Robert's Coffee Memories

Robert's Comments-Published Issue No. 5, June 23, 2000

Coffee is "Our Most Wonderful Beverage." Think about it. It's easy to buy, brew, and drink. It's not fattening. It tastes great (if done right). It makes you feel good. It's legal. It's socially acceptable. It can be simple or complicated, depending on your interest.

Coffee is really more than taste, smell, and energy boost. Think back to your childhood and what coffee meant to you. I grew up in a family that seemed to always have a pot of coffee going. When friends or relatives came to visit, my mother would make a pot of coffee. When we had any party or gathering, someone would make a pot of coffee. I associated the smells and sounds of my mother's old percolator with good times and comfort. No day ever started without those smells and sounds filling my favorite room, the kitchen.

My parents would never allow me to drink coffee as a child, even though I guzzled iced tea year 'round. It was a "rite of passage" into the adult world, so when my grandfather allowed me to drink coffee (without Mother's knowledge, of course), I was thrilled. I was about eight years old and it tasted awful! I remember it like it was last week. It was black as coal, strong, bitter, and had oily gunk floating on the surface. I hated it but I drank it anyway, because it was such a grown-up thing to do. To this day, when I taste bad coffee I think of that morning in my grandfather's kitchen.

How about you? Do you have memories of coffee you'd like to share? Contact me and share your thoughts.