I'm not settling for Lattes anymore

The best part of most of my days is hanging out at Espresso dell’Anatra (which by the way just got sold to a new owner. Aaron Duckworth, a seemingly pretty well known barista in the Midwest opened the shop in 2003 but has gone to work for a bigger regional chain as a vice president. I like the new owner though; he is an assistant pastor of a larger church downtown and is looking to get involved in this area to get some ministries going.) I spend most of the time working on office stuff or just sitting around and talking to people. It use to be talking to strangers but I have gotten to know all the regulars now and there is only the occasion new person to talk with.

I would come in and order my large hazelnut and vanilla latte in a large ceramic mug every day… until one day a couple of weeks ago. Mike, one of the baristas, was making a macchiato for some one else and offered one to me. I was intrigued by the drink because it was a real macchiato… not what you get when you order a macchiato at Starbucks. It comes in tiny cup, just a couple of ounces. A real macchiato is two shots of espresso with just a dollop of milk. The word macchiato means “marked,” because you mark the espresso with a little milk. I took Mike up on the offer and he brought me the tiny cup. I took the first little sip and was amazed at the amount of flavor I could taste just in the espresso. I had heard the guys that work at the shop describe all the little details of how the coffee had this kind of taste or that kind of taste but had honestly just thought they were making all the stuff up. Then I taste the flavors in the macchiato… a deep smoking woody flavor. I loved it. I finish the macchiato and then went to take a drink of my latte and almost gagged. All the sudden it tasted like I was drinking a cup full of flavored syrups. After that I drank macchiatos for a week, then I ask what others things were good. They made me a true Italian Cappuccino. This is a drink of thirds; two shots of espresso, the same amount of steamed milk, and the same amount of frothed milk. This is now my drink of choice. Since then I have also began to participate in the new coffee tasting when new stuff comes in. It is amazing how my palette is growing and I now enjoy coffee in ways I never did before. I also don’t drink near as much as I use to because I have notice that a couple of ounces of really great coffee is way better than pots and pots of just good coffee.

I think the same is true of the things I see in so many people’s lives. I am so burdened by realizing that there are so many people that settle for the mundane. Some of them do so because they don’t know that there is anything better out there and others know there is but just don’t want to try it. I feel like I am surrounded by this feeling that “good enough is good enough,” and I am fighting with everything inside me not to buy into it myself. I think ministry should be excellent, and life should be abundant… but I don’t understand why everyone else doesn’t. I would have never known how good a macchiato or an Italian cappuccino could have tasted if they hadn’t given me a free sample at the coffee shop. I didn’t have to take it but at least they offered and that made the difference for me. I think maybe we should be offering more and more free samples of life and excellence and see if we can get the people around us hooked. I pray that the people that know me would learn that a couple ounces of what God has for them is always going to be more satisfying than pots and pots of the mundane “good” life.