When I was younger, my mother and grandmother were huge coffee drinkers. They encouraged me to try it, but after the famous mix-up of mom leaving her coffee cup, black no sugar, next to my yummy hot chocolate, I tasted the most vile thing ever and did not want to taste it ever again. That much was for certain.
Then I met my husband. His home was the "hangout" house among his friends so there was always food on the stove, snacks on the table, and a pot of coffee on the burner. Kind of like a 24 hour diner. And people came and went at all hours. So different compared to my quiet house. That is a whole other story. My husband just accepted the fact that I drank only tea. For years. Every once in a while he would ask me if I wanted to try some of his coffee I said no.
So after being married for about 6 or 7 years, and it trickled over that his unmarried friends, ie all of them, now considered our home the "hangout" spot. Again, there was always coffee going, I baked cupcakes, we had chips and pizza and donuts. It was a fun place to be. I still stuck to my tea.
One day, as if by some strange force in the universe, as my husband was enjoying his coffee, he asked me why I did not like coffee. I had told him this story before - I started it again with being young and mixing black coffee up with yummy hot chocolate and thinking it was the worst thing I had ever tasted (and my grandmother made a lot of liver!). I tried it once or twice since than and just did not like it.
He said "Let me make you a cup - will you try it?" As with most things I originally did not want to do or try that he mentions, I gave in and let him have his way.
But this was no cup of coffee that I had every tasted - it was good! WOW! What is this?! I asked him what was going on. He explained that after hearing that I had coffee just black, he made me a cup of regular coffee, or more specifically coffee like he drinks it - light and sweet, with blueberry creamer (or another creamer but for me he chose blueberry). I finished it, than, not being used to caffeine (I do not drink soda and drink decafinated tea), I Beavised out. For real. Tony laughed so hard. He still brings it up on occasion.
So I would have coffee that only he made, and usually only on Football Sundays. The caffeine rush was about all I could handle.
But then a weird thing happened. And stranger things from there on.
I started to like coffee. I still did not and still to this day do not drink it everyday. But my next step was going to Dunkin Donuts. I ordered Blueberry at first. I was working under the table at the time at a gym, so I would go to Dunkin Donuts. Then my coffee, I would drink it for my whole 5 hour night. Yes, I kept reheating it and reheating it, sometimes not even stirring it, sometimes drinking it cold.
After a few weeks of this, my co-workers began to ask me why I did not get fresh coffee? I told them mine was fine. We wound up getting a coffee pot for the office because there was no place close by and everyone wanted coffee once they saw mine, including my boss. By then I had discovered a store that sold Banana Bread Coffee and that was my new kick. So I brought, from The Coffee Beanery, a bag for home and a bag for work. I definitely go on kicks as far as flavors.
Then, I started wanting a fresh cup. But still it sat longer than a cup of coffee should sit. I think of it to this day and shudder!
My next find? Starbucks. The Holy Grail of coffee. Their regular coffee - no way. Their crazy half Italian half French named drinks and flavors took my coffee drinking to a whole other level. I was often late for work because the line in Starbucks takes forever especially when the person in front of you is ordering a Vente Mocha Frappachino no sugar, soy milk, extra whipped creme, and a shot of expresso plus caramel sauce and chocolate sauce. You get the idea. I always loved mocha. I think my first drink was their Peppermint Mocha. Yummy! But Starbucks coffee is not made to sit at all. And the cold coffee? When you let it sit for an hour or two or three, it not only looks gross but tastes gross.
I left that job. (It had nothing to do with the coffee). So I began having coffee every Sunday with my husband, I began trying new flavor at DD, Starbucks, and places like Quick Check and the 7-11. Not to mention the ridiculous array of creamers that take up a whole shelf in our refrigerator.
(picture 8 of these on the door and at least three more on a regular shelf. That is the Peppermint Mocha that I am into now) :)
The change was slowly happening. I wanted less cream and sugar. I wanted my coffee piping hot. I got used to the caffeine enough to at least have two cups, sometimes three. I was now a coffee certified coffee drinker.
I bored coffee stores everywhere with my tale of "I just started drinking coffee four months ago" My husband and I had a Cofeeversary one year later.
