Local Flavor, Cedar City Edition: The Grind Coffeehouse

Skinny Violet White Chocolate Iced Mocha

Praline Smoothie

Looking at the pictures, it's hard to see much of a difference between these two drinks, except for the pile of whipped cream.  Will someone please invent taste-o-net??  

Since there's currently no such thing, it's incumbent upon me to make sure you have a sense (get it? "taste", "sense"? HA!) of the flavors of these summery libations from The Grind Coffeehouse in lovely downtown Cedar City, Utah.

After a hot and bumpy flight in the four-seater DA40, my pilot husband and I dropped our stuff in the hotel and headed out for some refreshment, dragging our Boston Terrier rescue, Sadie, along with us.  We were there for a weekend getaway and for me to do the Groovefest Run for the Music quarter marathon.

A trip to Cedar City is not complete without a visit to The Grind Coffeehouse on Main Street.  It's a picturesque and artsy cafe, with treats ranging from decadent to healthy and everything in between.  Scanning the chalkboard menu, I was intrigued by the Violet White Mocha.  I asked the server her thoughts on the beverage.  Interestingly, she was not a fan.  She said, for her, the violet flavor was discordant, and she found people were polarized on the drink: either loving it or hating it.  Aren't we all drawn to a little controversy? I know I am, so I ordered one.  Would I love it or hate it?  Either way, I wanted it have less calories, so I made it a 'skinny' by requesting non-fat milk and sugar-free white chocolate syrup.

As the server described, the flavor was odd at first, sharp and almost vinegary.  Sounds awful, doesn't it?!  Well, it got better.  The more I sipped, the more I liked it.  In the end, I really liked it.  The violet was a nice counterpoint to the extreme sweetness of the white chocolate.  That, along with having it iced, resulted in a refreshing brew I'd gladly have again.

My husband wanted to be surprised, so while I was getting my violet on, I unveiled a Praline Smoothie for him to imbibe.  It was thick and icy, topped with fluffly whipped cream, turning it into dessert before dinner.  My husband was thrown off by the hard bits in the bottom of the cup until he realized they were praline pieces.  He found the drink to be super sweet, almost too much so, but he managed to finish it off in a short amount of time. 

Don't know when we'll drop into Cedar City again, but when we do, I know we'll be back at The Grind Coffeehouse to try out their latest creative and refreshing offerings.