Drinking local coffee in the fog

My matriarch is a huge tea drinker and I always smell herbal tea leaves from the kitchen. Although she preferred dark Oolong tea, sometimes I would smell very distinct smells of mint, chrysanthemum, green tea and other local leaves called collectively as Pito-pito (Seven-Seven)

Breakfast consisted of pancakes, orange juice, oatmeal, eggs, and bacon with a side of pork and beans and weak tea when we were kids.

Even when the Matriarch would have guests she would serve them tea with honey and some of those Danish Butter cookies that go well with it.

Whenever we would eat out and celebrate birthdays we would drop by Chinese restaurants and order Birthday Noodles and yes you guessed it we would drink tea to aid digestion.

So I never grew up drinking coffee but thinks was going to change when like millions of people before me joined the call center industry. One that would begin my love affair with coffee.

In a bid of getting away from the shadow and achievements of my eldest sister, I started working in call center company. I was one of those agents that got shouted on for billing, technical and renewal of domain names and hosting services.

I was assigned to the graveyard shift of 10:00 PM. Primetime they called it as most people in the western hemisphere would call at this hour and start their complaints. I called it Hell on Earth as it was literally nonstop calls from the start of your shift and until the end.

Although I was a night owl before because of playing video games it was a whole different beast when you are working the graveyard shift and talking and talking on the phone. A good thing that the job was not repetitive enough because you would be troubleshooting a myriad of problems from a simple a domain name was not renewed thus the website was down to scripting issues and databases not connecting. You pray to God that you don't get a VPS issue because you know you are ill-equipped to handle that.

So you needed something strong, strong enough to fight for you! We had unlimited instant coffee, chocolate, and tea. I know tea is said to have a higher concentration of caffeine but it was not cutting it and I had to resort to drinking coffee. I tried black but couldn't drink it without a lot of creamer and sugar.

So I survived the two years I experienced working graveyard thanks to instant coffee. At this point, that was all I drank and I was still a major tea drinker. There were tons of coffee shops sprouting and it was the cool thing to be seen holding with that Tall Machiatto with a dash of chocolate powder on top.

I know because I was often asked to buy coffee in the international coffee shop chain on the ground floor of our building during meetings. In no way was I going to spend more than $3 dollars for a coffee. I attribute my cheap ass attitude to my combination of Chinese and Ilocano blood (A region north of Manila that is notorious for being tightfisted with money)

Then I met her. She liked her coffee scalding hot and a tall Cafe Mocha with a hint of nutmeg. She didn't it like it too sweet and took one creamer. She would silently sip her coffee and have the tiniest of a smile on the corner of her pert mouth as if she had a secret that nobody else knew.

During weekends we would drive south of Manila and go to Tagaytay, a place that is situated on a higher elevation and thus cold. We would enjoy tea and coffee together as we watch the sunset overlooking a quaint coffee shop called Bag of Beans.

Source

We would talk for hours as we held hands and warmed our bellies with hot coffee. I began to try her coffee choices and decided I like things sweet and with cream unless if you drink Barako coffee (Literally Macho Coffee!) which is a very robust coffee from the Coffea liberica species. It has a strong distinct taste and typically grown in the Batangas and Cavite area near the coffee shop.

You never drink it with creamer and would either use brown sugar or muscovado (a brownish unrefined sugar with molasses texture and flavor)

Screenshot was taken from their website

Another favorite coffee shop that we would often go to is Commune Cafe a mere walking distance from my house.

They blend their own coffee beans with locally sourced beans from Sagada, Batangas, Mount Matutum in Cotabato and Mount Kitanglad in Bukidnon.

It has a rich aroma and a flavor of different blends but comes together into one of comfort and happines.

They also make the cutest coffee art ever!! Sometimes you just want to look at it and not drink it. or move it to the side as you sip your coffee.

So I love drinking coffee with her, over conversations of anything under the sun. From her musings on music and the places, she wants to travel to my thoughts on whether Jon Snow will be the one to sit on the Iron Throne.

Through coffee, love was born and celebrated. So whenever I smell coffee brewing in the morning I think of her smile as if she knew a secret no one else does. Yet I know it is about our coffee story.

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This piece is done as my entry to @davinsh 100th day Celebration | Coffee Story Writing Challenge - Win 5SBD

Here he celebrates his 100th day on the platform and celebrates his triumphs. I am so happy for you man!

Join his contest and get a chance to share your coffee story.

Images not sourced are my own.

Image 1 from Unsplash -杉 王

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