On Quitting Coffee
Coffee and I did the whole distance thing, and for a very long time. My neighbors peaked my intrigue every morning through their sinful morning brew and the aroma...dear lord...it was hard to ignore. As a kid I was not allowed to try coffee but each time I visited South Indian restaurants I was allowed to share a cup with my mother.
These once or at the most thrice in a year affairs started getting on to me. (Coffee addiction stage 1.) I always maintained my stash of coffee bite toffees (the taste started getting worse with each batch) but let's face it... that wasn't real hot piping cup of filter and the more I passed across the streets selling coffee powder (almost every big street has a coffee vendor) with mean blends, the more difficult it became to brave the separation.
I can go on and on, but thought why not give an event by event account of a Coffee addict from the moment it started:
I. Aromas of Coffee - The guilty neighbors: As I mentioned before, it started with my neighbors. The first signs of a future addict were trying to resist and ignore the morning filter coffee of my neighbors. The battle used to start early in the morning, their 6:30am brew. Who drank coffee so early in the morning?? The early 90s kids parents.
II. Chicory:Coffee - Ratio and Proportions: All was well till Ratio and Proportions took over. Coffee began to haunt me in school. 30% of Chicory was how 80% of the future coffee addict problems took off.
III. The Rendezvous: The Filter coffee(shared): After unsuccessfully trying to take my mind off coffee at home and school. I mustered all my courage and told my dad, I needed coffee! right when the waiter arrived to take the order at this restaurant. I was too old to throw tantrums so this worked. Dad agreed to my coffee ploy provided I shared that cup with my mom. That innocent quarter cup felt like manna. Bitter-and-sweet!
IV. The Holy Matrimony: I landed in Chennai. Every time I treated myself to south Indian breakfast, or snacks; coffee was the mandatory beverage. I had my share of worst brews too.. too much sugar, too much milk, really light coffee, and what not. I was in my Coffee fantasy land (read espresso, filter coffee, regular cappuccino), pure bliss and 0% adulteration
V. The Curious Case of Cafe Mocha: Hooking on to chocolate blends didn't take long. While I relished my bitter-sweet version of chococcino one evening came the innocent cafe mocha to accompany a cheese grilled sandwich. Hell broke lose...what followed, apart from the insane addiction, was insomnia. This combo helped me burn the midnight oil during examinations but Insomnia was hard to combat. Each cafe mocha left me sleepless in my city. Despite many reminders to my friends to warn me against ordering the mocha, I ended up ordering more and more of mocha and what ended was a nightlong staring at the ceiling and my obsession with randomness theories
VI. The craving: Cinnamon Coffee: Coffee Beanz was amongst those few hangout spots in Kozhikode and I happened to order a cinnamon coffee. This left me craving for more...after I bid adieu to that land.
VII. Double Shot Espresso: My life went smooth - I began to gulp down cups and cups of hot coffee - from instant-sugar-overload ones to the vending machine brewed cappuccinos-sugarless to single shot espressos-sugar-less. Coffee made my days bearable. Happiness to me was a steaming cup of coffee. Then came the crazy marathon day - packed with meetings, deadlines, deliverables and status updates - and I decided to go for a double shot espresso. The guy operating the vending machine offered to add sugar and warned me against the strength of the shot. Little did I know where this would lead me.
VIII. Experiments with coffee: The coffee journey was not stale - I kept playing around with flavors and blends - homemade mochas to coffee-toffees to coffee-oats to chai-coffee to what not; including many failed attempts at cinnamon coffee.
IX. The Zombie mode: Cafe mochas and that double espresso shot were my undoing. I realized coffee was bad, but by then we were in a clumsy, toxic relationship with each other, which soon turned abusive when I downed a dozen once.
X. Beyond Coffee: This was when Beyond Coffee, an art cafe in Hyderabad, happened. The name was misleading because they offered both robusta and arabica versions of coffee along with a lot of art displayed by artists from across the city. I picked a caramel blend in robusta and guess what? The cravings peaked.
XI. The perfect brew - Cinnamon coffee: I cracked the code one hot summer afternoon in 2014 after browsing through YouTube channels and scouting through hacks on brewing the perfect cinnamon cuppa. Little did I know how satisfying a cup of your own cinnamon coffee would satiate your demonic cravings, just that one cup of perfectly brewed heaven.
XII. On quitting coffee: Yes, that cinnamon coffee fixed me and with that the whole craving for coffee - in all shapes and forms. Who knew you could brew your own antidote? Luckily I didn't have any coffee withdrawal symptoms, did I quit coffee for good? NO!
