I did not “grow up” drinking coffee. I was surrounded by my extended family drinking coffee (black, but weak) like it was water. All the day long, there was no bad time to drink coffee. Coffee was served for breakfast, lunch, dinner, after dinner, no matter the time. It was percolated through one of those massive silver urns. I tried it but wow it seemed too bitter to me.

Its amazing they could sleep with all that caffeine in their systems, but turns out they were on to something, guzzling all that coffee.

Core memory unlocked: I was put to work serving the coffee, a teenage “coffee attendant” at a big wedding, baby shower, and an anniversary party. I dressed up and served cups of coffee on their saucers, rattling the china and praying I didn’t spill it on the fancy ladies taking a coffee with cream and two sugars.

This is definitely the urn used by my family and those wedding caterers…

When I was working at an office near the Mall of America when it was just opening (1992, baby!) Nordstrom had a swanky coffee shop serving cappuccinos and other fanciful drinks. This shop was a quick “I’m running to the Mall for coffee who wants one?” distance away from the office. Cappuccino for me, please!

Do you remember your first coffee?

I think the first fancy coffee I had was an after-dinner cappuccino at a fancy restaurant in the 90s. I am sure I would have deeply offended any Italians who have strict rules about no cappuccinos after morning… But I do remember fancy restaurant protocol encouraged coffee after dinner, do you remember that?

Since then I have slowly but surely become a coffee drinker.

French press? Chemex? Italian Bialetti Moka? Breville Barista Express? yes, yes, yes and yes. Not everyday, but I have dabbled in them all at home.

It’s a treat to go to a coffee shop for the vibe and the special care taken to control the grind, choose tasty beans, prepare at the perfect temperature and serve with foam that was surely meant only for goddesses. Divine.

I love the rainbow foam on my latte, and I appreciate any attempts to create a cute picture on the top of my drink.

Here’s the great news about coffee. It has a role in your longevity with science-backed benefits:

• Drinking 3 cups of coffee per day is associated with lower risk of mortality from coronary heart disease and stroke. And higher versus lower consumption of coffee is associated with lower risk of some cancers.
• Coffee can help combat risk of the health of your liver, with higher versus lower consumption show lower risks for alcoholic fatty liver disease, liver fibrosis and liver cirrhosis.
• Coffee can be helpful for weight loss, in a study where people who drank coffee have better outcomes for weight loss compared with those who took a placebo over a period of 24 weeks.
• High consumption of coffee versus low consumption show a lower risk for type 2 diabetes.
• Coffee can improve your thinking and your mood, reducing the risk of cognitive deficit and dementia.
• One study showed that people who drank 3 cups of coffee per day experienced a lower all-cause risk of mortality compared to those who did not drink coffee.

Dr. William Li has a great book called “Eat to Beat Disease” that goes into even greater detail about the health benefits of coffee. He has youtube videos you can google to hear him explain how coffee lowers inflammation, cuts off the blood supply to cancer and pulls out and protects your stem cells, and gives gut health a boost. Dr. Li is pro-coffee and has put a lot of time into his medical advice. (He is also pro-green tea for similar benefits.)

The best beans to use are organic.

And you, dear reader, are you drinking coffee? How do you like to drink it best? Latte’d? Shot of espresso? More cream than coffee? I know some people can’t tolerate coffee for its acidity or its potential for spiking anxiety. I have to stop drinking before noontime to make sure I can sleep that night. But I have come to love it, love the ceremony of preparing it, all of that.

I would love to hear from you.

XXOO,

Barbara