The Quest for Chantico

One of my fellow coffee connoisseurs (read, junkie) is a Russian friend/coworker of mine who’s drug of choice happens to be a Starbucks tall double Mocha. I opted-in to go on one of his frequent (read, daily) visits to Starbucks so I could try the Chantico.

To amuse myself, when I was placing my order I asked the cashier how so pronounce the name. He said CHAN-teeco (think Charlie Chan). YESSSS! I didn’t bother to correct him – I just wanted the confirmation that we’re so egocentric, Americans will rip off anything from another culture and bastardize it as our own.

My mini-review of the Chantico: my expectations of the quality of chocolate were much higher. But this is Starbucks after all, the kings of vanity coffee -- all the price, none of the taste. It actually tastes like Swiss Miss mixed with only 2 ounces of water instead of the normal amount. Not only that, but the lids they had manufactured for this mini-cup smell like a car engine, so it was like drinking concentrated Swiss Miss through a distributor cap. I theorize their lids were manufactured by injection-mold using a heavy petroleum-based plastic resin, and having worked in such two such factories when I was young, I know what this smells like. I had to take off the lid to finish it. Overall not a pleasant experience. But lots of people in blogland are raving about it. To each their own, eh?