Have You Tried a Caramel Cooler from Caribou Coffee?

Caramel syrup, cooler mix, ice, whipped cream and caramel drizzle... it all adds up to a Caramel Cooler at Caribou Coffee. We declined dessert earlier tonight at Four Seasons Grille after a wonderful dinner, but then walked next door for a cup of coffee. My husband instead succumbed to the temptation presented by a giant poster picturing summer coolers, and now I do believe he's hooked!

Caribou Coffee is located at The Village of Waugh Chapel in Gambrills, about 3 minutes North of Crofton and perhaps 10 minutes east of Fort Meade. Until tonight, it was one of the few stores there which I had never visited.

I always assumed it was similar to Starbucks, but never gave it much thought since I'm not much of a coffee-drinker. Actually, this location of Caribou Coffee is larger than any Starbucks I've visited nearby, with a huge lounge area beyond the counter area as well as casual seating as you walk into the store. I'm guessing they must have wi-fi, since I saw several people with computers open as well as others reading or chatting.

Outside they have a beautiful patio area with umbrella tables, separated from the patio at Four Seasons Grille by a curving brick wall. On a beautiful evening like we had tonight, there were lots of people out there - including a few from Titan Cigar, located next to Caribou Coffee.

When I got home, I checked out Caribou Coffee's website and found more info than I could ever want to know about that Caramel Cooler my husband enjoyed tonight: Calories (420), fat grams, cholesterol, calcium, sodium, calcium, and caffeine, to name just some of them.

Then I started exploring the website a little farther and found they have 8 "classic" beverages, 6 cold ones and 6 coolers, 5 flavors of smoothies, and a "snowdrift." They also have 8 flavors of espresso, 5 lite lattes, 7 "wild" beverages and at least 7 teas. Each has its own page with the same type of info that I found for the Caramel Cooler. Oh, by the way, did I mention they do have coffee... and feature a different one each day?

Now I'm kicking myself that I never visited Caribou Coffee before tonight because it would be a very comfortable place to sit down with clients and recap the days showings. It really doesn't matter that I'm not a big coffee fan because chances are my clients will be. Even non-coffee drinkers will find a Caramel Cooler refreshing!

Crofton Area Restaurants and Carryouts