How do you like your coffee?

I love coffee. I’ve always loved coffee. When I was still only in elementary school, I would often (much to my parents’ dismay) drink Vietnamese iced coffee, which was a french drip coffee sweetened with condensed milk. What kid doesn’t like anything sweet?

At the time, it wasn’t just coffee, I really enjoyed the flavor. Loved it. I would get coffee ice-cream, coffee smoothies, I even had coffee flavored candy. At the time, those Starbucks’ Frappuccino drinks were heaven to me.

When I got my first coffee shop job at the Jitter Bean Coffee Company in Humboldt County, CA, I went into it knowing how much I enjoyed consuming coffee-based treats and drinks, but I didn’t necessarily understand all the intricacies of coffee. I knew some coffees tasted better than others, but it probably had more to do with whether or not the sweetener in the coffee was to my liking. But I didnt know things like the roast of the beans, how the espresso shots are pulled, the consistency of the foam, the list can go on and on.

The more I understood about it, the more of a “coffee snob” I became. My drink preference became less and less sweet, so I could taste the coffee better, and really feel out the body and aromas in my drink. Now I drink an iced latte – espresso and milk over ice. The tricky part is with that drink, you can really taste the nuances in the espresso, so its important to go where the espresso quality is good.

Because Jitter Bean is a local chain, when I’m outside of Humboldt County, it’s tougher to know where to go to get a good drink. In San Francisco, I like Blue Bottle Coffee Co, but there are only a few of those shops, so I tend to default to Peet’s Coffee and Tea where possible. But even then, there are a lot of places around the country that don’t have Peet’s. I’ve already talked about how I don’t much trust review sites, so other than just word of mouth, how do I go about finding a good coffee shop?

I’ve been traveling a lot lately, and frankly don’t have the time or patience to try a coffee shop just because it looks cool. So where do I end up? You guessed it. Starbucks.

Now I have to say: I don’t hate Starbucks. In fact, most any successful coffee business has Starbucks to thank for making espresso based beverages mainstream. They even provided the blueprint for the classic coffee shop environment. That being said, I don’t particularly love their drinks. But I do know that when I go to a Starbucks, whether I am in Orange County, or Nashville, or wherever, I know exactly what I am going to get. I know that while it may not be the best drink I’ll ever have, it also won’t be the worse; and trust me, there is a lot of bad coffee out there.

Brand recognition. Consistency.

As some of you might already know, Ramada Maingate at the Park is a franchisee of the Ramada brand, independently owned an operated. Some of our guests check in because they know and trust the brand, and we are proud of the product we offer; but as we are currently preparing major renovations throughout the property, our goal is to ultimately exceed your expectations.