Coffee – IndyScan.com

2023 Week 40 – Oui Oui Paris

What’s Going On:
Continuing from last week, when I spent a week in Zurich for work, it was now time to work my way back home with some side trips along the way.

I left Zurich HB (one of the coolest train stations I’ve ever been in), and in just over 4-hours, I stepped off the train in Paris.

I immediately discovered a restriction on Ubers for several blocks around the station & took a short stroll to find a cafe for a coffee. It was starting to drizzle, so I picked up the pace.

No English was spoken here, and the minimum purchase was about twice the price of my cup of coffee, so I had another (ha). After getting hopped up on caffeine, I found a local hotel, ordered an Uber, and waited under their awning.

What I’m Eating:
After settling in at my hotel, I decided to walk around before it started raining again. I was next to a canal that ran through this part of the city and found a little brewery on the other side, where I ordered a pint and a snack (fries, of course!).

I failed to realize until I was almost finished with my fries that the yellow mustard bottle was actually mayo, which I love on fries.

I used my Tom Bihn Side Hustle a lot during my travels. It’s the perfect sized bag to carry just the essentials, which in my case is:

iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil
Moleskine Notebook
Sharpie S-Gel pens (Black/Blue/Red)
Airpod Pro Gen 2
Reading Glasses
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite
Anker Powerbank
Assorted charging cables

I’ve carried this setup for several months prior to my trip when I head over to Sunking Brewery to blog, and plan for the upcoming week. It helps me to get out of the house when I need to tap into my creative side. It’s also the perfect setup for plane & train travel since it’s compact. It slides into my Tom Bihn Synik 30 for secure storage and transportation when not in use.

I looked around the area on Google Maps and found a Meister Berliner Kebap that serves a delicious Doner Kebab. I had been wanting to try one of these for a long time, and when I found one in Paris, my dinner plans were set! On the way back to the hotel, I stopped by a wine store and settled in for the night with a huge pita stuffed with all kinds of good stuff. The hotel was decorated with lots of world flags as the Rugby World Cup was happening in France while I was there.

The next morning, I packed up and headed to another station to catch my next train, this time to London. I can honestly say Paris just didn’t do it for me. The rainy weather didn’t help, but the place just felt dirty and depressing. There were homeless camps everywhere, and the traffic was awful. I was around the outskirts of the touristy area, and it was number to bumper.

Looking at Google Maps, it would have taken me over 2 hours to get anywhere near the Eiffel Tower, and it was only a couple of miles away. If the weather was better and I had another day in Paris, I would have walked, but this was just an overnight, and I was ready to move on.

Once I got to the station, it was time to wait. There was a (unusual?) delay because of a broken down train, so I was in a queue for about an hour while they got things back on track (pun intended), and I was off to London! More to come on that piece of the trip next week.

And Finally…
Hollywood Reporter Critics Pick the 50 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century (So Far). How many of these have you watched, and what’s your take?

2023 Week 12 – Birthday Weekend!

I’m not one to make a fuss about turning a year older, but I know people who are! This year my birthday fell on a Friday & after a super busy first quarter, I decided it was time to take a day off and enjoy a long weekend with family and friends.

We hit up our favorite BBQ place Thursday night to start the long weekend. Traxx BBQ is located n McCordsville. I did a little write-up about it earlier this year. This particular Thursday night the place was packed! I’ve never seen the parking lot so full, but the good thing about BBQ is that it’s already cooked, so you usually get your food quickly after you order. I ordered the Brisket and Smoked Sausage with Baked Beans and Mac-n-Cheese as my sides. My better half ordered pulled pork with Hush Puppies and Potato Salad. Scarlet Lane Brewery is located in the same facility, and it’s 21+, so we found a seat in there. It had less people noise, but the music made up for it. A little loud, but at least it was stuff I enjoyed.

Friday morning started with a tour of the Indiana War Memorial & Museum, something I have meant to do for a while now. The rainy weather was a good excuse to do something inside, and this museum did NOT disappoint!

