What is coffee? This brown, sometimes black, liquid has captivated the world for hundreds of years. Growing up, it was something grownups drank. Every curious kid wondered about it. Me included. Why can't I have some?
Both my parents are coffee drinkers. My father has been sipping that hot nectar of life for decades. My mom started to drink it a few years after coming to the United States. Coffee was always something bitter. It even smelled like bitter. Its no wonder people dilute their cups with cream, milk, sugar, or any of that combination. My father was of the exception. Maybe because he was a smoker. But I digress.
Growing up, there was always a blue jug of Maxwell House in a kitchen cabinet. Sometimes two if it was on sale. God bless my mom. She'd drink a cup in the morning to wake up, a small thermos during work, and a cup a night to help her sleep. Learning about coffee, she drank it like those across the pond as a wind-down of the day. Many nights coming home from work, she'd be on the kitchen table reading or on her phone alone. "Omar, come drink with me." Sure.
We would talk about random things: the day, coffee, life, stories of yesteryear. It was good bonding time. Those were good moments. We all had that bumpy stretch with our parents. Those bitter cups of caffeine and sometimes milk made things somewhat smooth. How ironic?
I finally got a chance to go back to school in 2012. As a freshman in Zaytuna College out in Berkeley, CA, everything was new. I had an image of a stereotypical valley girl or someone from an affluent suburban neighborhood and her boyfriend at some cafe ordering an uber-specific drink after class. You know, the coffee snob. I would see a lot of this on tv shows and movies. My mom had other ideas. She would ask me about my coffee intake almost daily, saying it helps with studying and stimulates brain activity. That first year, I was more of a tea person. But whenever there was coffee, I would take a sip.
One afternoon, that all changed. Dustin, one of the Zaytuna community members got a new apartment and it was right behind campus. I forget if this was freshman year or sophomore year. A small group of us visit him for snacks. At one point, him and his wife ask if any of us wants coffee. Dustin said it was from Central Africa somewhere and the room lit up. I was the dull bulb. After hearing some grinding, water boiling and watching chemistry in real-time, there appeared the best coffee I had up until that moment. This was not Maxwell House, Dunkin', or anything like it.
A few years later, I was with my now wife at a cafe. She really likes cafes. Graduate school was in full effect and trying to study. As my wife was placing her order, I'm looking at the board behind the barista and noticed a familiar word: pour over. That was what I chose and five or six minutes later, voila, coffee. If I remember correctly, it was a bean from Ethiopia. I thought to myself, "Wow! This was just like at Dustin's apartment." My interest in coffee was renewed.
The rest of this page will proceed from this point. It has brought me to various cafes around the US and interactions with people whom I never imagined I'd sit and have coffee with. this is all thanks to my mom and wife. Love you both.