout for university students, professors, and employees. Given that it was a weekday afternoon, the coffee shop was more quiet than usual, but still had enough activity buzzing to keep me awake as I dug into yet another pile of paperwork. I didn't attack the stack alone, however. I had the company of a large, cold, strawberry smoothie. I had to be careful to pace myself, though, because the smoothie was so delicious I was in danger of chugging it down long before the big pile o' paperwork was done. But, all things come to an end, in this case the good (smoothie) and the bad (paperwork), and it was time for my weekday coffee shop tour to end.

The lesson of the day - - no matter how unpleasant the task that awaits you, it is much more bearable, perhaps even enjoyable, in a pleasant coffee shop environment with the tasty treat(s) of your choice. So, Coffee Shop Fans, pack up your chores, grab your coffee shop coins, and head out to try some of the awesome shops listed in our Coffee Shop Guide.