Visited our friend Helen today, who used to own. the sadly closed Dollshie's Coffee in Encinitas, and now owns and runs the happily busy coffee cart at Scripps Rancho Bernado Clinic. Helen and Janet hit it right off as fellow dog lovers (Dollshie was the name of Helen's dog). We spent many afternoons there, with Susie tucked under the table and a good book tucked in Janet's hands.
While Helen is more of a coffee person (after all, she's from Eritrea), she nonetheless remains the only barista who ever made tea to Janet's politely exacting standards. Janet helpfully bought Yorkshire Gold for Helen, and that became the secret stash under the counter. You had to ask for it. Think of it as a tea speakeasy.
Well, except for the time Helen tried to surprise Janet with Earl Grey. It didn't even get past Janet's nose. "Earl Grey is not black tea." Janet had a general dislike for flavored tea on a religious basis (The First Church of Pre-Heat the Pot, Please). And she really didn't like the bergamot flavoring in Earl Grey, possibly because so many people would give it to her when she'd asked for black tea. Heck, even Parisians, who after all are known for a certain gastronomical fussiness, would get confuzzled when she asked for "une tasse de the noir, s'il vous plait". Janet quickly learned to just ask for Lipton.
But Helen took it in stride. She had similar feelings about coffee, having once told me a proper cup took an afternoon to prepare. You start by roasting, you see. Call them sisters in caffeine addiction, perhaps the English and Eritrean varieties of same.
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