Rosalia Rambles

Tag: coffee

  • Redundacy Review: Day 9, “Keep On Keeping On”

    (for context on what this series is, please see my Day 1 post here: https://rosaliarambles.wordpress.com/2025/06/11/redundancy-review-day-1-a-new-beginning/)

    Good morning roadrunners and coyotes, welcome to Day 9 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.

    Yesterday was definitely a day of me not feeling myself, but after a relatively early night and a long lie-in this morning it is a different story today. Having a brief hangout with some good friends at a coffee shop also helped my mood a lot – social connection is helping me a lot through this time.

    We had a somewhat in-depth conversation about the nature of career growth, and how it has really shifted over recent years. There is obviously the ever-looming issue of Generative AI in today’s world, especially when it comes to the creative arts, but in general I feel there is another “indie renaissance” taking shape right now in all sorts of industries.

    With big budget gaming going on the way it is and new IP in film struggling to make an impact, there is a lot of space forming for smaller scale teams in collaboration with contractors to make creations that create more impact with audiences.

    In a way, that is part of what inspired me to restart my writing work… even before getting hit with the axe. There is a disclaimer on my Home page that no Generative AI content will be hosted on this site, with the two main reasons being:

    1. I have integrity when it comes to my writing as my art
    2. I firmly believe human creativity and collaboration wins out every time

    Having tested ChatGPT once or twice, primarily as research into its capabilities, my main impression was being surprised at how well it can string a coherent story together from a prompt… but that was where it ended.

    What it pumped out felt soulless to me. It knew the beats of a story and how to put it together, but there was no love behind those words – no passion for the subject other than regurgitating what it could scrape off the internet.

    Emotion is what drives my writing, my lived experiences and mental misalignments come through in my work no matter what the subject is. It is the core of my writing identity and what I feel differentiates me from a GenAI tool. I try to convey the feeling behind my words each time, be it pain, joy, or absolute fury.

    Nonetheless, it is a scary time for creatives, especially in writing. But I will keep doing what I do, writing from the heart every day about the things going on around me and talking about things that bring me joy.

    Keep on keeping on, as it were.

    (I have been playing way too much Death Stranding lately)

    If my impassioned speech against the use of GenAI writing resonated with you, why not consider hiring me for a writing project? That barely restrained fury is not the only emotion I could bring into your work, and I would love to collaborate with other people on projects too.

    With a nearly full page rant against the current state of creative writing done, I think it is time to move onto the review. 

    Disclaimer: despite me wanting to pay for my friends at this cafe, the product I am reviewing today was received for free. Price will be considered in the review all the same.

    When meeting up with my friends yesterday, we started in Shrewsbury Square and were intending to see where the vibes took us. In a Discord conversation one of them had mentioned a venue known as “Daily Brews” as one they liked, and with it both in close proximity & being entirely new to me, it felt like the perfect choice.

    Given how extremely hot and humid it is in the UK, a cold beverage was on the agenda. They did have iced latte and whilst I was craving a caffeine hit but it did not speak to me.

    Cue my delight then when I decided to look over the milkshake page of the menu and saw that any milkshake can have a shot of coffee added to it for £2 – adding that to a chocolate milkshake gave me my usual mocha.

    First off, the glass it arrived in was extremely fancy, being almost like a full goblet. Whenever I picked it up I felt my hand automatically adjusting to hold it in an appropriate way and it made me feel powerful when I did… even if I was drinking a caffeinated milkshake at the end of the day.

    The glasses were not all the same though, so it was sheer luck that I got this one. Regardless, bonus points for the glass.

    The milkshake itself went down perfectly, being extremely chocolatey and refreshing in the heat. The thickness was ideal as well, not getting clumped into the straw at any point, keeping it smooth to drink without any awkwardness.

    Whilst my body definitely responded to the coffee shot I had put into it, it was not exactly the taste of coffee. When it comes to adding coffee to chocolate-based items there is an art in adding enough not to introduce the flavour of coffee, but to enhance the richness of the chocolate instead. This was the case here, which I do not consider a negative point against the milkshake, just a reflection of my taste.

    As for the cost, this was definitely more on the pricey end, even when considering luxury milkshakes in Shrewsbury, though it is with the coffee in mind.

    A base milkshake is £4.90, which I think is a reasonable price for what you get, especially if you get a fancy glass as part of the deal. That said, I think £2 is a bit much for a shot of coffee, especially when in my milkshake I could not taste the coffee all that much. 

