Friday, June 5, 2009

I ♥ coffee


photo courtesy of PDPhoto.org


Even though I've read that I shouldn't have coffee (or carbonated beverages, dairy, sugar, asparatame, yeast, gluten, nightshade plants like tomatoes, bell peppers, potatoes or eggplant) I just can't help but love it.

When I was very young, I was always fascinated by the ritual. Not so much from my own parents, who used instant coffee. But my boyfriend's parents had a regular coffee pot and every morning it was made twice - once before the boys went out to feed the horses (they had Clydedales) and once just before breakfast was served.

The five teen boys and their parents, all lifted their cups when the pot came around, but I was left to make tea, and I remember thinking how I loved the scent of brewing coffee.

Years later I was working in Northern Alberta as a server, and myself and some friends went into the restaurant for lunch on our day off. It was so busy that the server poured coffee for all of us and didn't come back. After waiting a few minutes, someone else asked if I'd ever drank coffee before and I admitted that I didn't.

"Load it up and you'll be fine," one of them said.

"Load it up?"

"With cream and sugar."

Well, I've been hooked since then. When I was working in restaurants I always had a coffee on the go, and drank it whether it was cold or not. It helped me stay awake when I was bartending until 4 a.m. When I was managing clothing stores, it picked me up at 4 p.m. Now that I have a chronic fatigue issue, it helps me go that extra mile. With coffee, I barely ever nap.

Maybe when I retire, I will switch to decaf.

9 comments:

  1. ah, coffee... my morning pick-up

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  2. When I go to visit my middle-aged daughter and her husband, I have to bring a coffee pot and coffee with me, as they have managed to build a solid, rich rewarding life without any. I sure would not want to drive a couple hundred miles without any.

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  3. I love coffee though periodically go without it for a few days just to show that I can. After quitting the cigarettes I am paranoid about addiction. Half a day without coffee and my head is pounding so bad I can hardly think but it normally wears off after a day.

    I drink an antipodean espresso invention called the flat white - small cup so less milk that a latte and minimal froth (steamed milk from the bottom of the jug rather than the top), or a double shot cappuccino if I need a stronger hit.

    We're not big on the automatic coffee makers like you guys in North America are. At home most people here use a French Press but more and more people have espresso makers at home now though I don't. The French Press makes a nice strong coffee to start the day.

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  4. i drink black coffee only. according to edgar cayce, when it's combined with milk or cream, it causes problems in the digestive system.

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  5. Aahhh, there's nothing like a steaming hot cup of joe; there's something so soothing and comforting about it. Enjoy!

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  6. I don't much care where my coffee comes from. As long as it isn't instant, cold or $4 a cup, it's good.

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  7. Coffee, my drug of choice!!! I adore i and there have been times in my life that I am certain I would not have functioned without it. I have carried i worldwide with me - even in places that use chicory roasted instead of it. I loved this post and find it a suitable ode to coffee. Maggs

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  8. caffeine is my drug of choice..really the only "bad" drug that I have ever done..

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  9. I bet the sugar and the creamer (I like half and half when I have coffee) are worse than the actual coffee.

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