How do you take your coffee?

I realized this blog is titled bikes travel coffee and all I have really talked about is bikes, so today is about coffee. Though, I am not going to lie, I wrote this in my head today whilst on a mountain bike ride.

Anyways back to that delicious black liquid that fuels my every day!

I think I was destined to be a coffee lover from a young age. My mom and I lived with my grandparents and they would give me a little cup of coffee after she left for work.  I have no idea why they thought giving caffeine to a 4 year old was a good idea, but who am I to judge. Maybe it was some evil plot against my mom; either way I loved my Grandpa like there was no tomorrow. There aren't words that could ever explain how much he meant to me. He was by far, one of my favorite people in the entire world. He towered over me at 6’5. He was at every dance recital, praised every report card and was an endless fountain of knowledge and advice.

We moved out when I was 5 and I didn’t really drink coffee again until I was in high school. I got a job at a local bakery and worked at 5am on Saturday mornings. After work I would head to dance for 3 or 4 hours.  Between working 2 jobs, dancing 5 days a week, school and a social life I never slept; which meant I drank a lot of coffee. I would dump so much cream and sugar in there, that I don’t even know if it could really be considered coffee anymore.

It was about this time, I turned 16 and got my first car. An '89 convertible Lebaron, white with a black top and light blue leather interior.  I know what you’re thinking. you're totally jealous! Try to hold back. The first week I had my car I couldn’t wait to show my Grandpa. A year earlier he had been diagnosed with cancer and was weaker than I had ever seen him. Regardless, he taught me how to check the oil and emphasized that I never let the gas get below a quarter tank. We chatted car details and caught up over a cup of coffee.  As I dumped cream and sugar in mine he informed that “There is only one way to drink coffee kid, and that is to drink it black.” 

He passed away a week later. It was the last time I saw him and I have been drinking my coffee black ever since. As with all of his advice it was completely correct. I now know, that until you drink coffee black you can never really understand what a good cup of coffee is, nor can you appreciate it.

I think it relates to more than just coffee. You can’t really enjoy anything in life until you remove the sugar coat and all the other crap. At first it might be a bit bitter, but then you realize there is so much more to enjoy in the very base of it all. You finally realize that all the other stuff just ruins it. 

So, How do you take your coffee?

-in memory of Daniel Antuna