Tag Archives: Peet’s

dental, trip planning

A dental appointment means we finally have actual travel plans!

On March 2, 2022, Bill and I have an appointment to go to Stuttgart to see our dentist, the venerable Dr. Blair. It’s time for our cleanings, which we forewent for two years before we finally went to see him last August. Some readers may remember that we combined our last trip to Stuttgart with a visit to the Black Forest.

We went to the Black Forest for a few reasons. First, our usual go-to hotel in Stuttgart, the Wald Hotel, was fully booked when we needed a room. Second, it occurred to me that we’ve been to Stuttgart enough times that it’s no longer a very exciting place for us to be, even though we both love staying at the Wald Hotel. Third, we used to live at the edge of the Black Forest, and went there many times for day trips. We loved going there, and I thought it might be fun to stay a few days. And finally, it was a great opportunity to spend a long weekend in Baiersbronn, where there are several excellent Michelin starred restaurants. It beat hanging out in Stuttgart, where we’ve been many times.

Well, we did have fun in Baiersbronn last August. It was so much fun that I thought maybe we’d go back to the Black Forest and stay in another area we visited for a day and loved. I looked at visiting both Oppenau and Wolfach, both picturesque places that are in different parts of the Black Forest. But then I read about the strict COVID-19 requirements in Baden-Württemberg and decided that it wouldn’t be that much fun to hang out in a hotel, or even a guest house, dealing with those rules. Plus, I just want to get out of Germany for a few days, since we have that capability. When I searched for properties in Oppenau, I noticed that I was also getting results for Strasbourg, France. I didn’t want to go to Strasbourg, though. Our last trip to France was to Strasbourg, exactly two years ago this month. February is usually when Strasbourg hosts an annual wine expo. Last year, it was canceled. This year, it was postponed until late March.

Then it occurred to me that we’ve never been to Soufflenheim, which is a town near the German border, famous for its pottery. I went looking for a place to stay in Soufflenheim, and noticed that one of the choices was a small hotel in nearby Sessenheim, which is known for a museum dedicated to the German poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The hotel, Auberge au Boeuf, has a restaurant by the same name with a Michelin star. The place gets rave reviews, especially for the food, but also for the rooms. They had one room open for the time we were visiting. It would cost substantially less than the room I was thinking of booking at the Wald Hotel in Stuttgart, and, as it’s just inside the French border, does not impose the same onerous COVID rules and restrictions that Baden-Württemberg currently has.

It’s not so much that I’m an anti-vaxxer, or anything. I have been triple vaxxed, and I wear masks when I have to. But I HATE the FFP2 masks with a passion, and while they could be required in France, at least if we go there, it’ll be a change of scenery. At this writing, masks and vaccines are required in France, but they have done away with the rule requiring people to wear masks outside, and it’s my understanding that a simple medical mask will do. And we have MISSED France so much! Bill and I didn’t visit France much when we were here the first time, from 2007-09, but this time, we have gone a bunch of times. We have come to love it. It’s almost like a second home, since it’s not far from where we lived near Stuttgart, nor is it that far from Wiesbaden.

Yesterday, I made reservations at the hotel’s restaurant for dinner on Friday AND Saturday nights during our visit. It looks that special. Also, Bill and I have been to Alsace enough times to know that it pays to make reservations. Otherwise, you could end up having a really terrible time at a poorly rated restaurant where the waiter asks you if you’re pregnant. Of course, that happened to me in October 2014, when I still colored my hair and wasn’t as nearly close to menopause as I am today. It’s doubtful that would happen to me in 2022, even though my face is still pretty smooth and, in fact, still occasionally has zits. Thanks, hormones. On another note, damn, we have really been here a LONG time.

