I'd always hated coffee for as long as I could remember. It tasted harsh & bitter & I just could not understand why anyone would drink it.. willingly. When I was about ten, my dad ordered a coffee at some cafe we had gone to that day (as he always did) and on the side of his disgusting beverage was what I perceived to be a little chocolate.
"Can I have your chocolate?" I asked him eagerly, never missing an opportunity where food was involved. He told me I could have "it" with an evil gleam in his eye. About two seconds later as my teeth bit into this horrific ball of hell, I was running to the bathroom to wash out the bitter powder that coated my throat and would continue to traumatise me for the next decade (my parents tell me I'm slightly overdramatic). If you hadn't guessed, it wasn't actually a chocolate, but a coffee bean in it's purest, most evil form. From that moment on, I was determined to never drink coffee ever for as long as I lived...
Obviously though, due to the title of this blog post, that was a blatant lie to myself. Growing up, I did steer clear of the stuff though. I hated the smell of it and even every now and then when my dad would offer me to "try proper coffee now I was older" I never, once enjoyed it even slightly. I continued to utterly despise the stuff, though weirdly... I didn't mind a bit of tiramisu (thats the foodie in me). Watching TV shows and films over the years where young characters had to have their morning coffee to survive was so beyond me. It seemed addictive, irrational and expensive & how could these 16 year old girls in these TV dramas afford Starbucks triple soy mocha double shot frappacinos every single day?? I could not relate and could never imagine myself to be that kind of person- a coffee addict.
As I got older, more and more of my friends started drinking coffee, iced coffees or energy drinks, but I just couldn't get into any of them. Eventually, I started drinking tea as my mum drank it religiously. I first tried it when I was going through a bad batch of tonsillitis whilst having to perform in a school musical - not a good mix. I had always thought it just tasted like hot water, but had it with honey and found it soothing and beautiful. A good cup of tea was the solution for almost anything in my house. My mum could/would drink about 8 cups a day and that would be completely normal. She could also drink it in 45+ degree heat on a sun lounge and her father- my grandad- was the king of tea drinking. That man could drink for England and when I went and stayed with my grandparents for a few months and witnessed his machine-like tea consumption, it made complete sense why my mum was so addicted. Gradually, I cut out the honey and eventually became "that" person who met someone for "a coffee" and ordered tea... or water.
It wasn't until I moved away from the supposed "coffee continent" of Australia, to the other side of the world & got a job in a coffee shop that I finally started drinking the stuff. Even still, it probably took me a good 6-8 months for them to convince me to give coffee a chance. I literally made thousands of coffees a week for people, went home smelling of it and practically lived and breathed the stuff (thats not overdramatic- I literally breathed coffee fumes every day, worked 40+ hours a week and all my friends and even my boyfriend at the time were all employees at this coffee shop- it was literally my life). So finally, I gave in and started small with 1 shot cappuccinos. I grew to enjoy them and soon felt that morning relief after my first sip of the day, as if I'd only just properly woken up. It was like my whole body sighed of happiness, yet I still didn't feel "addicted" per say. One week I was quite ill, and read that caffeine made sinus's worse, so I just didn't drink any for 8 days straight and felt fine without it. Some days we would get so busy that I would get home at 8pm ish and realise that I hadn't had a single sip of coffee that day. Other days I would casually drink about 3 of them within an hour and feel absolutely fine (ok maybe I got slightly more annoying an hyperactive).
The point was, I was finally enjoying coffee and I finally understood that "need" for a morning coffee. I still didn't need it to function, but it definitely made me feel more human. I could drink a full strength coffee at 7pm and sleep fine, and as I said, could easily not have one some days, or a few days straight without suffering any withdrawals or even craving one. I did think it was pretty crazy to work with coffee almost every day and have it be such a big part of my life, but not drink it. So when I finally did, I guess it just made sense. I had always just liked the idea of being a coffee drinker for some reason, there was something "cool" about it to me.
Then I returned home a year or so later to a pretty big coffee shock as Australia's coffee was completely different to Englands. My 1 shot cappuccinos were swapped for lattes that were a quarter of the size to English lattes and what was even more of a shock to the system, was that I couldn't just whip one up whenever I wanted one.. I actually had to go out to a cafe and buy one :|
So that's been my coffee journey. I still couldn't imagine anything worse than downing a double espresso, I still don't feel I depend on the stuff, but I thoroughly enjoy my little lattes as a treat to myself and a little reminder of my fun-filled-yet-extremely-stressful-at-times barista life that I loved for all its up and downs. I don't think I'm a coffee addict, but I'm definitely a coffee lover, and love all the memories and experiences I have gained because of it. If you told this to 10 year old me she would surely turn her nose up and maybe even run for her life, but as impossible as it seems I have well and truely been converted and never thought I'd be saying that I love coffee.
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Thanks to my bestie SHANICE WILLOUGHBY
for letting me use some of her BEAUTIFUL pictures
Her Instagram: @shanicexwilloughby
Her AMAZING Blog: www.shanicesparkles.com/
