Newsie #29 : 29 August 2001

JUST THE WAY I LIKE IT

There's nothing like a good mug of hot, strong but slightly sweet coffee to start my day.

Sounds like one of those TV commercials, doesn't it? True or not, one mug of coffee at the beginning of my day helps improve my mood for the rest of theday. 'Ika nga nila, "Gumaganda ang gising."

My parents are not coffee drinkers so I grew up believing that coffee is bad for my health and coloring. According to them, it stunts growth, promotes osteoporosis, and nakakaitim.

Of the three children my parents have, I am the only one who took after my father's coloring which is kayumanggi. So I avoided eating and drinking anything black or brown or anything that resembles the color of my skin. In a country that venerates creamy, labanos-like, tisay na putlain skin would you blame me for believing?

I grew up, grew out of that myth and eventually drank coffee once I entered college. Everytime I needed to study and cram for an exam the next day, I'd drink coffee. Two sticks of Kaffe de Oro would last me the night.

There's a Math exam---I'll drink coffee whiles tudying. There's a Chem exam---need to study the night before, need to drink coffee.

There was one History finals wherein I had to read the entire book overnight because I never bothered reading it the week before---talk about cramming. Started reading at 7pm...12 hours passed and at 7am I'm still reading then went directly to take the exam at 10 am. A week after, I got 1.5 on my class card. Not bad.

Eventually, coffee houses became the "in" place for almost everybody. Coño place for some...coffee place for me...dating place for lovers...chitchat place for others.

Instant coffee became passé and coffee is not coffee for me anymore if it's not brewed. However, if brewed coffee is not available I'd still drink any kind of coffee. Kahit instant, basta kape!

Eventually coffee came out in all flavors, colors, temperature, shapes and sizes---variety became the name of the game.

I experimented and tried them. Some had names like Irish coffee, cappuccino, espresso, latté, machiatto, mocha, frappuccino, and Javanilla. Others are topped with whipped cream or chocolate syrup or candy sprinkles or a stick of chocolate or cinnamon or cookies or just plain foam.

Some had raspberry, mint, strawberry, and orange in it. Sooner or later they'll come up with avocado or atis or santol or durian as coffee flavoring. Do they already have those or am I giving them ideas?

After spending so many sleepless nights because of too much coffee, it turns out the simplest of all coffee is still the best for me. Nothing fancy, no frills, brewed coffee in a mug.

Coffee is not coffee if it's not hot. Coffee is not coffee if it's not strong. My coffee constantly has two teaspoons of white sugar because I like it sweet.

Hot, strong but sweet---the same way I like my man.

This article also appeared in
peyups.com last August 29, 2001.