We stopped at Spro in Hampden before going to see Harry Potter at the Senator yesterday afternoon.

We had actually been to Spro last weekend, where we first noticed its existence after having lunch at Little Grano (#38 on the Baltimore Sun's list of best restaurants).  I'm pretty sure it wasn't there in October when I took my parents to Hampden.  That day, I glanced at the menu, saw the first item (Santa Barabara Estate, $9.00), and thought, "Oh, that must be the coffee by the pound", and then just ordered a latte because that seemed simpler.

It wasn't until after I sat down that I realized that, no, that wasn't $9.00 per pound, that was $9.00 per cup.

So we came back, determined to experience Spro as it was meant to be experienced: high end coffee.  (To be fair, the barista was very nice even in the face of my ignorance, and did not in fact sneeringly direct me to a Starbucks, as I might have been tempted to do, had I been in her situation.)

Unfortunately, their Vac Pot was broken, so I couldn't get the Santa Barabara Estate.  So I tried the Finca La Tinta (Honduras, "Another powerhouse from Fabio Caballero and Moises Herrera starting off with aromas of licorice, violets, and cherry vanilla ice cream followed by notes of cooked apple and caramel.  Medium bodied finishes off with lingering spice on the palate.  Roasted by Ecco Caffe, Santa Rosa, CA - Aeropress"), whereupon I learned that I cannot distinguish $4.25 coffee from $2 coffee.  I could tell that it was better than the coffee at school, but beyond that, it just...tasted like coffee.  It certainly wasn't bad, and I was happy to drink it, but no, I could not detect any cherry vanilla ice cream.  I undoubtedly would have been just as happy with the $2.00 Yirgacheffe Natural.

Morgan got the Mexican Chocolate, which was very good (and the perfect temperature), but unfortunately cannot live up to the nostalgia of the Med or Moonstruck.

So we didn't find out whether I can distinguish $9.00 coffee from $2.00 coffee (the goal of the outing), but the preliminary results aren't promising.