Do I really love coffee?

We all love our coffee. Well most of us do. It is almost unimaginable for many of us to start a day without a cup of the tasty, aromatic long black, latte or cappuccino, whatever your particular preference is. It get us started for the day ahead and if we become tired we can always get another kick later.

I have been drinking coffee like that for the last many years, but six weeks ago I decided to give it up for six weeks. Week one is when you really discover how much you are hooked on and how drowsy you sometimes become without your liquid energy supplement. After that however, it becomes more manageable and you kind of discover that a better way to get you started in the morning is a refreshing swim and when you feel tired perhaps the best thing it is just to have a nap.

Then after six weeks I decided to indulge myself and have a nice cup of my favorite long black, really wanting so savor the aroma and taste of my beloved drink. Well perhaps it is a bad day for coffee today, but I did not find it particularly appealing – it was bitter and sour and I cold not even finish my cup.  Well I think I discovered I do not really like the taste of coffee.

Disappointing? Perhaps  but that reminded me how I actually stared drinking coffee. I my youth I never really liked it, which might be attributed to the particular coffee culture in Poland at that time or more precisely lack of such. We only knew ‘Turkish coffee” which was basically three or four teaspoons of grounded coffee beans, poured over with boiling water and served in a glass (and we were very particular about the glass part).  The resulting brown brew was mildly unappealing for drinking but perfect for fortune telling once the liquid was gotten rid of and the grounds could be read. Then we got access to instant and filtered coffee but the proper espresso was not available in Poland at least until mid 90 I believe, so the coffee I could drink was average at best, and poor on average.

No wonder then, that I started drinking coffee not for the pleasure of my taste buds, but to get me over an examination period at my uni, with some project left until last minutes and hours of late night work required to catch up. Who would worry about the taste under such pressure? And it was great and it kept me up, but in the process acquired taste for its bitterness and I started drinking coffee almost like water –five cups a day would not be unusual. Well that was not really healthy so during the years to follow I managed to get down to one cup a day – the sacred, indispensable morning cup.

I cannot help to ponder how the thing I do not really like become so pervasive in my life to the extent that I only six weeks ago I could not imagine living without it? And not that coffee is bad: apparently it has some health benefits if drunk in moderation, although in my case it’s probably not advisable.

But I am wondering how many other ‘acquired tastes’ and habits become part of me and run my life.