Coffee has played a pretty important part in my life in a both a good and bad way... and my relationship with the heavenly liquid has changed and evolved over my life. It has been interesting to think back and chart this relationship, as it has very much mirrored the evolution of my own self!
The Past
For much of my younger life, coffee wasn't a thing in our house when I was growing up. My parents were of Hong Kong background, and for them, it was much more important to have a pot of tea that was filled in the morning and kept warm in a basket that kept in the heat whilst it was drained throughout the day! When I was young, I didn't really fancy drinking tea... and so, I was much more attracted to warm (or cold) Milo or just plain water.
However, as soon I left home to go to University (I studied in a different city in Australia...), I met friends who were studying Science and Mathematics (and some Engineers....) all living in the same college wing. From there, I was introduced to coffee and I was hooked!
Partly, the need for coffee in my university life was due to the way we structured our lifestyles... It was the early days of the internet, and we would "borrow" the high speed university network in the evening to play Starcraft or Quake or Warcraft... or the original Counterstrike until around midnight. Then we would start work on our assignments that were required for the next day...
Needless to say, after midnight, you need a good dose of coffee to keep awake whilst dealing with Maths and Theoretical Physics (the Engineers probably didn't need coffee to help with adding up with their fingers or whatever it was that did... but their brains could always use a caffeine boost to counter the effects of too much alcohol...).
The next day would definitely require another strong dose of coffee to get me through the lack of sleep from the night before... and then we would repeat the cycle all over again...
During this phase of life, it wouldn't be uncommon for me to down about 10 cups of coffee each day... ahhhh, the things that you do to your poor body when you are young!... that said, it could have been worse...
The Present
Since working as a musician, I've dialed back the coffee intake pretty significantly... mostly due to the "encouragement" of my wife... who thinks that my heart will explode or something if I continue on the same daily intake. Most of the time, I pretty good about it... however, when I have rehearsals, I tend to have a coffee in each break just to have something in my hand. I blame the orchestra manager who always makes sure that there is easy access to coffee for the musicians!
On those days, I can peak back up to about 6 cups a day... however, I have to say that when we are touring, it is definitely necessary to have that many. Touring schedules means that we are moving from city to city... sleeping about 5 hours a night before moving on and performing in a different country. On those days, a coffee or 5 are definitely a requirement for me to stay awake whilst performing on stage!
It is during these periods that I start to notice the problems that coffee is starting to cause for me... on the days that I miss the morning coffee... or when I don't get one before about 10 in the morning, I will have the most splitting headache for the rest of the day. Perhaps it is all just in my head (haha...) but I suspect that there is an additional problem to blame!
The Future
The future... who really knows. I am trying hard to consciously drink a tea in the afternoon... and to keep the limit to two coffees a day. My wife has moved to a single cup a day, replacing her morning coffee with a hot lemon drink (Bleah....). To be honest, I more scared by the disappointment that my wife gives me when I take more cups a day rather than the ethereal threat of heart explosion!
I have introduced my children to "coffee"... well, a kids version of it. So, it is just warm frothed milk with chocolate sprinkles on top... so, a babycino if the serve that sort of thing in your particular country. I even do it in a little espresso cup!
My younger child is nuts about it... she's even been asking for it whilst our coffee machine (and the frothing ability) has been out of order. I'm not sure if it is the milk or the chocolate that she is really after... it could really be both, as she is equally crazy about milk AND coffee... so the thought of having them BOTH together at the same time must just blow her mind!
The older child isn't so fond of milk and so she tries to get away with skimming off the chocolate. I'm thinking that she will not be a coffee person when she grows up... it may be time to disown her before I find out the truth the hard way!
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