The Filter Coffee Girl
“You are my coffee, my only coffee. You make me happy, when skies are gray” – ha ha…This is a rephrased song of “You are my sunshine” and whoever rephrased it, struck the right chord with understanding the feelings of a coffee lover.
How did it all start??
I am from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. People here predominantly drink coffee as their beverage in the periods of a day. Our family was no different. Especially with my mom, her day would not kick start without a coffee. She being a mother of three, running the household chores on her own, prepping kids to school, cooking for the family to being there for my dad, she needed her drug for the day.
I was introduced to coffee in my late teens. I switched from drinking kids energy drinks to coffee, that’s basically developing my palate from sweet drinks to bitter sweet drinks. Sipping on this beverage started occasional (when guests came over or when my mom inadvertently prepared more than a glass) , coffee had its full time soon after I started college/ school for my under grad. The school commute easily took 1 and half hours one way as we stayed 18 miles farther, added to this was the scorching sun that would literally burn every part of my body, the humidity, pollution. Half my energy is drained by the time I entered school. Commute back home was indifferent to the morning situation and I came back home as dead fish. Mom would offer me coffee every morning and a glass again in the evening, which in later days transformed to “Do not leave home without a coffee”. That’s how I believe my connection with coffee started
What’s in a filter coffee??
Filter coffee is basically a shot of espresso in 2-3 oz of aerated milk with a tablespoon of sugar or even more than that. Yes, we love a lot of sugar in our coffee, this is almost similar to espresso in condensed milk. The traditional way of brewing coffee was with a metal device that resembles two cylindrical cups, one of which has a pierced bottom that nests into the top cup, leaving ample room beneath to receive the brewed coffee. Two scoops of coffee went into the upper deck, hot water was poured into it after. We leave it to rest until the coffee concentrate is distilled.
What is Coffee to me?
I feel a void when I go a day without drinking coffee. Coffee has a relaxing and rejuvenating function to it. My morning coffee has to be perfect for a productive day, to keep me on my toes. It just doesn’t end there, coffee is a companion during my lowest times, when am bored, when i needed my creative mind to be triggered, when I had to spend a quality time with my significant other or family and friends.
Coffee in the US
Like food chains, coffee chains in the US amazed me. To go coffees were never a thing back in India, at least until I moved to America. There’s Starbucks, Caribou coffee, Pete’s coffee, etc, however Starbucks stands tall amidst its competitors. What makes me wonder is the variety of options you have in coffee. Numerous choices, picking one is harder than life’s toughest decision, ha ha…, apart from the coffee beans, and its combinations, you have types of coffee beverage, like Cappuccino, Cortado, espresso ( which is m * n * k varieties). Coffee shops keep limited choices, so that its not over bearing on the customers, they also revise the menu every season, bringing more beverages to fall inline with the season. Enough said, I am thankful for all these chains to get so creative with coffee, to give me access to different types of coffee around the world. Howsoever thankful and grateful I am, I am still that filter coffee girl.