You’ll need a solid hour to see everything; this free attraction is fantastic. They take donations at the end of the self-guided tour, and I encourage you to donate to keep this place operating. Every war, from. Civil to the Middle East, is covered, and all service branches are represented. The names of fallen Indiana soldiers are framed throughout the facility, and the sheer number is eye-opening.

We worked our way over to Mass Avenue and settled into a booth at Garden Table for lunch. Garden Table is a fun and hip place to have a lunch date or meeting. The menu is eclectic, and the atmosphere is very welcoming. I’ve been there three times in the past two months, and each time was just about perfect, from food to service. After lunch, we made a quick visit to The AMP at 16 Tech, The Garage (just window shopping), and Best Chocolate (can’t visit here without buying Truffles). As you can see, we were making our way around Indy to check out the new venues we hadn’t been to for a while.

I asked a co-worker, who knows her coffee, what a good shop would be for an afternoon treat, and she answered Bovaconti without hesitation. Bova (that’s what the cool kids call it) is in a former jewelry store in Fountain Square. It’s on the smaller side and had a good crowd when we visited mid-afternoon. I had a basic cold brew, but my date ordered the Spanish Latte, and it was one of the best coffee drinks either of us had ever tasted. A Spanish Latte consists of espresso, sweet condensed milk, cinnamon, and steamed milk. The condensed milk and cinnamon are a great combination!

Saturday morning arrived rather quickly and we headed down to Cincinnati for a surprise birthday party in Covington for my Brother-in-Law. Before heading out, we decided to add another stop to Bova before traveling down I-74. I ordered an Iced Spanish Latte with Oat milk this time, and my co-pilot had the same with regular milk. Along with the coffee, we purchased a couple of maple nut pastries which they warmed up for us. The combination of iced coffee and the warm pastry was one of the best things I’ve had for breakfast in a LONG time!

The Cincinnati area has a lot of interesting things to do and see. We stayed across the river in Covington, KY but had lunch with family at The Miamiville Trailyard in Loveland, Ohio. This place reminded me of Four Day Ray in Fishers, except this place was right on the Little Miami Scenic (Rail) Trail.

Back to Cincy and Over the Rhine to do some shopping. There are no public restrooms easily available, so we stopped in at Krueger’s Tavern and enjoyed a glass of while (and used the facilities). I really miss having lunch at Krueger’s when they were in Indy. The Malt Vinegar Aioli paired with their shoestring fries was delicious!

There are murals everywhere around Cincy, and some of them are quite good!

We found a place to stay just 2 blocks from the evening event called Pickle Factory Boutique Hotel. It’s basically an Air B&B with several units on the top two floors. We were emailed the access information the morning of our stay and everything went smoothly.

The rental was spacious with a living area/kitchen and a bedroom. I’d stay here again in a heartbeat. It’s reasonably priced and close to downtown.

Cincinnati is like another world. There aren’t many straight streets anywhere because of the Ohio river and the hills make for some fun driving in and around town. Getting there from Indy couldn’t be easier as I-74 has to be one of the least congested of the Federal Highway System. Rarely do you run into heavy traffic or police running RADAR, it’s always a relaxing drive that goes by pretty fast. As a German settlement, there are hints of the heritage everywhere and the food scene is just as good, or better, than Indy. If you’re looking for a weekend getaway, consider Cincinnati for a change of scenery, I don’t think you’ll regret it!

And finally… New tracking technology developed by StarChase fires a GPS tag that attaches to a car and allows officers to track suspects after the pursuit has been called off. This could have a big impact on vehicle persuites and possibly save some lives in the process

2022 Week 28 – Pew Pew

July 1, 2022, was the first day of Constitutional Carry in Indiana. This means if you’re 18 or older and a person not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm, you may legally carry a gun throughout the State. Previously you had to obtain a License to Carry a Handgun (LCH) through an application process. Yes, you had to jump through a few hoops like getting fingerprinted and visiting your local Police Dept to submit paperwork, but overall it was not a big deal.