I think we’ll have a great time in France. I suspect Noyzi will be delighted to visit the Hunde Pension again. Arran will be annoyed, but it’s only for four nights. Then, we’ll come home, and he’ll be pampered again. Poor guy used to love going to France with us, when we still had Zane, and it was easier to travel with the dogs. Noyzi is a good traveler, but he’s huge, and takes up the whole back compartment of the car. And hotels and rentals aren’t as keen to rent to people with big dogs… although I’ll bet Yannick in Ribeauville would be cool with it. We’ve stayed at his place many times; the latest was in January 2020. Alsace never gets old, but we do want to see other areas than Riquewihr and Ribeauville, and the like. Sessenheim is also a little closer to Nancy, where we visited in 2009. Maybe we can go there on this trip. Nancy is a beautiful city. It’s about a two hour drive from where we’ll be staying, but what the hell? We have no agenda, other than eating at the hotel twice. Based on what I’ve read, we could end up eating there even more times.

I’m looking forward to our trip. Hopefully, nothing will fuck it up for us. That includes anything that happens because of Putin.

Moving on…

We didn’t do anything special yesterday, except for use our new fondue/raclette grill. I got a few photos. It really is fun to use this grill, and it offers a nice change of pace at dinner. Bill is quite the gourmand.

And then, this morning, Bill decided to get doughnuts from our neighborhood bakery again, like he did last week. I think it’s because we finally have some Peet’s Major Dickason’s coffee to drink. We’re big fans.

The heart shaped Valentine’s doughnuts were especially yummy! Raspberry! And sweeter than usual. No, we didn’t eat them all. I look forward to a snack later, or maybe breakfast tomorrow.

So things are looking up. It’s nice to look forward to a dentist appointment. I think we’ll have a great time in France. Knock on wood, nothing will screw this up… I’m looking at you, Russian dictator wannabe Putin. I think the Georgians sang it best…

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Vegan chocolate… and more coffee from Peet’s!

A few months ago, I wrote a blog post about the high cost of importing coffee to Germany due to the Kaffeesteuer.  That particular post was very popular.  Despite my assurances that I don’t really like most of the German brands of coffee I’ve tried, many readers tried to sway me to another brand.  I really don’t mind paying a little more to get my Peet’s.  I wrote that post for people like me, who are missing a certain brand of coffee from the States.

Well, on November 23 of this year, I decided to order more coffee.  It was shipped on November 26th and arrived today.  Bill and I were pleasantly surprised by how quickly our package got through customs.  I was very surprised when we got our coffee today.  Because this shipment was a bit more expensive than the last one, I was expecting more customs fees and taxes.  To my great surprise, the “zoll” was significantly less today– 28,58 as opposed to the over 40 euros we paid last time.  I think it’s because this time, the package came through Saarbrücken instead of Stuttgart.  It looked to me like we weren’t charged the 19% value added tax.

We probably won’t need more coffee until the spring, but it’s interesting to note that the taxes and fees can be different according to who processes the package.  I’m looking forward to trying the new flavors as well as my old favorites that I ordered this time.

Speaking of new flavors, Bill went to the Real today to pick up a few things.  He brought home a couple of vegan Ritter Sport bars for me to try.  Since I’ve been slacking on the blog lately, I thought I’d write a post about these new products.  The Ritter Sports we got today are pictured below.

Ritter Sport vegan dark chocolate.  The purple one includes hazelnuts and amaranth.  The green packaged one includes quinoa and almonds.

 

I don’t usually eat vegan stuff, especially when it comes to chocolate.  I like milk in my chocolate!  But for the sake of a blog post, I’ll give these a try…

First, the hazelnut and amaranth…

Notice the dark color…

And the amaranth and hazelnuts.

 

The dark chocolate, hazelnut, and amaranth variety is very tasty.  The chocolate is rich and semi-sweet, but not bitter.  The amaranth provides a nice crispy texture that plays nicely with the hazelnuts.  It doesn’t make me stop missing milk chocolate, but this is a very nice treat!  I don’t usually like hazelnuts that much, either!

Next, the almonds and quinoa…

Looks pretty similar to the other bar.  This ought to be interesting, since quinoa has kind of a bitter aftertaste to me.