XIII. And keeping calm: I drink socially. My first cup after quitting it in the summer of 2014 came in December 2014. Not bad considering the affair I had with my kaapi. I didn't meltdown or craved for more coffee in the future, other coffee moments were only at cafes which didn't serve mochas.
PS: "To tea or Coffee" is your choice, this post is not intended to influence your preferences. My preferred beverage has always been tea even when I was kaapi-ing crazily.
I can go on and on, but thought why not give an event by event account of a Coffee addict from the moment it started:
I. Aromas of Coffee - The guilty neighbors: As I mentioned before, it started with my neighbors. The first signs of a future addict were trying to resist and ignore the morning filter coffee of my neighbors. The battle used to start early in the morning, their 6:30am brew. Who drank coffee so early in the morning?? The early 90s kids parents.
II. Chicory:Coffee - Ratio and Proportions: All was well till Ratio and Proportions took over. Coffee began to haunt me in school. 30% of Chicory was how 80% of the future coffee addict problems took off.
III. The Rendezvous: The Filter coffee(shared): After unsuccessfully trying to take my mind off coffee at home and school. I mustered all my courage and told my dad, I needed coffee! right when the waiter arrived to take the order at this restaurant. I was too old to throw tantrums so this worked. Dad agreed to my coffee ploy provided I shared that cup with my mom. That innocent quarter cup felt like manna. Bitter-and-sweet!
IV. The Holy Matrimony: I landed in Chennai. Every time I treated myself to south Indian breakfast, or snacks; coffee was the mandatory beverage. I had my share of worst brews too.. too much sugar, too much milk, really light coffee, and what not. I was in my Coffee fantasy land (read espresso, filter coffee, regular cappuccino), pure bliss and 0% adulteration
V. The Curious Case of Cafe Mocha: Hooking on to chocolate blends didn't take long. While I relished my bitter-sweet version of chococcino one evening came the innocent cafe mocha to accompany a cheese grilled sandwich. Hell broke lose...what followed, apart from the insane addiction, was insomnia. This combo helped me burn the midnight oil during examinations but Insomnia was hard to combat. Each cafe mocha left me sleepless in my city. Despite many reminders to my friends to warn me against ordering the mocha, I ended up ordering more and more of mocha and what ended was a nightlong staring at the ceiling and my obsession with randomness theories
VI. The craving: Cinnamon Coffee: Coffee Beanz was amongst those few hangout spots in Kozhikode and I happened to order a cinnamon coffee. This left me craving for more...after I bid adieu to that land.
VII. Double Shot Espresso: My life went smooth - I began to gulp down cups and cups of hot coffee - from instant-sugar-overload ones to the vending machine brewed cappuccinos-sugarless to single shot espressos-sugar-less. Coffee made my days bearable. Happiness to me was a steaming cup of coffee. Then came the crazy marathon day - packed with meetings, deadlines, deliverables and status updates - and I decided to go for a double shot espresso. The guy operating the vending machine offered to add sugar and warned me against the strength of the shot. Little did I know where this would lead me.
VIII. Experiments with coffee: The coffee journey was not stale - I kept playing around with flavors and blends - homemade mochas to coffee-toffees to coffee-oats to chai-coffee to what not; including many failed attempts at cinnamon coffee.
IX. The Zombie mode: Cafe mochas and that double espresso shot were my undoing. I realized coffee was bad, but by then we were in a clumsy, toxic relationship with each other, which soon turned abusive when I downed a dozen once.
X. Beyond Coffee: This was when Beyond Coffee, an art cafe in Hyderabad, happened. The name was misleading because they offered both robusta and arabica versions of coffee along with a lot of art displayed by artists from across the city. I picked a caramel blend in robusta and guess what? The cravings peaked.
XI. The perfect brew - Cinnamon coffee: I cracked the code one hot summer afternoon in 2014 after browsing through YouTube channels and scouting through hacks on brewing the perfect cinnamon cuppa. Little did I know how satisfying a cup of your own cinnamon coffee would satiate your demonic cravings, just that one cup of perfectly brewed heaven.
XII. On quitting coffee: Yes, that cinnamon coffee fixed me and with that the whole craving for coffee - in all shapes and forms. Who knew you could brew your own antidote? Luckily I didn't have any coffee withdrawal symptoms, did I quit coffee for good? NO!
XIII. And keeping calm: I drink socially. My first cup after quitting it in the summer of 2014 came in December 2014. Not bad considering the affair I had with my kaapi. I didn't meltdown or craved for more coffee in the future, other coffee moments were only at cafes which didn't serve mochas.
PS: "To tea or Coffee" is your choice, this post is not intended to influence your preferences. My preferred beverage has always been tea even when I was kaapi-ing crazily.
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