In my opinion, the LCH process prevented lazy, law-abiding people from carrying firearms outside the home because it was too much work to go through the licensing process. But, unfortunately, bad guys will carry anyway because they don’t care about the law, so this had no impact on them. Law enforcement agencies are not happy about the new law either (rightfully so).

So we now have three types of people carrying firearms:

1. The bad guys, who have always carried illegally despite the law
2. People who were licensed correctly (and probably go to the range on occasion)
3. Individuals who can now carry as of July 1 but probably shouldn’t because they have no idea what they are doing or how their firearm works (let alone the legal repercussions should they ever discharge their weapon).

The third person scares me as much or more than the second. Time will tell if this Constitutional Carry law increases violence in Indiana. Some states have had similar laws for years with reportedly no ill effect. I hope my fellow Hoosiers can follow the same path and behave themselves.

We’re halfway through the year, and I’m still enjoying the weekly post format of the Blog I started in 2021. I hope you have been too. I usually collect ideas throughout the week and spend some time on Sat/Sun looking back on the week to create a post that’s usually out each Sunday evening (or earlier). It’s a great way to share things I find online throughout the week and gives me a reason to do some creative writing every week.

I touched on this back in 2015 at the end of my GoPro Review. One or Two spaces after a period when writing (typing)? Slate said to stop doing it back in 2011; The Atlantic was still discussing it in 2018, so will there ever be a consensus on this? Two spaces were the norm when typewriters were in regular use, which was a long ago. I guess it’s just a habit that’s hard to break. While writing this, I just noticed that double-tapping the space key on any of my Apple products will insert a period AND only ONE space after the period. I’m not sure when that changed, but If it’s the same on Windows, maybe it will be easier to change! Grammarly asks me every time I draft a blog post if I want to use one space or two. I chose one for this one 🙂

And finally… You might have noticed it’s a little warm out, with it being Summer and all. I’m not one for hot drinks unless it’s cold out, and the beverage’s heat will warm me up. However, I’m a cold drink fan, especially in the morning, and when it comes to morning caffeine, if I have any, it’s usually in the form of Cold Brew.

You can purchase Cold Brew Coffee just about anywhere and pay a small fortune, or you can buy something that helps you make it at home for a fraction of the price. My initial foray into Cold Brew was years ago with the Toddy Cold Brew System ($40). It did a good job and produced at least a 7-days worth of cold brew concentrate. The only issue was that it’s bulky, and you have to replace the fiber filters every couple of uses.

Then we converted to the KitchenAid Cold Brew Coffee Maker ($85). This little thing is built like a tank with glass, stainless steel, and a non-drip spout that makes dispensing your concentrate simple and mess-free. It doesn’t make as much concentrate as the Toddy (they now have a larger model that does), but the filter basket is made from a stainless mesh and is dishwasher safe, so there’s nothing to replace. After several years it’s going strong and allows me to keep a batch of cold brew concentrate in the fridge ready to go!

Indy – Henry’s Coffee Bistro

I’ve driven past Henry’s Coffee Bistro many times when working downtown. I had some work to get done before visiting one of my clients and needed somewhere to work for a while. Since I was driving down East St it seemed like a good time to check out Henry’s. The free parking on the north side of the building was a big plus since there was NO street parking to be found in the area.

I was a little surprised that the place was empty at 9:30 am and so was Mike the lone employee behind the counter. We had a pleasant conversation and he proceeded to tell me about the place and some of their offerings. I settled on a sausage and egg croissant and an Americano coffee.

The Bistro has a nice variety of food and drinks and the walls are covered with interesting artwork that can be purchased. The location on East Street just south of Mass Ave, and adjacent to the Nestle Inn, makes it a little hard to find the first time (if you’re not familiar with the area).

