I am the person who can drink hot coffee in the summer and iced coffee in the winter. But last night I drank two cups of coffee about 7:30 p.m. Maybe that's why I tossed and turned. Still, I can hardly resist a perfect cup of caffeinated. Not decaf. Once upon a time, many an evening was passed under the great orange roof of IHop, drinking pots of hot coffee, black. Until 2:00 a.m. Now that roof is painted beige and is a sandwich shop. Oh the conversations caught up in the eaves, all those years ago. Somehow, I doubt any problems of the world have ever been almost solved over a roasted turkey sandwich with cranberry mustard. People in emotional distress seldom reach for a chicken salad sandwich.
When I was very little, my great grandmother introduced me to coffee. Grannie had a little Dutch boy and girl who hung on a little wooden shelf. Finally, one day, she took a little cup down and placed it in front of me. She poured a dollop of hot coffee into the cup followed by a good pour of cream. And a few spoons of sugar. Of course, I loved it. But it remained a rare and special occasion when I was allowed to drink coffee.
Forward to seventh grade. I woke up at 6:00 a.m. to fetch the paper and make a cup of coffee. The granular type. Do people still admit to drinking that noxious brew? I think it was a gift from outer space. Freeze dried. Also those little chewy sticks. But I did enjoy my new found love of spreading out the pages on the table and finding out what was going on in the world. My Daddy would come in and make his coffee. Black.
Year after year. Over and over. Day or night. Black coffee. In Styrofoam or in a mug. Any way I could get it. And then suddenly, coffee was not my thing. Well, actually for nine months. Coffee was not my thing. Or bacon. Thankfully, my love of coffee returned at the much needed time. No Starbucks to perk me up but I would have buckled that baby into her car seat toot sweet for the elixir of life at a drive-in window just up the street.
I went through a few years of grinding my own beans. And trying out flavors from hazelnut to Amaretto to Pumpkin Spice. When company was coming, only the best flavored coffee would do. And then the gamut of flavored creamers. At about this time, the black only coffee drinker left the room and returned as a skim milk only girl. No powdered creamer. At a nice restaurant only real cream.
In the last few years, I have become a card carrying fan of Starbucks. I blame Cate and a substantial Mother's Day gift. But not everyday and nothing fancy. I will get one Pumpkin Spice coffee all season long. My usual is a tall latte with one sugar.
Right now, in my fridge, I have frozen Seattle's Best beans and my usual Community Club Breakfast Blend. About 6:30 a.m., nothing says I love you more than waking up to the aroma of a fresh pot of coffee perking in the kitchen, made by my personal barista. And he doesn't even like coffee. That's love.
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