Excavations of Claymore: The Almond Express

We sang Christmas carols and ate candies with nougat centers as white as snow. We drank hot cocoa as thick and rich as melted chocolate bars. Outside, the lights of towns and villages flickered in the distance as the Polar Express......

Wait, wrong express. I meant the Almond Express.


It was an easy mistake to make. The Almond Express featured chocolate and almond, normally blended in a latte. However, I couldn't resist modifying the drink to include cocoa instead of chocolate syrup after what Laura taught me last week.

The result was paradoxical. The chocolate and almond were smooth and soothing - indeed, the sort of drink they might have served the children on the Polar Express - but the espresso undertone was unmistakable. Yeah, not something you'd want to give a kid on Christmas Eve.

Mnomanoms insisted that The Almond Express tasted like cough syrup. The first few sips were the best, and my enjoyment of The Almond Express progressively, ah, derailed thenceforth, making this flavor a perfect option for cough syrup: one gulp and you're done. I only wish my mom had given me such yummy cough syrup when I was a wee one.