I like your answer ST...... at least right up to the part where you pass judgement on others and act as prosecutor, judge and hangman. Is it always your way or the highway? Sheesh!

I should add a caveat to the whole Latte scene. The only ones that are worth a dern are the ones Starbucks makes. There must be something about the strong bitter original Starbucks roast that balances out the sweetness of the latte. Throw in a few extra shots and you have a drink which actually tastes like coffee.

I have tried lattes at Barnies and Bigbys and they are a disgusting sweet syrupy mess. Blech! 

I had a middle eastern client who flew for UPS all around the world and he was one of the most gracious persons I have ever met. Before we conducted any business we had to sit and have coffee. Tiny little cups were filled with an ample amount of a very finely ground coffee and equal amount of sugar.........boiling water was added to the cup and the potent brew was quite good with the finely ground coffee basically just dissolving. Several months later I received a package which contained a complete set of the little cups and saucers as well as a few packages of the coffee (Najjar). Although he was an Iraqi Christian I got the distinct impression that such customs were the norm in that part of the world.

Ahem.....are we off track? What was this thread about? Oh yea, lattes.............I think Starbucks has some powdered type varieties much like the via style which would translate nicely to taking on a base camp style trip (packs are sort of big)