BrewBlog

Abraxas

I'm sitting in a cafe, enjoying my Sunday, and I just heard Black Magic Woman on the radio for approximately the 325456456345738th time in my life.  For me, the song isn't just another classic rock song I happened to hear while at the grocery store, coffee shop, mall, etc.  It is one of the fundamental building blocks for which I credit my passion for music.  I've thought about what has inspired me so much about music, what makes it such an important part of my life.  Hearing that song reminds me of one such root. 

When I was just a little Brewer, my mom used to play her records for me and I'd park myself next to the speakers and just lay there for hours.  My single favorite record of hers was Abraxas, from Santana.  The record is just one year older than me, making me feel old because its now considered a "classic".  I never tire of it and I still perk up when I here anything from it.  Whether it be those countless hours in front of the speakers or the many Elvis concerts I attended as a fetus, I'm just happy to have gained an appreciation for music so early in my life.

The Perfect Blend

Even though the coffee craze is old news by now, it’s still huge business, and for those of us that love coffee, it’s one of life’s great simple pleasures.  I’m a late adopter of the whole coffee craze and I didn’t even really start drinking coffee until 1997, when I got my office job.  Even when I started drinking coffee I didn’t understand why everyone was drinking all these espresso drinks.  It was easy making fun for people ordering a tall iced decaf latte soy blah blah blah.  How stupid, I insisted.  Now, I get those kinds of coffee drinks and have an espresso machine at home.  I’ve been hooked ever since enjoying my first sugary, caffeinated delight.
 
Even though coffee has been around forever, the industry today is about more than the bean.  The coffee house is as popular a hang out as any.  The smell of coffee, the cozy feel and camaraderie draw millions of people to these places.  But what makes one place better than another?  I’ve developed some criteria since becoming a frequent visitor to these places.  Good coffee is an obvious requirement.  Good food is nice as well.  Prepackaged sandwiches aren’t going to cut it either.  I want the chalkboard menu (something I've learned to appreciate because of my wife) and fresh cuts.  Free wireless broadband is a big time bonus.  Are these simple criteria so much to ask for?  Apparently it is, because there is only one place where I live that has all three of those things going for it.  Oddly enough, it’s called “The Perfect Blend Café”.  Odd, only because the perfect blend in my mind is the blend of coffee, food and Wi-Fi and I’m pretty sure that’s not what they intend to imply in their title.
 
The Perfect Blend is not a chain, not that chains are bad.  It has a local feel to it.  Where else can I get good coffee, free internet and good food?  Um, nowhere. Roseville is approaching 100,000 humanoids and there are hundreds of places to go if you’re hungry or thirsty.  But, as far as I know, the Prefect Blend is the ONLY place in Roseville with the magical combo of free internet, good coffee and good food.  “It’s a Grind” comes really close, but they lack the food aspect.  So, my wife and I regularly make the trek across town to support the one place that has figured it out, in my opinion.  Check it out.

The Perfect Blend Cafe is located at 9260 Sierra College Blvd. (corner of Sierra College & E. Roseville Pkwy.), Roseville, CA