Coffee

I used to force it down so that I could stay awake. Cokes didn't cut it. They made me feel very up for 10 minutes, and then completely hopeless, as if I would never be active again. Energy drinks, with their impossibly tall containers and threatening names and slogans, never appealed to me much. Who needs 60 ounces of what is essentially nourishment for a very busy hummingbird in their system? Not I, I think, since I love answering my own rhetorical questions.

So it started with a Granita when I was 15. My sister brought me to Caffe Cottage, now better known as a bar and venue than a place to have a quiet cup of joe. It was sweet and delicious, too sweet by my current standards. Most important, it perked me up for a good, long while.

That led me to the Starbucks by Barnes and Noble. This was when I started to notice how many people equated coffee and cafes with inspiration. And today, cafes are no longer places to congregate and be social. They're studying nooks and smooth-jazz caves for aspiring writers. I'll admit I'm writing this at a cafe. It's hard to help; the atmosphere is such a nice change--much better than the Student Union.

A Louisiana coffee company, Community, jumped on the complicated-espresso-drink bandwagon and created CC's (now Community Coffee Houses). Their frozen drink was the Mochasippi, and it was my regular for a long time--mostly plain ones, sometimes with vanilla mixed in.

Hot coffee was a fiscal decision at first. Blended drinks were expensive and not all that good for you either. It was a slow process. First I drank mostly mochas and flavored lattes--training wheels. One afternoon, I order a cafe au lait and added a single packet of turbinado sugar. The milk was all frothy on top. As I stirred, the little crystals sank into the froth, making the top this lovely caramel color.

That's what I'm drinking right now, and it's perfect. I feel completely awake.