Here goes…

 

Again, the chocolate is rich, smooth, and semi-sweet.  I prefer almonds to hazelnuts, so I like the satisfying crunch and toasty flavor of the nuts.  The quinoa seems to provide a crispy quality, but otherwise doesn’t seem to provide a lot of flavor.  Again, a nice treat.

I think I like the almonds and quinoa better than the hazelnuts and amaranth.  Both of these bars are nice for your discerning vegan friends.  I recommend them, but still prefer a plain old Alpine milk chocolate bar!  Look for these new chocolate bars at your favorite vendor.

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The high price of importing coffee to Germany…

A couple of years ago, when Bill and I first moved back to Germany, I blogged about Germany’s dreaded Kaffeesteuer (coffee tax).  Roasted coffee beans imported to Germany is subject to a tax, which is why we get those handy ration cards for use at the PX and commissary.

I’ll be honest.  When Bill and I lived in Germany the first time, we used to get coffee sent to us through the APO.  It’s illegal to get coffee that way, but everyone did it.  Besides, even though we had ration cards that included coffee, I don’t remember ever actually hearing about the rule against having coffee mailed through APO.  I honestly think I was ignorant during those years.  We had no Facebook groups back then.  In any case, we were never busted, even though the post office officials could easily smell the beans.

I’ve heard that people still get coffee through the APO, despite reports that customs was cracking down on coffee smuggling.  I decided not to risk ordering coffee through APO because I didn’t want to get in trouble.  For the past couple of years, Bill and I have been getting by on the coffee we’ve been able to find here in Germany.  I really don’t like a lot of the local stuff.  I’m not wild about Starbucks, either.  I drink it only because that’s what’s closest to what I like.  I happen to be a diehard Peet’s fan, despite other people’s efforts to convert me to other brands.

Interestingly enough, Peet’s used to supply Starbucks with coffee beans when Starbucks was in its infancy.  Now, Starbucks is way more popular than Peet’s is.  I remain partial to Peet’s coffee. In our two years here, I’ve really missed having it readily available.  When we were in the States, I would order it directly from the company and it would arrive freshly roasted and smelling heavenly.  I even had a subscription.

A couple of weeks ago, I finally decided I wanted my Peet’s, dammit!  They had a special reserve roasting from Kenya that I wanted to order.  Since I was going to the trouble of ordering coffee from the States and figured there would be a hassle in getting it, along with a hefty duty to pay, I decided to order six pounds.  I actually placed the order a few days before it was sent to me because the items I wanted were roasted after I ordered them.  Postage for this order was $40.  I got an $8 discount on shipping because I ordered more than $100 worth of product.

Today is August 19, 2016.  It took my parcel nine days to get to me from California to Germany.  The actual trip to Germany didn’t take that long.  My coffee left the USA on August 12th and landed in Frankfurt the next day.  From there, another six days passed as my coffee was sent down here to Stuttgart and processed through customs.  I’ve been watching the package’s progress for days, wondering what would happen when it finally got to me.

Would it come to my doorstep?  Would we have to pick it up in a customs office or at the post office?  I was also a little worried because we’re going out of town this weekend.  I wouldn’t have wanted to miss the delivery if it was actually brought to the door…  

 

A couple of years ago, I ordered a sweater that came to me through German mail.  I ended up having to pay about 20 euros to customs.  I wasn’t prepared when the courier came to my door, so I had to call DHL and arrange for another delivery.  It was kind of nervewracking.  This time, I was determined to be prepared.  I’ve had cash for the anticipated duties sitting in my kitchen all week, even though we had no idea how much they would be.

Bill originally thought it would cost about 9 euros.  I figured it would be a lot more than that.  Turns out, I was right.  The coffee arrived today.  I spotted the mail guy carrying a big box and figured it was for me.  Once again, I was right.  I opened the door and he pointed to the green tag on the box.  That was the price of the duty.  This coffee smells heavenly, but goodness, it wasn’t cheap to get it here…

On that slip of paper is how much I had to pay to take possession of my package…

 

I definitely think it’s time for a cup of coffee, though.  And now that I know the process, I’d do it again.  Good thing I don’t have any kids in college!

