A Cautionary Holiday Tale: Going Back to the Peppermint Mocha

Can you ever really get too much of a good thing? Despite my thinking to the contrary, it turns out, you can-- especially if that 'thing' is peppermint mocha creamer.

First, a little background info: I started drinking coffee when I started doing the morning show back in Wisconsin, some 17 years ago, and I still need a couple cups each morning. Of course, I also need those cups to be laced with some sort of flavored creamer. Yes, I'm addicted. In fact, while I'm continually trying to reduce the amount of creamer I go through, my 'coffee' each morning is more like a cup of flavored creamer with a hint of coffee, not the other way around. And one of the flavors I loved was the magical peppermint mocha.

About ten years ago, when the flavored creamers that are so prevalent now first started appearing, I couldn't wait for the peppermint mocha creamer to be released. Back then, it was only a seasonal product, usually appearing in late October and disappearing again shortly after the first of the year. I tried to buy as much as I could, so I could make it last well into the year, and I was always bummed when it disappeared from the store shelves.

Well, a few years after that, the peppermint mocha makers, apparently noting that many folks shared my addiction for their product, went ahead and released the peppermint mocha year-round, meaning I could enjoy a cup of minty mocha-ness whenever I wanted. And, boy, did I!  I kept on drinking it in my coffee each morning until well past the holiday season, and into the rest of the year until I had pretty much burned out on it. Yes, I had consumed it so much and so often, not only was peppermint mocha not special anymore, it was now something I didn't want at all. The horrors!

So, after a couple of years away, I'm allowing myself to enjoy the magic of the peppermint mocha once again this upcoming holiday season. And while it may be a bit premature right now-- Thanksgiving is still three weeks away, after all-- I bought some over the weekend and enjoyed my first cup this morning. I guess the old saying, 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' really is true.

So now, peppermint mocha creamer joins the list of special holiday-only items to which I look forward, kind of like a peppermint martini (I apparently have a real addiction to anything peppermint), a Tom and Jerry, or a couple of special holiday ales. Do you have any special holiday foods or drinks to which you have to limit yourself as well?