I can stop any time...

Since I was talking about coffee last night, it reminded me of how I first started getting addicted to the stuff in the first place. I never liked coffee when I was younger – my dad always drank it, but any time I tried a sip, I’d wrinkle my nose in distaste and wonder why anyone would willingly drink something like that. But I DID always like the smell of coffee – and I think that’s a prerequisite for subsequent addiction. If you don’t even like the way it smells, then there’s probably no hope that you’ll ever find yourself downing a triple grande vanilla latte in Starbucks. But if you find the smell of fresh roasted coffee beans appealing, then there’s a definite possibility you could eventually enjoy a cup of cappuccino with your morning cereal.

I remember when I got married, someone gave me a coffeemaker as a wedding gift. For a couple years, it sat idle – I’d never brewed a cup of coffee in my life, and didn’t even know coffee-making basics. But around the same time, my friend Cindy and I started getting to know each other better. Cindy was already a coffee addict, and suggested we meet for coffee now and then so we could hang out and talk. We’d go to a little neighborhood coffee shop, or sit in the Starbucks café at a Barnes and Noble. And at first, I’d order whatever I could find on the menu that sounded sweet enough to cover up some of the coffee taste – one of the places we went had a half hot chocolate/half cappuccino drink on their menu, so that was my original drink of choice. It was chocolatey and sweet, with just a suggestion of coffee flavor. It was enough to make me feel like I was drinking coffee just like all the other patrons, but the “coffee” in my cup probably amounted to no more than a few tablespoons.

But I soon found myself graduating from the half hot chocolate/half cappuccino concoction to a regular mocha – still a bit of chocolate, but definitely more of a caffeine kick. Eventually, I started getting braver – I’d try a caramel macchiato, or a hazelnut latte. I started needing less and less sweetener in my coffee, and would venture a cappuccino or plain latte now and then. To my surprise, I enjoyed my unsweetened coffee almost as much as the other drinks I’d gotten used to. I was, at this point, hopelessly addicted.

I’d also been given a new schedule at my job, where I’d started off working from 10:30 to 2:30 – they now wanted me in first thing in the morning, which meant I had to be there by 7:00. This also meant I was getting up at about 5:30 every morning, and suddenly that neglected coffeemaker was looking more tempting. It was time to take my coffee drinking habit out of the coffeehouses and into my own home. I bought some ground coffee and started brewing a pot every morning. Eventually, I had my coffee routine down pat – I’d get everything ready to go the night before, so when I stumbled out of bed before the sun was up, all I had to do was hit the “start” button. Then I’d go get ready for my day, and right before leaving for work, I’d fill an insulted cup with my coffee so it would still be hot by the time I got there. It was the one thing I looked forward to at 7 in the morning, and if I ran out of coffee, my day just wouldn’t start out right…

I think it’s more than just the caffeine that makes coffee such a great drink (although I suppose I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how great caffeine is… caffeine goooood. I’ve only had one cup today, by the way. :)). For me, it started out as a way to get to know a friend – and Cindy and I still make sure coffee is a part of most of our get-togethers. Coffee always seems to be central to family gatherings, or any gatherings, really. When you go to a coffeehouse, there are groups of people lounging around, sharing stories and ideas. Even the people sitting alone seem to have a purpose at a coffeehouse – no one is ever sitting in a chair staring out a window. Everyone is reading, or writing, or talking, or studying, or imagining, or dreaming. Could it be that coffee is some sort of magical elixir that encourages companionship and creativity and imagination? Or is it just full of an addictive substance, so we THINK it’s a magical elixir?

Either way, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I’m usually drinking a cup when I write for my blog. So I’m probably not planning on giving up my magical elixir any time soon…