Barnie's Coffee

Do you have something from your past that you remember fondly? For me (one of the MANY things) it's Barnie's Coffee. During my college years in Pensacola, Florida--my friends and I would go to the Cordova Mall and enjoy the fine coffee from Barnie's. It was a small corner shop near a major 3-way intersection of the mall. I am pretty sure my friend Ruth introduced me to this wonderful ADDICTIVE STIMULANT that I now I adore...love...(sigh)

When Bry and I came down to Chattanooga (and technically it's Ringgold, GA---but it's soo close to Chattanooga, TN), we discovered the Barnie's at Hamilton Place. Last Christmas we went with our parents to introduce them to the fine beverages at Barnie's. Needless to say, I was sadly disappointed.

You see--in my head--I remember their coffee as being the best thing on the face of the planet. And perhaps back then (without any knowledge of the coffee possibilities out there), I was naive enough to think that this was the GREATEST THING on the face of the earth.

What I remember from the White Christmas was pure heaven...a drink that with each sip was a wonderful explosion of glorious sweetness on my palate. What I got? Kind of a bitter cup of coffee.

We decided to give it another whirl today. I don't know if they are going for the whole Starbuck's-burnt-coffee-after-taste idea...but that's what I felt I got. Mocha. It should be sweet and enjoyable...however today it was something that I endured like a school kid has to endure the cold while waiting for the bus on a January morning. Load up my backpack, because I would rather wait with little Timmy at the bus then drink that again. YUCK!

Maybe inside my head, the coffee fantasy was a sad, delusional state I was in...and not the reality that it really can't be that good. Maybe it's like my love life (or lack there of...)...there's no knight on a white horse...Angie, there's no EXCELLENT cup of coffee that brings tears of joy to your eyes.

In love with coffee? Yeah, I think I am.
Realizing that black coffee w/a shot or two of creamer and Sugar in The Raw is just as heavenly? Yeah.
Sad about this fact? Kind of.
Will I survive this? ...I've survived FAR worse.