Java at Home

However you first took to your first cup ("This jet fuel is the best thing ever!" or "I need a cow and a sugar cane plantation, stat!"), you prolly didn't lose interest. Life became about finding more. Always more.

I was both fortunate and unfortunate in this respect. Unfortunate in the sense my parents didn't drink coffee in the home, but fortunate in that they bought a french press for tea around the same time I discovered coffee. A grinder for spices was also a recent purchase, and both press and grinder were commandeered to create caffeinated goodness.

And so what could have died as puppy love, a forgotten fling with an occaisonal cup, was cementing into a truly dedicated relationship. I became facinated with the brewing and drinking of coffee. Wondering how to make each cup tastier than the last. I experimented with different amounts and fineness of grinds. Different flavors. Different water temperatures. I even convinced myself at one point the size of mug affected the enjoyment of my coffee (to this day, I don't really own "standard" coffee mugs).

Then, one day, one of us dropped the french press while cleaning it. Not working yet, I had no funds to replace it or find another method of brewing (my mother was already concerned about the effects of caffeine on her children and was rather coy about buying a replacement press). My coffee sources dried up to the "interesting" brew at the museum I volunteered at, and occaisonally at a restaurant.

It wasn't until my first job at a summer camp that my passion for coffee would be rekindled...and soon on the heels of that would come regular employment, a driver's license, and companionship...all three would change the face of coffee for me forever.