My Love Of Coffee

Coffee is always seen as an adult drink. I never really knew why until I wrote out my experience with the drink, which was when I found out that the advice your parents give can be pretty spot on.

I never appreciated coffee as a kid, but then how many kids do? It’s not only bitter, but the burnt taste always left me wanting to rinse my mouth out with something sweet.

Fast forward 20 years and I can’t imagine my life without coffee. There’s something about the way it perks you up; the smell of freshly roasted beans transported my mind to places I think of fondly.

I think of quaint little cafes, people just enjoying their day, lazy, relaxing. The funny thing is that as a kid, I never went to cafes. Perhaps my fond memories came from my parents, who used to love a good cappuccino.

I remember them asking if the coffee was freshly brewed, or if it was made using 3-in-1 powder. I also remember how the coffee arrived. The foam was thick and creamy with chocolate powder dusting the top. It looked like a giant marshmallow, soft, fluffy, delicious.

However the taste was a lie. The bitterness assaulted my senses and left me spluttering in surprise. My parents and their friends laughed, saying that children did not know how to appreciate coffee. I couldn’t agree more.

I also vowed, as most kids do, to never drink coffee ever again. In fact, I made many vows to never do certain “adult” things. Yes, I would be different from other adults. I would be the exception to the rule.

I’m not sure if it’s called growing up or being a hypocrite, but I changed my mind as I got older. I can’t pinpoint when it was that I started drinking coffee, but I’m pretty sure it had to do with Starbucks.

You see, as one gets older, one starts to worry about being “cool”, and Starbucks had done a great job at marketing themselves as the premiere place to be to be “cool”.

Perhaps it was related to the wooden furniture, the plush sofas, and the arm chairs that exuded a classy vibe. It was like saying, “Come to Starbucks and you will be cool by association.” Even the clear plastic cups looked fancy, although the sad reality is that at the end of the drink, you’re left with a dirty, cheap, plastic cup and wondering why you paid RM14 for a cup of coffee.

Don’t get me wrong, though. I still love Starbucks, but I digress. So back to the story of my love for coffee.

Sweet coffee was a great way to ease myself into the culture, but my love for the perfectly pulled espresso and freshly steamed milk started in Australia, Melbourne to be exact, back in 2009. Australia is a country that takes great pride in their coffee and so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I was not disappointed.

My best friend from primary school was based in Melbourne and he introduced me to a proper cup of coffee. I admit I was a bit apprehensive since I did not add sugar.

Sugar in coffee was like my crutch. I never enjoyed the taste of white milk by itself. It made me want to gag, which is why I was worried that coffee without sugar would be gag-inducing. Even today if I had to drink milk, it has to be flavored, like chocolate or strawberry, even though I utterly detest the latter.

Once again, I digress. Turns out I did not have to be worried. The sip I had was both bitter and sweet, but not sweet in a diabetes-inducing sort of way, but the same kind of sweet used to describe fresh mountain water, the smell of spring in the air, and so on. You get the gist.

I would like to say that this is where my love for coffee truly began, but this isn’t a movie. There will not be a montage, no soundtrack to speed things up. My love for the bean was one that was slowly acquired. Back then there were times where I’d ask for one sugar with my coffee to help things along, but eventually I weaned myself off that habit, mostly for health reasons. Diabetes does not sound like fun.

My journey actually took me a few more years and it was back in 2012 that my love for coffee really took off. You see, I went back to Melbourne to do my MBA. It was an experience much better than my undergrad as I had made more friends and I was financially in a better position to enjoy myself. This meant more cups of coffee, more time spent hanging out in cafes, and thanks to certain individuals, I got to explore some of the best cafes Melbourne had to offer.

I learnt how to distinguish a good cup of coffee from a bad cup of coffee. I learnt that coffee shouldn’t be drunk piping hot, not only because it scalds your lips and tongue terribly, but by the time it is cool (I don’t mean Starbucks’ “cool”) enough to drink, the coffee becomes tepid which makes it really gross.

I also started to expand my choice of coffee. Before this I was mostly a cappuccino kind of guy, but now I have learnt to appreciate lattes, flat whites, short and long macchiatos, although I have to say that long blacks and Americanos (I still can’t tell the difference) is still very much an acquired taste for me.

Where will my love of coffee take me? I honestly have no idea. Perhaps one day I will open a cafe of my own, a cafe which is based around my ideals as a child; a cafe where my friends and I can hang out; a cafe where people can drop by if they want a excellent cup of coffee; a cafe of my dreams.

Reviews

[Woody]

I can easily relate as I'm a coffee lover myself though, I'm ashamed to add, never without a cigarette.
this looks like a nice tribute to this magical brew. nicely expressed.

[justtyler]

Thanks for the kind words Woody!

[Marie]

This makes coffee sound really good. Unfortunately, I can't drink it in any form.

In the first sentence in the third paragraph from the end you use "drank" when it should be "drunk".

[justtyler]

Thanks for spotting that Marie! I've made the necessary edits :)