I think I am in love

Alright, I'm going to show my ignorance about coffee now cause I'm confused (not hard to do on a Monday I know.  But I thought Espresso was really strong coffee, which to me would mean it would have a lot of caffene in it, so I've been avoiding the new coffees at places like McD's and Tim Hortons (which might be a good thing from what is said).  I have a star bucks down teh street from work, but haven't been to one in years.

Could someone let me know what I can be drinking for specialty coffee, and how I shouild be ordering it?  I'm used to coffee and decaff coffee.  Well, adding Bailies is a different story.
I have a Tim's, McD's or starbucks to look at.

Thanks for the help, kinda feel stupid for not knowing this.

Cathy

Are you allowed caffeine or no?

ETA:  Just checked Tim's and McD's website.  Tim's offers nothing in decaf, SF or FF.  McD's has plain FF latte but if you want flavouring, they are made with sugar although our local McD's has SF syrups maybe they don't all have them or perhaps their site is not up to date.  Starbucks always have SF and FF options.  Many of the lattes are made with FF milk and SF syrups.  Some of the holiday ones you can get with FF milk but not SF syrups.  As others have said the peppermint mocha latte is a true skinny latte but the other holiday flavours are only available with FF milk but full sugar syrups.

As for how much caffeine in espresso vs a cup of coffee, actually a shot of espresso has less.  Volume for volume the espresso would be higher but nobody drinks 8 oz of espresso shots.  Most lattes have 1 oz espresso shot.

This is how I tend to make my orders (I don't know if it is exactly right):

1) the default is caffinated so if you want decaf then you need to specify.  Some people drink caffine everyday and some choose not to.  There is no real guaruntee that it will cause tummy problems, but since I don't even notice the difference at Starbucks, I always go decaf.  Anywhere else, I stick with the caffine.

2) size:  short, tall, grande, venti (small, med., large, Xlarge)

3)special instructions:  this is where I indicate "skinny" which means non-fat milk, no sugar, and no whipped cream.  I also indicate "no toppings" otherwise sometimes they sprinkle on a cinnamon/sugar combo, or chocolate shavings.  I add anything I want after they've made it

4) the name of the drink

******When it is all said and done and my oder is up, I always say "Just to clarify, this is entirely sugar-free, right?" Sometimes they forget to use sugar free syrup, although this has never happened to me.


Put it all together and here are two of my fav's

a) decaf, grande, skinny, cinnamon dolche latte, no toppings

b) decaf, grande, skinny, peppermint mocha, no toppings

Thank you!  I was understanding no caffeine.  And I think I've had one by accident since i started back on coffee, talk about wide awake at midnight ;)  I find it's one of the easier ways to get liquids in.

Hmm, think I'm going to have to go to Starbuck soon.  Gotta start making it to work early to get a cup. 

Cathy

Thanks for the Starbucks tutorial, Marny.  Helpful information.

Judy

I'm going tomorrow to try one....Sounds delicious.  Thanks for Sharing.  Diane

I tried it too and hated it. Too much peppermint for me it was bitter.

Linda

I LOVE THIS DRINK!!!! here is something worth trying too... the barista at my location s that I"m always at suggested for me to try 1 shot vanilla with one shot of cinnamon dolce (both sugar free of course) tastes great with both the skim and soy (which I'm now addicted to!)