Coffee Shop Review: The Drowsy Poet

As you may have heard, the NFL lockout is over and football is back! I cannot express how ecstatic this makes me.

It is no secret that I love sports, especially rugby and American football. I can now rest assured that Sunday and Monday evenings will be filled with professional football!....and homework.

There really is no downside to the NFL lockout being over, except for the fact that I'm a Bengals fan. Yeah, I said it. I go hard for my city, but I won't deny that we have long-standing tradition of misfortune and, well, losing...

Other annoyances about my football situation this season?

1) Aside from being a Bengals fan, I now live in Indiana - Colts territory. Please excuse me while I dry-heave.

2) I have no television in my apartment! At least for a while anyway. I figured I could do without for a while as it would be a distraction, and almost everything I watch is on Hulu or Netflix anyway. It's a luxury I can do without for a while. Unfortunately, what I didn't think about when I made that decision is: a) the RUGBY WORLD CUP starts in September! b) college and professional football both resume. Whoops. Guess I'll have to find a local sports bar to chill in until I make some friends.

No matter the circumstance, I'm glad the NFL is back. It's mid-July. What's the best thing to do? Why, visit dear friends in beautiful Florida, of course!

What's even better to do? Discover local coffee shops in beautiful Florida whilst visiting those dear  friends!

As you can probably gather,  I decided to find some shops in Pensacola, Florida while visiting some friends in the area. During my stay one of them mentioned The Drowsy Poet, a Pensacola area coffee shop with three locations, a main location and two smaller branch locations. 

After driving through the heat and humidity to get there, I was hoping for a pleasant experience. I got it.

Walking in, I noticed that they had the feel of a retired Starbucks, complete with a "drive-thru" and a deep green, circular logo with Shakespeare's face in the middle. When I walked in, I was happily greeted by all of the employees. They seemed to be quite okay with me studying their menu first to look for a product unique to them - something I like to do at coffee shops. Usually when a customer does anything of the sort at a coffee shop they get a pretentious stare-down. Not this one.

After a minute or so I decided upon the Coconut Mocha Poetcchino and an ice water. Usually I avoid blended coffee drinks for multiple reasons: they usually contain way too much sugar and fat, they're crazy expensive, and I simply prefer hot, crafted coffee. I decided it would be a good idea this time though since I was on vacation and very hot from the lack of air conditioning in my automobile.

To my surprise, my drink was ready in about 90 seconds and looked absolutely delicious. When I tried it I was blown away. I've had Mocha/Coconut combinations in coffee beverages before - including the Starbucks frappuccino version. This drink takes the cake in blended coffees for me. It was delicious and the flavors were evenly balanced, not too much espresso, coconut, or mocha. It was an excellent drink.

Upon receiving my drink I decided to take advantage of a my being there and explored the place a little bit. I found that they actually roast all of their beans on site, which is awesome. I was impressed to say the least.

The food, you ask? The food was absolutely amazing. On my second visit, I had a Poet's Salad, a simple mixed greens salad with cranberries, mandarin oranges,  bleu cheese, and balsamic dressing. One word: Yum.

Overall? Love this place. I'd recommend it to anyone in the Pensacola area.