Starbuck's, Albuquerque, NM

I gained a new addiction in Albuquerque. Our first morning there, one of my colleagues picked me up (we were staying at adjacent hotels) and drove us to the meeting site, but along the way we stopped at a Starbucks for a brief meeting with some other people. She's not a coffee person, so I was surprised that she scheduled a meeting at a Starbucks, but once we were there and ordering, she requested something new I'd never heard of before. A Chantico.

Chanticos are new. Chanticos are wonderful. Chanticos are amazing.

It's chocolate. No, not cocoa, but drinking chocolate, steamed to a precise 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Then it's served in a special cup, tinier than the standard Starbuck's espresso single shot cup. One probably wouldn't want much more than this small sample—it's 390 calories as it is—and I'd venture to say that one would most likely die (blissfully, of course) if one were to special order a venti.

Now, I'm not a Starbucks fan. Aside from not really liking their coffees, they are an evil, expansionist, capitalistic empire. But now I have to tolerate them, because they are the only place where I can get my chocolate fix.