The sandwich was much bigger than I was expecting and it hit the spot. The coffee was served in a large ceramic mug and was perfectly prepared. Before I left another small group came in for what looked like a meeting/interview but other than that the place was pretty quiet and not busy at all. I hope it’s just because of the inclement weather we were having at the time because I’d hate to see this place go out of business.

I’m always looking for nice little places to tuck into and get some work done between meetings, or just to get out of the office and have a nice change of pace. I’ve had my share of meetings at the Coffee Chain’s and will always choose something local if I have the option. The vibe and atmosphere are always better.

Henry’s is open for breakfast and lunch daily and I’ve been told the place is pretty busy for Brunch on the weekends. If you’re in the area check it out and let me know what you think!

Henry’s Coffee Bistro
627 East St, Indianapolis, IN 46202

Local Starbucks Fights the Ghetto Latte

Now that it’s getting cold outside hot coffee is starting to sound good to me again. I usually only drink hot drinks in the winter while preferring cold any other time. I’ve enjoyed iced coffee all summer since its easy to make using a concentrate I get at the local store.

Remembering I had some money on my Starbucks account I stopped at the location near my office. It’s been a while since I’ve been in here because the service is well below average. They seem to dedicate all of their staff activity to the drive-thru and, even today, they were serving 3-4 people in the drive-thru to every one person in the store.

After I ordered my plain coffee & walked over to the condiment bar for a splash of half-and-half. Wait a minute, the stainless steel thermos is missing! The guy standing next to me saw what I was looking for and said “you have to ask them for it”.

So back to the pickup counter I go and I waited to get someone’s attention. The employees were too busy tripping over each other to get the orders out the little window to notice me standing there. After a few moments I got one of the worker bees attention. “Cream?” I asked. She was already reading my mind and grabbed a little paper cup and proceeded to pour out a couple of ounces of the heavy moo juice. I asked, “do you have one you’d like me to put out on the station”, thinking I would be a nice guy and do them a favor. “No” she said. “We keep it back here now so it doesn’t run out as fast”.

Then it hit me. The Ghetto Latte has gotten so bad they have to ration out the dairy to keep people from cheating the system. I assure you this is a real thing. I’ve seen it time and time again where people turn a couple of shots of espresso over ice into one (or in some cases when they ask for an extra cup) two Lattes saving themselves a few dollars in the process.

Way to stick it to the man cheap skate. I’d be willing to bet that’s your idling car parked crooked in the handicapped spot too. Bonus points if you’re talking on your speaker phone while oblivious to everyones personal space the entire time you’re in the store.

So once again, those who take advantage of things make it inconvenient for others who go with the flow. Say what you want about Starbucks. I know it’s over priced and there are better options out there. In this case it was a choice between office coffee (usually empty), a small Keurig we have in our area (meh, I don’t get the pod thing), or something slightly better.

I’m curious if this practice of keeping the half-and-half behind the counter is a isolated thing at this particular Starbucks or if this is a common practice at other coffee shops too. Anyone else witness a Ghetto Latte in the making? I’d love to hear your stories!

Starbucks VIA™ Ready Brew

If you are looking for a “quick” cup of coffee throughout your day the new Starbucks VIA™ Ready Brew is worth trying out. I’ve been a little critical lately of how my local Starbucks handle drive-thru traffic vs. the customers in their store… The new offering from Starbucks means I don’t have to go inside the store as often!

Ready Brew is made with Instant & “micro ground” coffee and available in two flavors (Colombian & Italian Roast). All you need is 8oz of hot (or cold) water & you’re in business.

How does it taste? Pretty darn good! I’ve had instant coffee before and it’s always been disappointing, but it was better than nothing. Now with Ready Brew I can enjoy my favorite caffeinated beverage while traveling and just as easily at home (if I have the time I’ll still grind my own beans and use my french press).

Starbucks VIA™ Ready Brew is available at all Starbucks store locations now and online at the end of October. 12-8oz servings will cost you $9.95.

Have you tried Starbucks VIA™ Ready Brew yet? Let me know if you liked it or not by clicking on the comments link below.