Starbucks #HappyHour BOGO Frappucino: White Chocolate? WTF?

Yesterday, after 3:00p, was Starbucks Happy Hour, a weekly Summertime promotion where a promoted beverage (type) will be featured at half-price or BOGO. One of my sister's went by and ended up bringing me a White Chocolate Frappuccino as yesterdays promotion was BOGO and I'd treated her to a free food reward last week.

Have you been playing the Starbucks Summer Game? I won enough stars (125) so far to earn a bonus Free Drink or Food Reward. Promotion ends 10/Sep and there's an alternate method of entry (AMOE) form.

This was my first time trying the White Chocolate version. (Hers, too.) The Mocha Frapp is my go-to frosted handcrafted drink at Starbucks. I did not like the White Chocolate Frappuccino. Neither did my sister. 

Weak flavor. Bland. Not saved by the whipped cream. Would NOT give the Mocha Frapp a run for my money. Would not buy, again (having been given one). Disappointed.

At least I didn't pay for it... I told my sister that the next time she's feeling adventurous and wants to try something new at Starbucks to please leave me out of it. Bring me a Mocha Frappuccino! Anyone?

#Starbucks #DarkRoast #KCups #TastingFlight #FrenchRoast #Sumatra #CafeVerona #Coffee #Beverages

Some time ago, I received a "Tasting Flight" (free sampler) of Starbucks Dark Roast Coffees K-Cups. I enjoyed them at the time, but never wrote a review of the product, so I'm rectifying this now.

If you like Dark Roast Coffee, you will probably like the coffees in this sampler: Cafe Verona, French Roast and Sumatra. I did. I love coffee, period. I will have a cup of almost any coffee, but I go back to the good stuff time and again. This sampler was good, all the varieties included were solid. Dark Roasts are too "strong" for some people, but I prefer a robust cup of coffee. 

Starbucks says the French Roast is its most robust --- and the coffee is bright & sharp just as I like it! Now, this is a good cup of coffee (prepared with a bit of sugar and a splash of milk, over ice because it's Summer). I could drink this all day. The other two varieties were good also, even if neither left a specific impression beyond "an enjoyable cup of coffee." Because this is sort of the point, right?

I would buy any of them again, though because I'm moving away from purchasing prepackaged K-Cups, I'd likely choose to buy the whole bean or ground version in a bag. I love single-serve K-Cup convenience, but don't like the fact that most prepackaged K-Cups can't be recycled. So, I bought a My K-Cup. Now I can enjoy a single cup whenever I wish without the eco baggage --- this constitutes a Win-Win.

Starbucks tends to make pretty good coffee, this sampler fit the bill.

#WeeklyRewind: That's So Last Week! #Deals #Coupons #Rebates #Freebies

I love both quality and value and have little interest in brand name (without one or both of the aforementioned characteristics propping it up). My shopping is geared toward finding the best deals on things I want, will actually use or use as gifts for others. Toward this end, I scored several fun shopping deals over the last week, including 1-cents Folgers Ground Coffee (11.3 oz plastic canister), 79-cents Ocean Spray Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice (64 fl oz bottle), a free V8+Energy Drink (12 fl oz can), a free Starbucks Hearty Brown Rice Salad, nine free 12-packs of assorted Coca-Cola products, five bags of "Cooked Perfect" Meatballs (14 - 20 oz assorted varieties) for $3.86 total and a 13 oz jar of Nutella for 25-cents, in addition to the other deals (like a free coffee grinder and free toy bowling set) mentioned previously in my posts over the past week. Not a bad haul!

But today begins another week, so I'm excited to see what I can find this time around. Tomorrow is Pi Day, so perhaps some free or cheap pizza at the very least? The hunt for deals is such a fun pastime!