'Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.'
As far back as I can remember, I've always had a fascination with coffee. I remember seeing Mr. Coffee machines back in the 1970's and wondered how they worked. I remember my dad scooping coffee out of big cans of Folgers or Maxwell House. In time, I would be making coffee for us -- yes, me, too. (I took my coffee with cream and sugar -- or whatever that non-dairy stuff was, at least.)
Back then, I never gave much thought of coffee being much more than just a granulated substance. Then one day, my dad brought home telling a bag of Eight O'Clock Coffee. It was, to me, a revelation: Whole bean coffee. One would buy it -- not yet ground -- at grocery stores and after purchasing it would run the beans through grinders which were located near the front of the stores.
It would take my college years for my knowledge of coffee to reach another level. I was going through many cups while pulling all-nighters -- so much so that I moved my Mr. Coffee machine into the study hall, saving me the time I wasted walking all the way back to brew up another pot. Cream and sugar was another luxury I would sacrifice in the interest of time. I learned to drink it black. For once, I was tasting the coffee itself -- nothing else.
My final step on my journey toward specialty coffee came when Cup-a-Joe opened up on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh. It seemed a bit strange to me experiencing what was essentially a restaurant focused around coffee. There was a bar with many stools, and behind the bar, high up on the wall, were mirrors which featured a menu.
It was overwhelming. I didn't know what I should order, so I asked for the only thing I recognized: A cappuccino. I knew of the beverage from the movie Hudson Hawk -- yes, a terrible film. The one and only good thing about the movie was that Bruce Willis' character went through the film just wanting to enjoy a cappuccino. So, not having any idea what I was asking for, that is what I ordered.
The first sip I took was like the scales falling from St. Paul's eyes. Suddenly, everything made sense to me. 'This,' I thought, 'is why people started drinking coffee to begin with!'
Within two years I would be working there, and ever since then coffee has played a central role in my life. In time, I was willing to devote my life to coffee, learning to know all there is to know about it. Little did I know how far it would take me. Twenty-five years later, here I am -- still trying to learn; still trying to understand -- and loving it.
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