“Can I get an iced grande decaf nonfat no whip white mocha?”
Those words felt so good coming out of my mouth yesterday. The last time I’d said them was the day after Christmas, in Treasure Island. in Las Vegas, Nevada. And that time, moment later, my chest and neck erupted in hives.
And while I was still able to tolerate the coffee at Urth cafe in January and February (the few times I was able to make it over there), I hadn’t touched coffee of any kind — much less my beloved Starbucks drink — until yesterday.
I know, I said the next food challenge would be tahina, but I didn’t have time to make it or the wherewithal to try a food as difficult as sesame by Tuesday, as I’d gone back and forth from LA to New York in the span of 6 days. You know what’s easier than making your own tahine? Drinking coffee. I also needed the caffeine, and was kind of in the mood for a normal 7:30am food, as opposed to beer or chicken soup.
This challenge really started on Monday night, though. Because in order to challenge the drink, I first needed to get the ingredients, and just in case there were traces of nuts or something, I wanted to know before I was already en route to my appointment.
I stopped in at Starbucks moments before closing on Monday night. I bought an Ethos water, because one of the rules of Starbucks is that you can use their facility if you purchase something — I figured that was the case for using their knowledge, too. Plus, who doesn’t like donating 5 cents to Africa? And as the barista rang up my tab, I asked him if he could read me the syrup ingredients for the white mocha.
Deliciousness.
He did me one better. He wrote them down. (and while my allergist has the list, the only particularly interesting factoid is that there’s coconut oil in the syrup). I then asked him about cross contamination, and he was so helpful. The nutty drinks are all prepared totally separately from the syrup drinks, on different equipment in a different part of the bar. But, there is likely cross contamination with soy from the soy milk, because they don’t try to keep those separate. In Canada, they also serve almond milk, so there is cross contamination with almonds at the Starbucks there. He offered to give me the ingredients in their whipped cream, since it’s homemade (who knew?), but since I’m a no-whip girl, I declined.
He was so forthcoming and so at ease, it was almost as though he’d heard of food challenges. For Starbucks coffee. Who knows, maybe he had. Either way, I was reassured.
This was probably the easiest food challenge yet. I downed the coffee — literally drank the whole grande in about ten minutes (it was so delicious, I couldn’t help it. It was like a party in my mouth, but an exclusive one with a red carpet, a swag bag, and great music — not the kind with a bunch of cookies, bad small talk, and a whole host full of obligations). I felt fine, energized, maybe a little overwhelmed by the caffeine, but nothing to write home (blog?) about. I was out of the office by 8:15. These challenges are getting faster as my doctor and I realize how long it takes for me to react.
I bounced home, and bounced throughout my severely jetlagged day.
Coffee really is an energizer. It’s insane. one cup of coffee, and I could do a 14 hour day, no problem. And the calories! Do you know what adding 400+ calories to your day feels like? It’s like energy or something…
I finally feel like myself again. It’s amazing. Now the trick is keeping it down to three times a week…or fewer, since the milk counts as a whole dairy, and in the debate between coffee and cheese, I’m not sure who wins.
Food Challenge Tally
Cindy – 4*
Allergens – 2
Up Next: Tahina (I think)
*Please note that my “failing every other challenge” rule has been disproven.
allergyepisodes 