Showing posts with label coffee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coffee. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

I Love a Good Cup of Coffee


Coffee has been part of my life since the 1970s.  My coffee habit started with Sunday morning coffee hours after church services.  I would make a ridiculously sweet concoction with a scoop of Taster's Choice, 3 scoops of sugar and two scoops of coffee mate--then add the hot water.  Adults (not my parents) would scold me, "Coffee will stunt your growth!", but I didn't care because the taste of the coffee out-weighed my fear of being 'stunted', and my parents didn't seem to mind.  I loved watching the coffee crystals melt with dry ingredients as I stirred them with wooden stick, and I loved sipping that sweetness as I watched the adults enjoy each other's company with cups in hand.  It was happiness.

There is something wonderful about sharing a cup of coffee with someone.  Making coffee takes time and the experience of preparing it touches all the senses--the smell of the roasted beans, the whirr of the grinder and then pouring the coffee into the cup, the heat of the cup in hands, the sight of the beautiful, rich liquid in its various shades of brown, of course, the taste--and finally, knowing that the other person is experiencing a cup of coffee in a similar way.  

There are so many ways to make coffee, and there are so many kinds of coffee beans to choose from.  Everyone I know who drinks coffee has a preference (Starbuck's has capitalized on that!)  Of course, I want my coffee to taste good, but for me, the real point of making coffee is the  ritual of preparing it and drinking it with someone. 

Over the years, I have tried various ways of making coffee-- with percolators, Mr. Coffee machines, drip coffee, pour overs, cappuccino machines, but my favorite coffee maker is my husband, Doug.  He makes great French Roast coffee in a stainless steel French press.  Also, just as delicious are the cups of pumpkin lattes my daughter makes ... I also love it when someone surprises me with an oatmeal milk latte from a coffee shop!!  

When I think about it, a "good cup of coffee" is the moment I spend drinking a cup with a person I care about and love.  It seems to suspend time, and those moments are made special because with cup in hand, they encapsulate the conversations, laughter and sorrow, the sharing of stories, and dreams--all the stuff that life is made of.