The first story I remember is from around April of 2019. Yes, it has been well over a few years but I remember this like it was yesterday.
It was a very pleasant afternoon. Aprils in Ukraine is like the honeymoon phase of the seasons. You have just gotten over the cold and unkind winter, and you are very in tune to welcome the warm summer. It is a wind-breaker kind of season.
I was looking for a spot to record a vlog for the video series I used to do on the blockchain when I came across the newly opened Vanilla Sky coffee. It was a very nice looking place. Ambient lighting, open spaces, and comfortable furniture.
I walked up to the menu and asked the barista to brew me something that'd make me want to come back. A few minutes later he brings me this.
"What a beautiful smell! This is incredible! What is this?"
"We call it Orangish Coffee"
Trust me, I almost instantly spat the first sip I took on the barista's face...who had this smug look almost as if he was anticipating the reaction.
Turns out this is a pretty common coffee beverage in France, along with a lot of other places. Two shots of espresso with orange juice mixed in it. What an incredibly powerful flavor.
It wasn't a pleasant experience. Every sip felt like a wave of orange juice with an occasional jolt of espresso in the mouth. If you thought drinking cold orange juice right after brushing your teeth was something, try this drink!
Just imagine pairing two acidic drinks together. The closest thing to the aftermath would be that of a coffee enema.
Now let me show you the flipside of my strange coffee experiences. One that was weird not because of the ghastly taste like the Orangish Coffee, but was rather born from fondness and confusion.
This was somewhere around late 2018. I had to grab the picture from my Instagram story archives since I couldn't find the original in my gallery. But again, the memory is still very fresh.
My lawyer's wife had opened a cafe in the neighborhood and I became a regular there. They had excellent food and the coffee was always good.
This morning she told me she was experimenting to find a new item for the menu and wanted me to try it. Who am I to say no, right?
She brings me this espresso-sized cup with looked like espresso and pistachio ice cream in it. What a beautiful sight! I had never seen something like this before. It's been well over 3 years and I don't think even Dubai has caught on with this fad yet.
Only after we had exchanged exciting smiles and she had left did it dawn up on me...
It was a tough position to be in. It was a very sensitive situation actually. I didn't want to make things awkward by asking stupid questions. I didn't want to consume this wrong because that'd make me look weird. It's a conundrum, especially for someone who has never seen something like this before.
The drink/dessert was extraordinary. I cannot put into words how much I loved it. But it was straight-up weird. These are two distant things for me: a hurried morning, on-the-way to work cup of espresso and a lazy evening, tracksuit and Netflix tub of ice cream. Very distant things. But put into the same cup. How am I supposed to feel after having this?
In a nutshell, the strangest experience I had with coffee have all stemmed from one thing: weird pairings. Granted I hated only one of them. It still doesn't sit right with me. Throw me an americano, doppio, or espresso and I'll be more than happy.
A contribution to Coffee Stories #2. Prompt: Coffee Experience.
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