Four years ago I wrote a blog entitled Waking Up To Smell The Coffee, which was about my journey with coffee over the years. It’s time to add another chapter to that entry.
To recap, my introduction to coffee was via my parents back in the 1970s. Nescafe was the only option in our home and it had to be paired with Coffeemate powder, no questions asked. No matter what country we moved to, this inseparable duo reigned supreme in the kitchen (and the thermos that Mommy filled for Daddy to take to work). The coffee percolator was reserved for guests and special occasions, otherwise there was tea.
Time passed and I have journeyed through drip coffee machines, the classic espresso moka pot, the fancy DeLonghi coffee maker, the French press, and eventually found my way to a Nespresso machine. Somehow instant coffee is now deemed uncouth and unacceptable, I can’t find Coffeemate in the local supermarkets here in Portugal (unless I want to pay through the nose for the amazon prices), and I utterly failed to nurture a meaningful relationship with both the French press and the Nespresso. So I am back to an old favourite, the drip coffee maker and I am absolutely loving it. I get the portion that I want (need) and don’t have to worry about how many Nespresso capsules I am going to burn through to fill up my mug.
That’s the beauty of ageing and living on my own, I get to do what I want, the way I want to, and don’t have to be accountable to any snobby noses or raised eyebrows out there about not using a DeLonghi. At the end of the day, I really don’t care how my coffee is made as long as it is a proper mugful, freshly brewed and as strong as my determination.
One more story about this new phase – I ran out of milk one day and since my blender is broken, I couldn’t make oat milk either, so drank my coffee black. For some inexplicable reason, I loved it, which is strange because I went through 45 years of being horrified at the mere concept of black coffee. There was a time I would even gag on it, and would rather skip coffee altogether, if there was no other choice (and yes, I have been in numerous situations where neither milk nor sugar will available during field work). Maybe it’s post menopausal hormonal reboot, or part of the overall system reboot emanating from the intermittent fasting, but I have been drinking black coffee for over a week now, which is how the idea of the blog came about. I’ve gone from drinking coffee with Coffeemate (with sugar) to liquid coffee cream (with sugar substitute), to low-fat milk (with no sugar) – somewhere in-between there was a condensed milk and evaporated milk phase, as well as numerous Starbucks caramel lattes which now makes me shudder at the thought – to homemade almond milk (no sugar), and finally landed on black.
My life has been all about decluttering, so why not declutter my coffee as well? It’s a bizarre concept, I know, but that is that a life journey is all about. You go through different stages and our tastes and tolerances change over the years, along with values and outlooks. Think about it for a moment and look back at your own life, substituting coffee for clothes, or if you are feeling particularly rebellious, people. We connected to certain people, places and things during the different stages of our lives, but when we all moved on, we got punched by life in the face every now and then, our needs changed, and suddenly the childhood friends no longer fit properly with your chosen career, or even the social circle you created through your spouse or life partner. It’s nothing to feel guilty about, but it is important to face the truth and accept that you have evolved and needed change. Growth is stunted the moment you keep insisting on forcing the past into the present, and this is the root of unhappiness and frustration. Look at it this way, the jeans you wore in your 20s have no business being in your wardrobe at 60 / 70 either.
My takeaway from all this has been to stand up for what I want and not let others dictate my choices in life. If you like your instant coffee with full cream milk with a dash of caramel then go for it. I personally love adding cinnamon and cocoa to my coffee, and need to have it always warm.
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