coffee adventures – hot or cold

In the 5+ months that we’ve lived here so far, we’ve only made it to the downtown area of our city a handful of times.  But each time we go, we make sure to make a stop at a place we don’t have in our little port district… Starbucks.  And each time I’ve snapped a picture (usually just with my point-and-shoot camera) to record the outing…  Hannah knows that Starbucks means getting whipped cream, so pretty much every picture I’ve taken shows her intently savoring her cup of whipped cream.  It’s definitely something we both look forward to and enjoy.  Ironically, back in the States I wasn’t a huge Starbucks goer, but that’s the main choice here if you to find a grande mocha. 

Since the closest Starbucks is a good 40 minute drive from where we live, last week I was quite excited to discover another cafe just a couple blocks from our apartment which also serves espresso drinks.  (I have seen a few big “coffee houses” here but they seem to be more like restaurants with some western menu items and a couple pages of brewed coffee options, but not necessarily espresso coffee)
So today I decided to go try out this espresso cafe with Hannah.  Because it’s about 22°C here (71°F) today, a couple cold drinks sounded good.  Unfortunately, when I tried to order an iced mocha for me and a green bean shake for Hannah, I was told that there were no iced drinks available because it wasn’t hot enough yet. 

And so I’m confronted with another difference here – people generally prefer warm or hot drinks over cold (including water) – even when it’s 71°F. 

So we opted to come back another time when we are more in the mood for a hot drink, or when it’s *really* hot outside and they start making cold drinks again.  Instead, we headed home to eat the ice cream in our freezer.  And as I walked home in the 70 degree weather, I was very aware of the fact I was the only person wearing a short-sleeved shirt, as opposed to being layered in shirts and sweaters.

so how do you like your drinks?  hot? cold? lukewarm?

(sidenote:  Starbucks in China carries *really* good scones – better than the ones in the US, I think.  They have a mung bean scone which is quite yum, shown above.)