In the midst of this holiday season, there are undoubtedly many sights and sounds that remind of holidays past. But there is far more to the story than that. There are also happy memories locked deep inside each of us. The emotions surrounding these experiences are so profound and yet subtle that they may influence our behavior today, even daily.
In fact, we may discover these memories were steeped in warm conversation, pleasant aromas and delicious new flavors…
This was true of a series of good memories I recalled recently as I explored my affinity for coffee shops and fascination with coffee roasting, grinding, brewing, tasting. In good times I go to the coffee shop as a launch pad for the day and in particularly challenging times I go to the coffee shop as warm, familiar, brief escape from my troubles.
Everyone has their own reasons why they do stuff. But I discovered my deep rooted ‘why?’ for espresso and biscotti and it’s really a cool story.
When I was at Grandma and Grandpa’s house I was on vacation. Although coffee drinking was considered a reserved behavior not to be entered into before your eighteenth birthday there were some advantages to being at Grandma and Grandpa’s on my own. Like I said, the rules at the grandparents’ house were softer — for after all I was on vacation. Well, for years I had tea with Grandma while Grandpa had his coffee. We would share Stella D’oro™ anisette toast or a denser version of anisette sponge, similar to biscotti. Sure we ate other deserts with tea/coffee, but if it was Stella D’oro™ it was always anise flavored.
As I grew older (maybe 10 or 11) Grandpa wanted to recognize that and would unofficially lift the restriction on coffee drinking. “If the kid wants coffee let him try it.” And so it began, coffee with lots of milk and sugar. Later coffee with less milk and less sugar. Soon, Grandpa and I were hanging out in doughnut shops while Grandma got her hair done. There we were talking about school or building stuff and pounding down one coffee after another with the best of ’em. My dad found out about his ‘coffee-drinking son’, and soon he and I were headed out on Saturday mornings to check out the hardware stores and share some laughs and plan our projects over a cup of coffee at the local restaurant.
Well, It’s been nearly 35 years ago now since that first sip. But the years in between have been filled with conversation, pleasant aromas and delicious familiar flavors. I still enjoy coffee with my Dad. But now, I take my own son to coffee shops on Saturday mornings. He hasn’t yet developed a taste for coffee, but the conversations are still as warm and I am transported to a special time when I sat on the other side of the table.
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Be sure to follow “coffee” in my Blog, and find out what I have learned by having a commercial grade espresso machine in my house!