The Jury is out on these cupcakes

It's only been the past two years or so that I started drinking cawfee. I *love* the smell of coffee beans, ground coffee, and freshly brewed coffee. And so, I started a daily visit to Starbucks. It is quite habit forming, but on weekdays I only have one cup per day, in the morning to start the day. Weekends are another story- I like to brew a whole pot of cawfee and watch the sunrise on the mountains. I digress. Back to the daily Starbucks visits. As I stand in line to place my order, I usually stare at that danged display case of baked goods. I have a wicked sweet tooth to begin with, but I usually order a blueberry scone in the morning. Recently however something more alluring caught my eye. Cupcakes. Oh My.
I've been drooling at those cupcakes for several weeks now, contemplating how delicious they would be. Most times my visit has been in the morning, so a cupcake didn't seem right. Yesterday however was different. I made an afternoon pit-stop at Starbucks and there they were. The ultra-rich chocolate cupcakes, calling out to me. The barista girl asked what I wanted. "I'll have a tall Pike's drip cawfee, black..." and I hesitated for a moment and then suddenly blurted out "...and a chocolate cupcake too". The nice Starbucks lady handed me a little box that contained the most beautiful chocolate cupcake, capped off with shiny swirls of frosting. I caught myself drooling and tore into the box. I took my first bite off the top. The rich chocolate frosting melted on my tongue. I dug in with another forkful of the cake portion. And then my dessert world came crashing down. The cake itself was dry and stale. I was so disappointed. I had hyped myself up with such high expectations of how this cupcake would taste. I wanted to go back and complain. But I let it go and sulked in the corner. I glared back at the display case of baked goods, wondering if I just had the one that was left from yesterday, or if they were all old and dry. Or was it how all Starbucks cupcakes tasted? I wondered. I was distracted by a phone call and before I knew it I was lost in the world of work and soon my mind was off to more pressing matters.

I decided that I really need to give them another try, so tomorrow I'll try the red velvet one...or maybe the chocolate one again. I'll report back and let you know if they measure up. Until then, the jury is out...
-Rick Rockhill