In My Head

SHIT!

I’m fucking going this time. I’m prepared to kill in order to go.

147xxxx:

At a rally in California, the Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin made the case for supporting the Republican ticket and then quoted Madeleine Albright, with the assistance of Starbucks. “I’m reading on my Starbucks mocha cup, okay?” she said. “The quote of the day… It was Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State and UN ambassador. … Now she said it, I didn’t. She said, ‘There’s a place in Hell reserved for women who don’t support other women.’” Well, actually, Albright (whom the crowd booed, FYI) said, “There’s a place in Hell reserved for women who don’t help other women.” Now, depending on your point of view, these two quotes are either basically the same or not the same at all, but either way, Albright wasn’t stoked on Palin using her quote for political gain.

“Though I am flattered that Governor Palin has chosen to cite me as a source of wisdom, what I said had nothing to do with politics. This is yet another example of McCain and Palin distorting the truth, and all the more reason to remember that this campaign is not about gender, it is about which candidate has an agenda that will improve the lives of all Americans, including women.”

147xxxx:

Time for Fall Phase 2!  We’re rolling out “Signature Hot Chocolates” with 3 kinds: (plain) Signature Hot Chocolate, Salted Caramel Signature Hot Chocolate, and Hazelnut Hot Chocolate.
Starbucks is calling these SHCs the european cousin to our original hot chocolate - which we make with mocha sauce, 1 pump vanilla, steamed milk, and whipped cream.
So how is it different?
We’re making the signature hot chocolate as a pre-made mix (real cocoaness + water + nonfat milk) and then steaming it to order.  Yes, we pre-make it with nonfat milk.  This means that if you want soy, 2%, whole, etc, you’re going to have to wait awhile for us to make a whole new batch of this stuff for your milk pref.  Therefore, if you ask for it with soy in the middle of the rush you might get an annoyed barista (we’ll try our best not to be, but eh what can you do).
Why do we use nonfat milk if 2% is our standard? Well, since it has this real all natural no artificial flavors cocoa, sugar, and vanilla extract it has more calories than expected.  Nonfat milk sorta evens out the calories.  If you normally don’t drink nonfat because its too watery, but don’t worry, the cocoa keeps the nonfat milk creamy. 
Starbucks is saying all over the place that it is “made with a rich mélange of four exceptional cocoas.”  To be honest, I didn’t know what mélange was.  I looked it up on wikipedia, which said that it was “the name of the fictional drug (also known as [the] spice) central to the Dune series of science fiction novels by Frank Herbert.”  Hm.  Then I realized that I forgot the accent over the e (drr) and learned that mélange was a fancy French word for mix.  Way to advertise our European style hot chocolate with some French.  Brilliant job, SB advertising.
To me they basically sound like a melted candy bar in a cup, but I haven’t tried it yet.  I can’t imagine drinking anything more than a short size of these because they seem so rich and chocolatyyy (anyone remember Chantico?)

Anyway, here’s the Starbucks description, calorie count for grande (16 oz) & short (8 oz), and our recipe for making them:
Starbucks Signature Hot Chocolate is a rich, creamy European-style hot chocolate made with our signature blend of four cocoas. This sophisticated hot chocolate is pure indulgence, made with no artificial ingredients - just four distinctive cocoas, sugar, natural vanilla extract, and milk! It is topped with fresh whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa powder.
Grande - 510 cal (430 without the whipped cream)
Short - 270 cal (220 without whipped cream)
Signature HC base + whip + chocolate powder

Salted Caramel Signature Hot Chocolate (the length of this is going to be hilllllarious to call out with any drink modifications: grande soy no-whip x-hot salted caramel signature hot chocolate)
This delicious sweet and salty combination brings together our rich, indulgent Signature Hot Chocolate and the flavors of buttery caramel and smoked sea salt. It is topped with whipped cream, a swirl of caramel and a sprinkle of our sea salt topping - a combination of artisan sea salt and Turbinado sugar from Hawaii.
Grande - 590 cal (510 without whipped cream)
Short - 320 cal (270 without whipped cream)
toffee nut syrup + Signature HC base + whip + caramel drizzle + sea salt (yes… sea salt)

Hazelnut Signature Hot Chocolate
We’ve accented our rich, creamy European-style Signature Hot Chocolate with hazelnut syrup to create a classic chocolate and nut flavor combination. It is topped with fresh whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa powder.
Grande - 550 cal (480  without whipped cream)
Short - 290 cal (240 without whipped cream)
hazelnut syrup + Signature HC base + whip + chocolate powder

Eh, I had to do the promochalk board for my store AND another one.  I guess other stores have caught word of my doodle skillzz.  I’m super glad that I’m not working today.  How did the launch go in the stores today? Barista/customer opinions?