My Coffee Journey

I find it amusing, thinking about how much I love coffee now considering my first few encounters with it. I haven't always loved coffee. I remember the first time I ever tried it. I was in the car with my dad on the way to school when I slipped a sip from his travel mug just as he looked in the other direction. I instantly regretted it. I had been led to believe from media everywhere that this mysterious drink was the thing that kept the world turning. Nothing could be done before a coffee fix had been had. So you can imagine my disappointment when I wasn't greeted into the exclusive club of coffee drinkers by a warm mouthful of liquid gold that would change my life forever, but instead by a luke-warm and bitter—yet bland—slap in the taste buds. I didn't get what the hype was all about, and I wouldn't for the next few years.

Coffee was avoided at all costs for a long time. It wasn't until I went to university and moved in with my flatmate that I even gave coffee another chance. My flatmate at the time had a Moka Pot, one of those metal stove top kettle-like espresso makers. He lived by his Moka Pot; one cup in the morning, another after his classes, and a third in the evening just before he went to the gym, like clock work. He offered me a cup one day and I accepted. I told myself that my last run in with coffee was a disaster because a) it was instant coffee and this was real coffee and b) I was 12 last time, now I am 18, I have matured and thus my palette has matured with me. I instantly regretted it. This coffee was thick and tasted like tar mixed with milk. My flatmate had admitted he liked his coffee dark and strong. He had used more ground coffee than was standard and less water so it was a more intense flavour, the lunatic. Coffee had bested me yet again and I still didn't understand why so many people wasted their time and money on it.

For whatever reason, whilst in the supermarket later that week I decided to go down the coffee isle on my way to the checkout. I didn't know what to expect as I had never been down a coffee isle before. I was met by an array of different types of coffee; blended coffee, single origin, light roast, dark roast, whole bean, pre-ground, Ethiopian, Columbian, and to be frank, I had absolutely no idea what any of those words meant. I remembered my crazed flatmate mentioning he used dark coffee, so I went as far away from that as I could and got the lightest roast on offer.

I didn't think much of it at the time but little did I know that I had just taken the first step into my new lifestyle and soon to be career.

After watching a few YouTube tutorials on how to use the Moka Pot, I took my first sip of the very first cup of coffee I had ever made myself. It was beautiful. With the first mouthful, I was greeted by a warm welcome matched with a powerful taste of hazelnut, followed by hints of malt and chocolate. It instantly reminded me of being at home and having Nutella on brown toast most mornings before school. The second mouthful allowed me to collect flavours of vanilla and a slight note of berries hiding under the smooth taste of the hazelnut. I have been hooked ever since that moment.

The amount of depth and the complexity of the flavours on offer from one drink blew my mind. How was all of this possible from little brown beans? How did each taste give different characteristics? I was tasting what I could swear to be different drinks from the same cup. I was intrigued to find out more.

That was three years ago I am now a professional barista whose life mainly revolves around his partner, his dog, and coffee. The three staples of a happy life, in my opinion. Recently, I have developed my love of a great tasting cup of coffee into a great tasting and impressive looking cup of coffee. Latte art is my second love, right after coffee drinking. I am lucky enough to work with other people who have a passion for what they do the same way I have and who I have been able to learn the steps to making incredible coffee from. It's working in this environment that makes me want to be better at what I do every day and has allowed me to turn a passion into a career.

If you share a passion for coffee, if you're interested in learning more about it, or you just want an endless supply of pictures of awesome latte art, then you are in the right place.

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