By Mykel Vernon-Sebmach
Dedicated to Ryan Halpain — a gracious thanks for the inspiration.
PORTLAND, OR— A downtown specialty coffee shop experienced great disappointment when Daniel Collins, local office worker and regular customer, discovered his hand-crafted maple syrup had been mistaken for “a previous beverage” and was thusly rinsed.
Collins told our reporter that he had added maple syrup to his personal mug prior to ordering his usual quad cappuccino with almond milk. But upon delivery, he noticed that his beverage “seemed to be missing something special” and asked if the staff had dumped his mug before making his drink. Discovering that they had, Collins could not withhold his disappointment.
“When I took my first sip, I knew there had been a mix-up,” Collins stated. Having just returned from a week-long holiday, visiting his fiancée’s family in Vermont, he told our reporter that he had hoped the syrup would add “something extra” to his cappuccino for his first day back at work.
The maple syrup in question had been the product of an AirBnB Experience where visitors would personally harvest and bottle maple syrup directly from the source.
“I worked hard to convince my fiancée that staying in this AirBnB an hour from her parents’ home would be absolutely worth it. Who knows, maybe it could become a family tradition for us,” Collins said.
Crystal Lopez, who was responsible for register duties that day, relayed the thought process that led to her devastating judgement call.
“Could I have asked him about the rinse beforehand? Absolutely. But at 10:23 a.m. and nine drinks deep? I made the best decision I knew how,” Lopez said.
Ron Huppart, who was behind the bar at the time of the event, was supportive of Lopez’s reasoning.
“Honestly, we were under the assumption that it was yesterday’s leftover batch brew,” Huppart said. “It wouldn’t be our first encounter with interesting contents in his thermos.”
Despite the mild inconvenience, Collins told our reporter that he would forgive his local baristas for the error and hoped that this could be a learning opportunity for everyone involved.
“It’s an honest mistake, but that doesn’t change the way I feel,” Collins told our reporter.
If you laughed, support The Knockbox with a monthly donation through our Patreon.
Mykel Vernon-Sembach is a Southwestern golden retriever currently making your oat cappuccino and writes on her bathroom breaks in Portland, Oregon.
