Hot or iced? The question we get asked every time we order a coffee in a restaurant or a coffee shop. And this is the question that divides us, we could say that we can know the type of person you are depends on how you drink your coffee.
For me, it's always hot until 3 in the afternoon, never before. I will never be able to understand how someone can enjoy their breakfast with a cold coffee, it just doesn't make sense.
There is nothing like the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the morning to mix with the smell of arepas and scrambled eggs. And, as a good Venezuelan, there is nothing better than having a hot cafe con leche for breakfast and a freshly made perico (or put the filling you like the most).
When the coffee is hot, the taste is more concentrated, the smell is better, you can feel all the flavors of the coffee, it's also like a hug in the morning that comforts you, it's just a total experience.
When I was in college, the coffee in the college cafeteria was strong enough to give you the energy to face the first 9 a.m. class on Monday.
All pictures are mine. Collage made by me on @canva
For someone who spent a few years working in offices, there was nothing more energizing than having a little coffee before starting the working day. Even better, if you would have it at that restaurant that was a few blocks from your office, and you would have it with your best friend from work while they talked about the gossip of the weekend.
I remember when I was a child; my grandmother made coffee in the afternoon, and I would eat it with some sweet bread. It was the best snack!
As I became more adult, I began to be more selective with my coffee; the times I drink it, the brands I consume, the places where I drank it and how I drink it.
Which brings me to my next point; Iced coffee!
I really don't know at what point in history, this started to be a trend and became the preferred style of some people, and it's very good. We all have the right to choose what we like the most.
I think I was aware of this style of drinking coffee already when I was an adult, I would say in my early twenties. Although large coffee franchise companies have not yet arrived in my country, many restaurants became famous for selling that coffee that we all saw in TV series and movies, and somehow it became famous, perhaps in the younger population.
All pictures are mine. Collage made by me on @canva
For me, an iced or cold coffee, whatever you want to call it, is like a snack.
It is usually; much sweeter, with whipped cream, syrups, and a lot of ice. Maybe even smoothie, so much so that it looks more like an ice cream than a drink.
But anyway, I like it. I definitely drink it less than my coffee every morning, I would say perhaps only once a week, and that's if I'm out and about. I would say that I am more likely to order an iced coffee when I am in a restaurant with friends, or in a shopping mall.
We can't deny that it has its positive side, iced coffee is absolutely more refreshing, because the ice makes it more refreshing, and I think the options to customize it are wider, since you can add basically everything you can think of.
The truth is that we like coffee; cold or hot, with whipped cream or with brown sugar, with almond milk or normal milk, for breakfast or gossiping with your best friend.
The coffee is always there.
