My uncle was the one who introduced us to coffee. By us, I mean my dad and myself. When it comes to edibles and consumables, my dad can be very adventurous.
My uncle, he used to work under English men and in spending so much time around them, he picked up the habit of taking coffee. It helped them at the job, he said.
Prior, we had the usual milo/milk beverage and that served fine. I had only seen coffee beverages at stores, but since we didn't know what it was and since it was not a necessity in our daily meals, no one cared about it. It was alien to us.
First time, my uncle visited with tins of the beverage. They had been freebies from work and he thought to share. He made it first for us, after he had told us that we could just prepare it as we did our regular beverages.
The aroma, I remember, was so soothing and inviting, it made my mouth water.
My mum took the first sip and wrinkled her face, it made us all laugh. Two of my older siblings, seeing my mum's reaction said that they'd rather not taste it. What about me? I wished I could say no.
I am a replica of my dad. I can be quite picky but I am mostly adventurous. Before then, we only saw on TV how the whites took coffee so much; on the go, early in the morning, while seeing a movie, at the office, while they sat pit in the patio, every single time....they even took coffee breaks. It was weird to young me. Then, my dad would sometimes say, "seems this coffee is their water or their best drink after water," but we never gave it a try.
My uncle would go on to tell how the drink was mostly consumed at the job and how it helped them stay awake and alert all through, especially when they had a late night duty. It served as a stimulant. It boosted their adrenaline.
To all that he explained, my dad had said, "...then coffee is to them(foreigners) what kolanut is to us," and my uncle had affirmed. I disliked kolanut but I saw that it worked its own magic. My dad was the only one who chewed it sometimes. Then, when he had to draw building plans to meet a target.
My mum did not take kola, unless she had a cough. If she needed to stay awake, she had no need for a stimulant.
My first sip of the coffee drink and I found it bitter. It perplexed me to think that all the people in movies who I watched consuming the drink never gave off that feeling that the drink tasted so.
Curious, as I was, I asked my uncle if this was different from the movie one. It was he who told me that I could add some sugar or cream/milk to sweeten it up.
After trying that out, I found it tasted better. I even considered it a better choice than the regular milk and milo beverage. And viola, that was the beginning of my taking coffee and bread as opposed to the regular tea/bread for breakfast. From thence, I began to consume it, albeit secretly. My parents called it "adult drink," so it was forbidden for anyone of us other kids to take it. But they did not know I had other ways. Well, that continued until I began to have sleeping disorders, serious migraine and fever too that landed me in a hospital. My parents were furious when I opened up about my excessive consumption of the drink and they stopped me. To them, my body was too young to handle the effect.
I'd go on to the university and resume my coffee drinking. It was a great help in my study nights. My sister takes coffee now. She thinks it's creamy and mood uplifting. My dad takes the drink every once a while. My mum? She'd rather not. Not when she's getting info from God knows where about coffee being an underlying cause of certain illnesses. Always makes me wonder who comes up with those illogical assumptions. Lol.
All images are mine
Thanks for stopping by.
SOKA🖤
