Citizen Coffee - Queen Anne

(Written for The Seattle Weekly.)

...The first cup of coffee I ever bought was a tall single ristretto nonfat extra chocolate mocha from Starbucks, the night of May 18, 1999. At least, that's the date that IMDB tells me I bought it, as the reason it sticks in my memory is that it preceded standing in line for the midnight showing of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. I couldn't tell you now whether it was the sense of accomplishment in my tentative break into the adult world of Coffee Drinking, or the fact that the boy I was completely enamored with at the time finally said hello to me that night which makes this memory stick with me. But for either reason, it does, and I recall that, in my mind the half shot of espresso I ordered would provide me with enough caffeine to get through the night, and the extra chocolate would mean I didn't have to pay the price of tasting it... Continue Reading: Spilling the Beans.