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Coffee talk…

An interesting question comes up from time to time for those of us who live in Germany courtesy of the American government.  Why aren’t we allowed to have coffee shipped to us via APO?

Well, lemme tell you, when Bill and I lived here from 2007-09, we didn’t know about the coffee rule and we used to have Peet’s coffee sent to us all the time.  I know it’s coffee you can get in the grocery store, but we’d have it mailed right after a roasting.  More than once, the post office people commented on the heavenly aroma.  Not once did they ever mention the ban on having coffee shipped.

In the five years since then, they’ve apparently gotten a lot stricter about coffee coming through APO.  I haven’t tried to order coffee from the States, but I have heard that people have lost their APO mail privileges for having coffee mailed to them.  I have also heard that some people do it anyway and haven’t had any problems.  Knowing how great Peet’s smells, I’m not going to risk it.  That still begs the question, though.  Why is it a problem for APO users to buy coffee through the mail?

First of all, the rules…

Host nation custom regulations prohibit the importation of medication, vitamins and nutritional supplements through the Military Postal Service, in unaccompanied baggage and household goods.

The rule also applies to alcoholic beverages, animals, plants, cheese and cheese products, cigarettes and other tobacco products, coffee and coffee products, meat and meat products, and milk and milk products.

All incoming and outgoing mail is subject to inspection by German customs officials, and violators may be subject to fines and penalties.

For more information, see Army Regulation 550-175, U.S. Forces Customs Controls in Germany, or call the Stuttgart Customs officer at 431-2731/civ. 07031-15-2731.

I imagine the ban on cheeses, milk, meat, and plants have to do with agricultural risks.  The medications, vitamins, booze and supplements rules have to do with legal risks.  I’m not going to expend the effort right now to find out for sure.  When it comes to coffee, though, it’s all about money.

There is a coffee tax in Germany.

It’s called the Kaffeesteuer.  When you buy coffee in a German store, the tax is included in the price.  When you buy it in the commissary, at AAFES or in the Class VI, you have to present a ration card so they can make sure you aren’t buying up a bunch of it and selling it to host country nationals.  If you have coffee sent to you, you avoid both the Kaffeesteur and the rationing and that’s a no no.

The link I provided above offers a simple explanation of the tax, which has been collected since Germany was Prussia.  I’m sure the coffee tax is useful, since it surely provides revenue.  For those of us Yanks who have a favorite type of coffee, the tax is kind of a pain in the butt.  I wouldn’t mind paying the tax if it meant I could have my Peet’s.

I know other people think Germany has an equivalent to Peet’s coffee (or any other brand Americans like), but I sure haven’t found it yet.  I hate to keep buying coffee that doesn’t cut it for me.  Starbucks, which used to buy Peet’s coffee in its earliest days, just doesn’t thrill me, though I could probably live with their Pike Place blend.  On the other hand, I am not a coffee fiend anyway.  My husband is the one who is passionate about his coffee.  With me, it’s more of a case of only liking what I like, not that I can’t live without a good cup of joe every day.

I did find an interesting Web site that sells raw coffee beans in Germany and other EU countries.  You buy the beans and roast them yourself.  Given that my husband enjoys this kind of a project, I may try ordering from Rohebohnen.de just to see if it’s worth the effort.  According to their site, it’s not too hard to roast your own beans and it’s even less expensive to do so, since you don’t have to pay the Kaffeesteuer for raw beans.  Keep in mind that if you do choose to home roast, you can only do so for your private use.  No buying the beans, coming up with a great flavor, and selling it to your American friends!  And you’ll need a grinder, of course.  We recently bought a good one from Amazon.de.

Click here for an explanation of the home coffee roasting process…  It looks pretty easy, actually.  Maybe I’ll do it just to give myself something new to do.  Will have to update once I pull the trigger.

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