Coffee foam art by Kazuki Yamamoto
My Real Memoir
Unlike my oldest child, who as a newborn would have been thrilled if Mommy’s breasts dispensed House Blend and Dark Roast, I had to learn to like coffee.
The Coffee-Milk Era: My mom let me try her coffee when I was seven. Too bitter! But then she poured a little into my milk and I loved it! My first Coffee-Milk was a pretty palomino color and tasted mysteriously wonderful! I didn’t like coffee, but I loved the flavor. So I happily imbibed my Coffee-Milk, along with coffee candies and mocha malts.
The Singing Coffee Era: Sophomore year in high school I’d joined the elite A Capella Choir, which met before normal classtime during the mercilessly early “0 (Oh!) Period.” And so, like many of my fellow-elites, I’d stop at the school snack bar and buy a cardboard coffee to take to rehearsal. I didn’t like it, but I loved how adult I felt walking into class with my cuppa joe (in truth, I often bought a watery instant cocoa instead, and simply pretended it was coffee).
The Crew Coffee Era: Now that I was a college theatre major, I was required to log some “techie” time (backstage crew). I crewed a three-hour production of Marat/Sade, the bizarre, vaguely true story of a play produced by inmates at a mental asylum. I was trying to skinny-down so I could land all the juicy dramatic leads in productions to come. And so I avoided snacks and guzzled gawdawful un-creamed crew-brew every night. I didn’t like it, but I got used to it. So used to it that by the time the play was over, I’d developed an addiction to coffee, along with Nestle’s Crunch bars (so much for the diet).
The Dark Days: Years later I would work next to a hot-water-dispenser and an instant coffee jar all day. Did I get the jitters? Oh, yeah. Stomach ache? Boy howdy. Hooked? Big time. I’ll say no more. Except that I later repented and have since forgiven myself. Please, can we just move on?
And then I invented coffee (well, OK, re-invented it): One magical day a decade later, I discovered the still-little-known pour-over method created by that Fairy Godmother of Coffee, Melitta Bentz, and had an instant dancing-and-singing conversion! Finally, after all those years of wandering in the Coffee Wilderness, I’d found The Source! I started buying locally-roasted beans, and learned how to grind them to my own demanding specifications. Result? The Best Coffee On the Planet!
Need proof? Not long after that, I met a beautiful girl who “sort of” liked coffee, but fell madly in love with my coffee! So much so, in fact, that she married it. And me. And we rode off together into…
The beautiful caffeinated sunset.
My Real Memoir is a series. To read the next one, click here.
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I never was a coffee drinker until I met the man I married and who makes the only coffee I drink. He is a superb coffee maker, like you must be for your wife. We will keep you guys.
;>)
When I was old enough the coffee lady at church stopped chasing me away from the coffee table and I had a cup. It was horrible!!! That instantly turned me into a dedicated tea drinker and I rarely had coffee after that — until I married a nice English girl who introduced me to lattes and other fancy coffee drinks. Now I have my daily cup of tea and once a week head out in search of the perfect coffee from the perfect coffee house. If you’re ever in my town, let me know, I’ll take you to the good places.
Will do, Andrew. It’s amusing that it was your English wife who turned you, a dedicated tea drinker, into a coffee lover.
Ahh yes, the giant aluminum percolator of church coffee in the basement. Usually filled with Folgers or such. If it was the end of the world and the explosions and battle sounds were close, I would politely decline the aluminum coffee and then die without the added pain.
“The beautiful caffeinated sunset.” Wow! ✨
One of the three basic food groups. Coffee, protein and carborhydrates. There is a lot of evidence for some fats as well. Chocolate is dicey but addictive and may be considered essential.
Oh, yes, chocolate is one of the basic food groups.
Brill!
I am a life-long lover of coffee. Funny thing is, for years I only enjoyed it with a healthy dose of cream, sugar substitute, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Just in the last year or so, I started drinking it black as a small way to reduce my daily caloric intake, and now I actually prefer it. But I do have a question for you, Mitch: what is this “pour over” method you speak of? My curious, caffeinated mind wants to know!
It’s a cone-shaped coffee filter that slowly drips brewed coffee into a carafe, very popular nowadays. “Pour-over” usually refers to hand-poured hot water (preferred by afficianados), but there are some very good automated pour-over coffee makers out there.
Choir rehearsals should never be that early in the morning. Who can sing then, even with coffee?
Exactly!
The hubster and I are coffee freaks, 1-2 pots a day, EACH. Our adult daughter still can’t stand coffee. Sometimes I wonder if the hospital switched babies on us.😂
;>)
Around here I make the best cup of Jo on the island. Of course it’s the only cup of Jo on the island but still…
I love a good decaf latte! Your coffee story is an amusing one my friend. Happy New Year!
You too, Claudia!
When my blood was tested for food sensitivities, coffee (which I rarely drank) was one of them. Getting a caffeine buzz from chocolate isn’t a bad option! I enjoyed your post, Mitch. 🙂
Thanks, Nancy. And chocolate is definitely not a bad option!
