Starbucks Halloween Bearista 🎃

Starbucks is my fav coffee place and we all know I go crazy during PSL season but, I don't really buy most of the things they come up with. Mostly because they run out of everything I like on the same day it's released!! It's crazy!

This year these cute bearista (love it) bears have been very popular. They've released different types for different occasions. Not long ago, my friend Ceci gave me one that works as a cup topper (not sure if that's the name tho) and it's just adorable!! 

They released some cute Halloween mugs and tumblers but I never had the chance to see them... and, as soon as the pumpkin bearistas came out, some of my friends started sending me the pics and, I fell in love.

I was lucky enough to find it last week and I couldn't resist. It was the perfect treat after a booster COVID vaccine, along with a PSL.

Well deserved treat!

It is a bearista keychain of the bear dressed as a pumpkin holding a coffee. SO CUTE! It has a plastic hanger thingy and a green Starbucks tag strip. Everything is this kind of rubber plastic kind of material and, eve tho it's not super elaborated, the details are pretty nice.

The way to get them is throught the Starbucks Rewards card. You buy a venti drink and pay $99MXN. Dunno if they'll be available without the card. 

Packaging was pretty simple tho. It would've been cool to have a Halloween themed box.

I don't think I'll use it as a key chain tho, I kinda want to have it as part of my coffee station (which is still under construction in a way) decoration, all year long.

I think that's it for this short post. I really wanted to share this cutie. Let me know if you got it or, if you'd like to get it. 

See you next time~ 🎃  

Starbucks Pike Place Roast Coffee

 Some of you already know I love my Starbucks (especially if you follow me on IG). I mean, I love coffee in general but Starbucks is one of my fav places, despite what people can think or say about it. That's why I wanted to share this coffee with you guys.

I am a coffee lover but I'm no expert at all. I'm not someone who can describe notes, types and all that fancy stuff, I'll just share my opinion here along with info from the package and the Starbucks website.

The Starbucks Pike Place Roast Ground Coffee was a gift I recieved last month. It is a medium roast with chocolate & toasted nut notes. It says is 100% ground Arabica coffee. 

The smell is strong and delicious, you can definitely find the chocolate in it. Taste wise, it is not super strong, that's why I like to add more coffee than suggested 😅 and I don't drink it when I want my coffee to wake me up in the morning. It's more like a coffee you'd like to enjoy on a rainy afternoon. 

It's still pretty good tho, not bitter at all and the nuts and chocolate notes are defo there. 

I've only had it black with some sugar, because I do like my drinks to be sweet, but I've heard it's also good with some milk. Mayble I'll try it like that one day.

| September Blogging Challenge | Favorite Cafés ☕️

Everyone knows how much I love coffee and something that mom and I enjoy doing is to explore different coffee places. I do that with my friends too.
But even tho there are many that I like, I'm only going to share 3 of my favorite ones, here where I live and 2 that I loved back in Spain.

Let's do this! I'll start with the places I like to go often:

☕️ Starbucks

I think some of you already saw this one coming and I know many people have mixed feeling about it because, they don't like the coffee or think it is too expensive. It is true that there are cheaper coffees out there with great taste but, I just love my Starbucks. And I'm not only talking about their coffee, also love their matcha lattes, shakes and seasonal drinks as well as their food and bread. I have a thing for seasonal drinks so there are certain drinks I patiently wait for such as my beloved pumpkin spice latte and other pumpkin drinks in Fall and the cranberry white mocha in Winter.

They have coffees from around the world and have different brewing methods to enhace characteristics in each coffee. Plus it's always nice to costumize your coffee to your liking. You can find Starbucks almost everywhere!
Check Starbucks.com for more info.

☕️ Macadamia Gourmet

This is the place my friends and I like to go for seasonal drinks because their themed menus are the cutest, no only on Halloween season. We started going years ago when it was a very small coffee place, now it is a lot bigger and they offer meals and acoholic drinks too. I find cozy in a way and it is located in a nice place so even the view is kinda pretty.
Prices wise it is a little similar to starbucks and it's a very pet friendly place.
Go to Macadamia Gourmet for more info.

☕️ CachiBache Caffé

I really like the whole vibe this place has, decoration is also pretty interesting. They mostly have desserts and drinks but you can also have a few salty things. They have unique drinks such as the turmeric latte, which I love, coffee is really good and strong too. I believe they work with other local gourmet food brands so they have unique thingies. You can also play board games and enjoy live music in this place. Defo a good place to visit if you're downtown. Add to that prices are great and very affordable for yummy treats.
For more info, check their fb page: CachiBache Caffé

Now I'll move on to 2 places I went often and really liked back in Spain:

☕️ Pastisseria Crespo

This was the place I used to visit at least 4 times a week when I was in Spain. It is in La Pobla de Vallbona, a small town, 30 minutes away from Valencia.
I had my first coffee in Spain in this place and tried bitter kas for the first time so, it's special, hehe. They make their own bread and food is always fresh, they have good variety and food changes depending on the hour. You can go to have meals there or just coffee with dessert. Something I loved about this place is the attention. They always make you feel welcome. Thanks to Crespo I became addicted to café bombon (which is sweet condensed milk and espresso), and that was my regular order in there. I was also spoiled recieving free yummies on every visit. I couldn't find much info about this place online because it is in a very small town but it is really worth it and it has a special place in my heart and tummy, haha.

☕️ LiaoPastel

I only got the chance to go to the one in Vall de Uxo but there are many franchises all over Valencia and Castellón. The one I went to was really pretty and has a big variety of food, desserts and drinks. You can eat for a very good price and its a nice place to get some coffee and relax too. You know how much I love pretty things and most desserts were like that, pretty! And yummy too. I'd defo go back if I had the chance and it's a place that I totally recommend if you happen to go to Valencia. From what I've heard, the other cafés have a pretty decoration too.
Click here to check the one I went to, or here for more info on the other Liaos hehe.

I only chose those two places cuz I went there many times but honestly, Spain had so many good local coffee places with strong and delicious coffee for a very good price. I didn't even miss my Starbucks while I was there.

Mon's Kitchen: Bailey's Affogato

Coffee and ice cream, two of my favorite things in this world~ ♡

Bailey's recently came out with new ice cream and popsicles (at least I think they are kinda new...), I bought their ice cream because I tried Haagen Dazs' a long time ago and I loved it.
I have to admit that this one wasn't exactly my favorite so I decided to make affogato with it and it was totally worth it. I enjoyed it a lot more than eating the ice cream alone.

For those who don't know what Affogato is, it's an Italian coffee based dessert. Pretty much ice cream topped with hot coffee. It's something super simple, yet delicious.
Once the ice cream melts, it gives a creamy texture to your coffee, along with sweet foam. The combination is just too good!!
I just think they serve a lot less coffee when they make real affogato, my version has a full cup because, I love coffee.

I couldn't picture the ice cream before melting because, it happened
way too fast, hehe

For my affogato, I used the Starbucks house blend americano by Nescafé Dolce Gusto. This one was not espresso but, is one of the stongest they have.

I've had vanilla and chocolate affogato before but the Bailey's ice cream gives it a liquorish taste without having any alcohol. Perfect for those who don't or can't drink alcohol.

This is a super easy to make drink/dessert I've been enjoying lately. The fun thing is, you can make it using your favorite ice cream, as long as it's milk based. (I think).

I kinda want to try with choco-mint ice cream now~~~~