By any other name, coffee tastes great

Look, Tricia Jo may whine about going without cheese. But it would be far harder to go without  coffee, as I have proven — at least to myself — many times when traveling in countries that don’t treasure what I consider to be good coffee (China, for example).

But that’s one of the great things about living in the Pacific Northwest, especially since the ‘90s when the espresso movement carried east over the mountains into the Inland Northwest. Those of us living in Spokane are particularly fortunate to have so many espresso shops to choose from.

The photo above is just one place. Brews Brothers , which is just around the corner from the STA Plaza. Pictured is the barista Rachel, handing me my usual drink, a 16-ounce Americano with a splash of cream.

By the way, bit of international coffee trivia: My New Zealand friend Chelsea says that Australians have a special name for what we think of as the Americano; they call it a “long black. ”