Why and how did you start drinking coffee?

I drink a cup or two of half-caff every morning and I began drinking coffee (without any sort of consistency) probably around the age of 6? My grandmother used to give me coffee mixed with milk and honey… about half coffee and half milk, lol.

As a pre-teen, there was always a pot on and it was a treat when cold in the house and we were out of hot chocolate. It did not become a daily habit until high school. I’m 3–5 cups per day now, usually 3.

My parents drank instant, which was so yucky that I didn’t start drinking coffee until college when I had my first taste of brewed coffee. I liked the taste, I liked the whole “coffee culture” thing, I like the caffeine. At various points in my life (kidney problems, now corrected, and pregnancy, also corrected) I have given up coffee without negative affects. During my years in Seattle I became a serious coffee snob (not surprising) but really not anymore.

I still love coffee, but I’ve dialed back my mania and only drink 3–4 cups of OK, not superb, coffee per day.

I tried coffee once and gagged on it. I never tried it again. My whole family drinks it though.

When I was eight or nine years old, I went to a fairly large church with my parents. The area where my parents’ class was (there were many such areas) a coffee brewer was usually set up, and we kids often drank it or made it as a joke. It was fairly palatable but I think we drank it mostly because we weren’t supposed to. This is where I became ‘addicted.’

Throughout college and work in my young adult years (in the University library) I was usually satisfied with instant coffee, which I now don’t see how I ever liked but maybe might try again— but when the first Starbucks came to Memphis (the first one being in a book store)—that is where I was first immersed in the coffee culture and the Seattle mindset. I considered $4—$5 rather excessive for coffee and it wasn’t a habit yet.

When pastoring a church in Cherokee, Alabama, near Florence—I bought my first Semi-professional Barista equipment for about $1,000 and never went back to Instant coffee, although some people I k new had fairly good results with drip coffee makers. The professional equipment was a little difficult to use or set up but I had a coffee bar at the church for the parishoners and we had a fellowship time between the Sunday School hour and the church hour. At that time, a lot of churches, especially young adult groups, had professional coffee bars.

I soon was satisfied with a simpler $20 Mr. Coffee espresso machine. That was the years immediately prior to K-cups Now, those non-K-cup espresso machines are not even available anymore.

Once Starbucks came to Memphis, and some of the better bagged coffees were in grocery stores, I neverwent back to brands like Folgers or After Eight or the canned coffees and certainly not instant. Though I might try it again just to see if its as bad as I remember after I switched to more professional equipment.

I started when I was about 13 or 14, at breakfast with my parents. Nothing goes better with toast or an English muffin and reading the newspaper.

The why is I commute in my BMW. Bus, Metro and Walk.

The how is…coffee shops?

No one drank coffee at my house, and I never thought anything about it one way or the other, although my mother and I had always drank tea from the time I was a little kid, both iced, and hot.

When I started college, at age 17, my first class started at 7 am. So I got up about 5:30 am. I discovered that I simply couldn’t function fully, at that hour, so I gave coffee a try, and it worked.

I’m not one of those people that is crazy for coffee. I neither like or dislike the taste of it. For me it’s just useful. I buy the cheapest instant coffee I can find, because it pretty much tastes the same to me.

I do like the smell of coffee though, especially when I’m camping in the mountains and it’s a bit chilly.

My first full-time job was at a major insurance company in Boston. A coffee trolley used to come around the office at break time, 10:00, with coffee and doughnuts. I had my first coffee there when I was 19. I didn’t like it, and still don’t, really, but it helped me get going in the morning. I never have it later in the day.

I drink it for its effect and not for the pleasure of it, so I don’t bother with anything fancy. Instant does it for me. My husband brews some special roast, and I never touch it. And he would rather go without than drink mine.

Like vanilla, coffee was a sure disappointment because it didn’t and never could taste as good as it smells.

The aroma of coffee is indeed most of the experience, I think. For me, especially on very cold days or very hot / muggy days (no pun) I find that just going inside a Starbucks or similar establishment is all I need. The smell of coffee, especially espresso, is a cure for depression and/or homesickness for me. I often get depressed on hot, humid days so typical of where I live. The smell of coffee is often helpful whereas the taste may be a disappointment and the departure with money might even make things worse,