One day I was ill and asked for tea. Now, the way I drink my tea is, dip the bag for like 20 seconds and that is it. One teaspoon of honey, or a splash of milk and a teaspoon of sugar and I am good to go. Well my husband brought my tea up and it tasted funny. I asked him to come back upstairs. I asked him what he did different to my tea. He said nothing. It was not until he was making it in front of me one day that they mystery was solved. He dunked the tea bag in the boiling water and left it in about 20-30 seconds and took it out. I asked him what he was doing. He said "What?" I said "You did not leave the tea bag in long enough" To which he replied "You do not like it strong". I said "Well I let it sit a good 2-3 minutes now." The biggest smile I have ever seen graced his face that day. He began to explain to me that now, because I am a coffee drinker, I have changed my tea habits. I need something bold. Wow. That was freaky.
So here I am now, at 8pm drinking DD coffee for home. It went into the Keurig (a necessity that I also got teased for when I really got into coffee. No old coffee pot for me!). I have my Peppermint Mocha. I am on a peppermint kick that includes Mint Chocolate Chip iced cream from Cold Stone, Haagen Daaz, or as a last resort - Eddys. It consists of the creamer and the fact that I am not ready yet to change and swap out my Peppermint Mocha for say, Pumpkins Spice. Also I have been to Godiva. True I got there often. As soon as I walked in this week, the manager, who knows me well, said to the new girl, without me saying a word "Point that girl to the Peppermint Bark". She knew I had been waiting for it since last Christmas. It was glorious! And taste even better with the coffee I found out later on. I told her I was stocking up Peppermint Bark it soon because I was so upset after the holidays last year. In case you are interested, good peppermint bark is hard to find. I have a company I can fall back on but Godiva, I have loved since I was about 10. My best friend introduced me to it. Oh and besides the peppermint bark my excursion to Godiva left me with 12 mint batallions (THEY BROUGHT THEM BACK!! WOOPEE! I thought it was a dream at first) and two boxes of chocolate mint pearls. But enough about Godiva, that will be another story for another day.
So now we have come to the point where I wake up every morning and put the Kuerig on. A lot of times the coffee still sits. But I heat it up if appropriate or make a new cup.
Any excursion out of the house is always started by a coffee run. Sometimes on days where my husband goes out for an appointment and I stay home, he will hear me yell from upstairs as he opens the side door "Please bring back a large Mocha Caramel!"
It is funny how one person can open a new door for you. Yes this is a small door but not to small because it goes beyond coffee. It is about my relationship with my husband a little bit. I see my husband is watching the Giants game (which I am usually watching with him although I am a Steelers fan-we support each other's teams) I will pay attention to what he has been doing and just when I know he is about done with his coffee, I ask "Would you like another cup of coffee?" And I do it for him because he does so much for me. I want him to sit and enjoy his day off. He also makes me coffee and our trips to get coffee on their own, separate from where ever else we are going after that, are times to talk and bond. We make coffee in the summer and sit under the patio and just listen to the birds chirp and look at our backyard. And we talk. Or sometimes we don't.
(our patio and view is similar. Accept we have a long picnic table and those white patio chairs. Two benches for the picnic table, a grill, and some plants)
We also have what is called "It is time to go into Dunkin Donuts".
This stemmed from a day of running errands. My husband woke up in not the best mood, it usually does not but it affected my mood right away. We argued a little (which we rarely do). He pulled up to Dunkin Donuts and as I reached for the door handle, he grabbed my arm. He said "Let's go in and come back out and start the day over". I agreed of course. And it worked! It was like a fairy waved a want and made the whole day better. So whenever something is boiling to the surface, on of us will say to the other "I think you need to walk into Dunkin Donuts and come back out." It is a great tension breaker plus it makes us realize how silly we are being.
Coffee - the life blood of so many. Something I feel I missed out on all those years. But it is great now. In the grocery store my husband and I oooh and ahhh over all the new creamer flavors. We could be starving but there would be half and half, and creamers in the house.
Coffee was a wonderful discovery for me.
I love coffee because it is always there for me. To give me a little pick me up. I love the taste, and the smell. And I do love how it bring my husband and I close. Anything bad can be discussed over a cup of coffee. But so can many, many good things.
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