    I do intend to return to Daily Brews though, and try more things out soon.

    That covers everything, thank you for reading the Redundancy Review today. I hope you keep cool wherever you are and have a relaxing day where you can.

    For more information on Daily Brews, visit this website: Daily Brews | Original Shrewsbury

    (for some reason Google says it is permanently closed… really hope it did not shut forever one day after I visited xD)

  • Redundancy Review: Day 2, “Adjusting”

    (for context on what this series is, please see my Day 1 post here: Redundancy Review: Day 1, “A New Beginning” – Rosalia’s Rambles)

    Good morning dalies and mentlegen, welcome to Day 2 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.

    I kept saying to myself yesterday that now the hard part is ahead of me: actually keeping up with writing this every day and maintaining the routine. My therapist has always said to me that it takes 21 days for the brain to start adapting to a change, so I guess that is the informal goal for myself currently.

    Trying to get back into my previous routine is definitely hitting hard as well. In the days before getting the official news of my redundancy I really slipped in getting out of bed at my usual time – got a delicious mocha next to me to help with shaking off the sleepiness.

    The mood has shifted as well. Whilst in the immediate aftermath I felt a lot of relief of finally having the axe come down; I feel a fair bit of melancholy today. 

    All of my colleagues are insanely talented people who were absolute joys to be around, and while we do have a Discord server for us to stay connected there is a twinge of sadness about the lost potential of what we had become capable of as a company, especially as we were on track to do some amazing things.

    In terms of my job search, I am intending to apply for a Producer role at Jagex today, working on their new game in the Runescape universe. Fully remote with travel into the office 4 days a year for team days, which sounds exciting.

    Also sorted out both my redundancy application and Jobseekers’ Allowance application yesterday as well. Filling out government forms can be extremely demoralising and degrading at times if you ask me, especially when it comes to repeating information across both of them, but whatever can help keep me afloat whilst I find my next role.

    That said, I am available for writing work of any variety still. If you need professional copy, script writing, or bespoke fiction I would love to hear from you and discuss your project – any experience would help me round out my portfolio and gain a better understanding of a wide range of clients.

    Now, time for us to move onto the review.

    “But Rosa! How are you going to ensure you have enough things to review for however long this series goes on?”

    I am very glad you asked, strawman representation of my audience that I just made up. There are two main factors that are going to keep this series going as long as it needs to. 

    The first of which being that I enjoy a massively wide variety of different activities like cooking, card games, video games, music, films, and plushies. I often refer to myself as a “collector of fine things”, and these fine things will ensure I do not run out of topics for review any time soon.

    The second factor being that out of all the things I enjoy, I am not above picking an extremely esoteric item to discuss, which segues us nicely into today’s review…

    Yup, I am reviewing a pot of instant coffee today.

    TrueStart is a brand I have only recently taken notice of, but upon searching out their story based upon what is written on the packaging they have quickly become my go-to instant coffee now.

    For a brief background on the company, they are what is known as a “B Corp”, an accreditation designed to offer distinction to for-profit entities that are striving to have a positive impact on people and the environment, maintaining transparency and accountability. Considering the coffee industry is mainly dominated by Nestle, it is refreshing to see a company actively striving for change within that space.

    That was partially the inspiration for making the switch to TrueStart Instant. I was a prolific drinker of Nescafe Azera specifically, and whilst it went down pretty smooth for an instant coffee I was on the lookout for moving away from the Nestle ecosystem. Cue a trip in Asda where their packaging caught my eye, and I put it in my basket – prompting what is now a permanent change.

    Outside of the care and concern for the environment, TrueStart Barista Grade Instant Coffee is absolutely incredible in terms of taste and strength. As someone who primarily drinks mocha due to the flavour of standalone coffee being a bit too pungent for my taste, I still appreciate a strong hit of coffee within my drink of choice.

    TrueStart definitely delivers this.

    Additionally as well, at least in the Asda where I shop, picking out TrueStart products does not break the bank – especially compared to the prices of other leading brands, letting me enjoy a smooth coffee flavour whilst knowing my money has gone towards a positive cause.

    I think that covers everything I want to talk about today, a bit more of a ramble than what I posted yesterday, but I hope reading it has made your day a bit brighter. Whatever you get up to today, I hope you have a good day. I know you will smash it.

    For more information, and to buy TrueStart coffee, follow this link here: TrueStart Coffee | Feel Good Coffee | B Corp | Carbon Negative