The Journey..

...of discovering coffee

I started drinking coffee in a regular basis probably when I was around 16 years old. At that time I used to think that a good cup of coffee meant hot water with one teaspoon of instant coffee, sugar and some milk; two teaspoons if I needed to stay awake through the night (?). Hey! it had a better flavor than ground coffee!!! At least that what they said:

Eventually, my family bought a coffee maker and we started drinking brewed coffee, and for many many years, that is what I used to drink.  We never had an espresso machine at home, and now that I think about it, no one I knew had one at that time.

Every now and then, if we went out to celebrate someone’s birthday, I was able to order a cappuccino; Oh my God, so delightful! They were mainly reserved for special occasions, and since they were so scarce, I really enjoyed when I was able to have one. However, for many years it was a mystery for me what made it so different to the coffee I drank at home; was there something in the milk?  Was it made with a different type of coffee, a sweeter one? Do they put a spice on it? Was there a secret ingredient on it? Why there’s a monkey called Capuchin and how is it related to coffee?

This is how I look in the mornings before my first cup!

It was until years later, when I got my espresso machine, that I learnt that a cappuccino starts with an espresso shot and that many factors contribute to its really flavor: the type of coffee, the roasting, the grinding, the barista’s skill, etc. There was no secret ingredient after all!

It is important to note that I wouldn’t have bought an espresso machine if it wasn’t because I was introduced to the world of lattes, macchiato, mochas and more by a very controversial player in the coffee world: Starbucks! Everything changed after they came to town...