I adore coffee. Good coffee, that is. I love the aroma of the beans(even walking down the breakfast aisle in the supermarket makes my mouth water). I love the crema that bubbles on top of it, and the way the white milk swirls in and creates various shades of brown. That first bittersweet sip soothes my soul no matter what is on my mind. I will admit that I am 100% a coffee snob. If it's not good, I find it pretty unbearable(like breakfast in Celakovice...blech).
I don't know what created this intense appreciation. My parents never drank it habitually, and in college I didn't rely on it at all. In France, I fell in love with the wonderful strength of espresso drinks, as opposed to the American drip version. Then my standards were raised when I worked at Williams-Sonoma, and spent my first Holiday season there becoming the resident expert on appliances and demoing the Jura Capresso machines. They grind, tamp, brew-to-order and clean themselves at the touch of a button, and of course the best way to promote a $3,000 coffee maker is to brew samples with the best quality of coffee(Illy, true love!). I was hooked, so I mastered our little Krups machine and did pretty well without indulging in $4 lattes too regularly. During grad school I did lean on two or three cups a day - especially last tri when I started every day with an 8am lecture. Since graduation, I have tried to cut back to a cup a day, mostly in efforts to keep the caffeine from intervening with my gloriously rediscovered sleep cycle. At the beginning of the summer my cravings were pretty intense, and I could feel the caffeine deficit. I'm currently back to a more normal caffeine need, though, and after a few out-of-town experiences suffering through icky weak morning cups, I am rejoicing in the steamy mug in my hands, at home on this crisp Fall morning.
Java cheers to my fellow coffee aficionados!
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