Thanks for sharing💕 As a coffee connoisseur, I can certainly appreciate your coffee journey. I think many of us have also suffered through many sad sips, until we copped that perfect cuppa😆
Yep.
I do remember Coffee-Milk! I loved it.
I know, right!
😀
Sorry Mitch – I just can’t relate. Coffee is so unreasonably bitter that I. just. can’t. My husband is addicted and we went out today to try to find a replacement for his current coffee machine that requires 2 starts to get one cup! Sadly both places we checked were out of stock! He was digging through the cabinets trying to locate his French press… His next resort is the dripolator and lastly he’ll be forced to just chew on some beans!
;>)
I enjoy coffee and like you, get beans and grind them to our preference ( hubby and mine) and enjoy a cuppa together.
Long long ago, I would put the spout of a really big funnel in the mouth of a thermos bottle, put a basket salvaged from an old percolator in the funnel, and put coffee into the basket. (Don’t recall if I had a filter to line the basket.) I would then pour freshly boiled water slowly into the coffee. My pour-over brewing may well have predated Melitta, but I won’t the follow the bad example of Newton and Leibniz into a priority squabble.
Nowadays, I use #6 cone filters with the tops stapled shut for overnight cold brewing in an ordinary pitcher. Viva cone filters!
;>)
My introduction to coffee was around ten years old. My mother, a connoisseur of the sacred brew, gave me some with milk and sugar, same as you. I didn’t have a cup everyday, but at least a few a week. One day, I lost the taste, and didn’t drink it again until I was in my twenty’s. I still love the fresh brew, but only one cuppa a day, it wires me to the limit. I do miss the old percolators, which made the best coffee.
Coffee is my last remaining substance that I abuse. And I’ve found the perfect dose. Two large cups of stovetop espresso followed by one decaf. If I have any more than this, I wake up in the morning with a wicked addiction withdrawal headache. I didn’t get hooked until my sophomore year of college driving one morning three hours to the ski slope in a car with no heat. When we stopped for a bathroom break, I got a coffee to warm up. It’s been love ever since.
;>)
Mitch,
My son got us hooked on coffee made slowly with ground beans and the works. Great stuff. Best cup of joe. Have a great week,
Gary
Gary Avants Forbear Productions * *garyavants66@gmail.com garyavants66@gmail.com
You too, Gary.
I loved my grandpa’s coffee’milk! I too love the coffee flavor but it took me awhile to develop a true appreciation. I so enjoyed your inventive coffee story
Thank you once again!
My pleasure, Joanne!
Too much coffee keeps me up at night yet I still drink the stuff good on you mitch
Yeah! Just to feel refreshed with a cup of Coffee.
Do Japanese people drink coffee,too?
Not sure why you ask, but here’s what I found: https://www.statista.com/statistics/314986/japan-total-coffee-consumption/#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20almost%20433%20million%20tons%20of%20coffee,as%20consumer%20preferences%20changed%20from%20tea%20to%20coffee.
Super cute post, Mitch… and yep, Gary & I are now coffee aficionados as well…for me, not until after we were married because it was ‘he’ who introduced me to coffee, hiking and the great outdoors! And oh…you mentioned 0 period choir…that was my Junior & Senior years at LMHS and, not a morning person by nature at the time with no experience with caffeine, I have NO idea how I did it back then. Had I only consulted those who’d gone before me, I may have been a better alto if caffinated. ☕️🤣🎵 Thanks for the post…I found it very entertaining! 😅
So glad you enjoyed the post–and the 0-period choir memories–Dori.
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Yes! Our love affair with the coffee bean also has somewhat the same remarkable history. Our current affair is with the morning mocha–brought to me in bed in the morning by my loving partner. There is no other time it tastes that exceptional.
Coffee served with love–what could be better.
I never cared for coffee when I was young, so had to doctor it with lots of sugar and milk or cream, whichever was available. I rarely drank coffee and only when out or perhaps at a restaurant. Eventually I stopped altogether and asked for water when out for a meal. A few years ago I started drinking it once in a while and decided to cut back on the sugar–gradually. I now drink it without sugar and with a bit of homo milk. I use organic coffee which does taste better. If I have a second cup in a day it is always decaf because I often have a problem sleeping and I don’t want to exacerbate the problem. Now I’m happy with my coffee every morning and actually look forward to it when I get up.
Coffee! My favorite drink! Nice post, Mitch.
Thanks, Iman.
You’re welcome!
http://insightfulwisdoms.com/2024/01/08/to-real-love/
M.A., this is not a free advertising space.
Great post and incredible latte art! My cousin’s name is Kazuki! ☕️
!
Not sure if it’s fortunate or unfortunate, but I’ve never “learned” to like the taste of coffee. Yet, I love the aroma. To walk down an isle with fresh coffee beans is a wonderful scent.
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