Since last week, I was thinking to write about my various encounters with Coffee. Since childhood, Coffee has amazed me like none other beverage. As a child, i was allowed to have coffee very rarely due to many reasons. The main reason which was always told to me upon asking for it, was that it could affect our blood pressure. As a child, this naivé explanation always proved to be sufficient enough to convince me. Sometimes in hot summers, i was allowed to have coffee shakes. In a nutshell, the sole reason that i had always enjoyed coffee was because it was rarely served to me.
During my college years, i was again not a very big fan of coffee. A busy five day college-hostel schedule followed by frequent visits to home left me with no time to enjoy the simple yet beautiful luxuries of life. During winters, coffee came to my rescue many times while waiting at cafeteria in free time. The time passed very fast that i couldn't do anything but ignore such pleasures. Then as i moved to New Delhi, the visits to coffee bars became more frequent with friends and colleagues. During this 3 year tenure in Delhi, i developed an addictive taste for coffee. Perhaps i should not say addictive, as i never made coffee at home, i was just happy sipping it at coffee bars. Among all the flavors i always liked simple classic cafe latté. I always preferred it with light flavor of coffee with lots of milk (creamer) and sugar. So far so good. Life was enjoying its good terms with cafe latté and then what happened was least expected.
I came to US of America for my higher studies and was confronted with another flavor of coffee. Never heard of and never seen anywhere before: Black coffee. As i boarded my last flight Philadelphia to Bangor (while coming from India directly), the lady flight attendant asked me gently if i would like to take something. Since it was only an hour flight, i asked if she could serve me coffee. I was already feeling drowsy after travelling for last 30 hours. I took the sip through straw (that's how people in US sip coffee) and it hit me as if i had consumed some bitter poison. There was neither any sugar nor any milk in it. To make matter worse, she said they didn't offer sugar or milk packets during flights. After this harrowing first experience with black coffee, i didn't even try to touch it for next few months. Occasionally i took juice or soda (soda means coke or pepsi) instead of coffee whenever i went out with friends.
Once again i mustered courage to try it, but this time with some milk. But all in vain. After this unforgettable experience, i swore i won't drink it ever again. During all these months, i craved for that classic cafe latté even more. I remained loyal to my own home made recipe of coffee by adding one teaspoon of coffee and sugar in hot milk. Then again time changed and changed everything with it. I moved to Florida for my new job. Within my first week, i found it difficult to sit at one place for the whole day starring at computer screen. My colleagues seemed to enjoy the office hours. They frequently took breaks and were seen many times hovering around coffee machine. One day out of sheer boredom, i went to that coffee maker machine. There was a big refrigerator to its one side where many colleagues had put their lunch boxes and other beverages, while the other side was stacked with two microwaves and an oven for office use. My manager (an American) pointed out two milk bottles to me and said, "These are for common use". My eyes glittered and i came back to my cabin to see whether i can use my coffee mug for microwave use.
And since that day, Classic cafe latté still holds its charm..
