“ Coffee and Me ”

We all have history, how we met certain people, or how we started to love and recognize things we can't live without.

Once upon a time, there was a country girl who chose to live alone in the city. It was full of crowds, full of unfamiliar faces, all she brought with her was her things, clothes, and other stuff, bound by her courage and of course, she gained some and later on, she has with her, her favorite coffee mug.

You see me as a coffee lover, and yes you're right. I love coffee and I guess it loves me back too. But will you believe me if I told you that I once hated this drink before?

Way back in my childhood, I never saw any coffee mix on our table. My father is not into coffee, I never saw him sip coffee even for once. So in my early years, I was never introduced to this beverage.

Then, I still remember when my mother and I fled from home. Those times she and my father were already losing their relationship as husband and wife. My mother brought me with her and I was eight years old.

She let me live in the countryside, on the farm. We were surrounded by the mountains. Life there so quiet, no electricity or such, the house are far from each other, divide by the wide rice fields.

Life was so simple in that place, together with my mother, grandfather, and grandmother, we lived our lives there peacefully.

Every morning, we were waking up so early, as soon as the roosters start to crow, we will rise and prepare for the day, and I noticed every day my grandpa was always holding a clear glass mug with a black-colored liquid that's producing a nice aroma that's tempting.

Every day, I was curious, and out of curiosity, I tried to taste it when I found a perfect timing where nobody's at home except me.

I poured teaspoons of black coffee into a cup and added hot water and sugar. I was so confident to drink it all when I tasted it, I almost puke when it came out so bitter!

I hate it! Why do the olds love this so much if it's so bitter? Then my mother found out that I drank and waste a coffee, I was scolded by her and she reminded me that it's not for the kids.

Starting that day, I never attempted to taste coffee again.

Never again, until I found a job that changed everything.

As soon as I graduated in a two-year course, I quickly looked for a job and got hired in a Restaurant. My place of work was based in the city so I decided to rent a boarding house for myself alone. It was my first time to be away from home and living alone.

But doing the cooking alone was not new to me, I grew with only two boys at home without an assistance of a mother when both my parents decided to break their relationship. As I was left with my father and my brother, I was the one who stood as a mom and a sister to my brother too by doing all the chores at home from cleaning, cooking, and laundry too.

So, my first time being away from home wasn't so hard to cope up with.

As months passed by, every payday, I always do the groceries for my consumption before the next salary. While pushing my cart, I stopped by the beverage area and I saw packs of coffee. I don't know but something pushed me to grab half a dozen of it. Now that I'm an adult, I guess I would like the taste of this beverage now.

Then I never realized this is how I started to love coffee.

As months passed by, every salary day coffee was listed in my grocery list. From half a dozen I started to buy 1-2 dozen of coffee for my consumption alone.

Then when I met my husband, we clicked best because we're both coffee lovers, but they're too coffee addicts than me. He and his brother can finish 10 cups of coffee a day. 😅

We just love the taste of coffee, from hot or cold, with creamer or brood, even 3 in 1, as long as the taste of coffee is not ruined we love it.

I still remember when I had my first pregnancy, I am so hard-headed that I couldn't take my coffee away. I just bought Nescafe creamy white so it looks milky, but I restrain myself, instead of having 4 cups of my daily dose before I only consumed 1 cup per day, only in the morning.

Then after I gave birth, I came back to my regular dose.

Luckily, my husband thought of me and was always there to remind me to drink plenty of water every day, so I didn't get acidic with the coffee we intake.

But it all changed when I had my secondborn. I stopped taking coffee for 9 months because I got nausea whenever I sip even a small amount of it

I felt bad especially when I smell its tempting aroma. I tried many times to taste even a tiny portion but my body refused it. So I stayed away from it until I gave birth.

But one thing I noticed after I had my secondborn, I can only drink selected brands or types of coffees.

One of my favorites before was Kopiko Black or Brown and even Blanca, but now I couldn't take them anymore. I got my acid rising whenever I do. So I removed them from my list.

Coffee is now part of my everyday living.

We never let our thermos gets empty of hot water. Now, we're could drink 3 cups per day. One in the morning, in the afternoon, and the evening.

But believe me or not, unlike other people who love to partner their coffees with bread or biscuits, I never dipped any of these in my coffee.

I just wanted to drink my coffee without dipping anything into it. I hate to see bread particles floating on it too. 😅

I never tried or attempted to mix coffee with rice too. I don't know, you can call me weird but that's me in my coffee. 😋

My cousins and some of our acquaintances always ask us, can we still sleep at night?

And our always answer is, Yes!

Seems our bodies have already coped up with our coffee habit, and sometimes we struggle to sleep if we haven't drunk coffee at night.

And of course, I also struggle with Caffeine withdrawal whenever I failed to take a coffee in a day. This withdrawal has a feeling of a headache, a short or a quick migraine that's annoying.

Too much caffeine is indeed not healthy, so sometimes we also limit ourselves in taking too much coffee a day.

Now we have a new favorite flavored coffee.

It's coffee-choco by Great taste brand.

It's coffee but tastes like a native chocolate drink made with cocoa or what call tablea.

As of the moment, while writing this, I'm sipping my hot coffee. 😁

It's just nice to remember how I met coffee long ago. Now, I know why my grandparents and other elders used to love coffee so much. Seems like I got their taste. 🙂

Cheers! ☕ Have a Good Day!

Written by: @eommaZel ✍🏻🥀