Dear Coffee,
Let me preface this by admitting yes, I started out only drinking you when necessary. Say, when I needed a hangover cure, or a caffeine pick me up during the late night (let's be real, early morning) hours during finals week. But slowly, and oh so surely, I fell in love.
Let's start with the obvious: taste. That unique blend of bitter black coffee mixed with sweet almond milk topped with brown sugar is unlike anything I could have previously imagined. Hazelnut, sugar-free vanilla, Mexican mocha, dirty chai, and everything in between. With so many flavors it's practically impossible to get bored of you. Your versatility is part of what makes you so irreplaceable.
But it's not just taste- It's so much more than that
Coffee is truly for every occasion. Hot or cold? Decaf or house blend? Tall or Venti? (Trenta on particularly rough mornings.) With so many different possible combinations of temperature, taste, and size, you are acceptable for every life event. When I'm having a good day I go for something sweeter. When I'm having a bad day I opt for the extra espresso shot, because I deserve it, dammit. When I'm balling on a budget I turn to my Keurig in times of trouble.
Coffee is good any time of the day. People will tell us that we can't be together at night because I won't fall asleep, or claim that they don't fundamentally understand the concept of "espresso after dessert" at dinner. I laugh at these people. We both know it's 7am somewhere. And that is why you and I will be together forever.
As if all these reasons weren't enough, you're not only good to me, you're good FOR me. Since its origins- the coffee bean is believed to have been first implemented in Ethiopia, whose people were among the first to have recognized the energizing effect of the native plant- thousands of years later coffee still proves to have a number of additional health benefits.
Thank you for improving my energy levels, boosting my metabolic rate, and providing me with all of your essential nutrients. You are literally the reason I am still standing.
Coffee: because I need something to keep me going until it's acceptable to drink wine. Coffee because adulting is hard. Coffee because it is a tangible form of liquid joy. And it's not just me who you make so very happy, it's everyone within a 5-foot radius around me as well. I never said that I would necessarily die without you, but other people around me probably (definitely) would.
So whether your name on the menu is café in France, kopeh in Hawaii, or just plain ol' Cup of Joe, just know you are anything but plain. Drinking my morning coffee is no longer just a routine, but more of a ritual. I know it took a while for me to get here to this place, but here I am. And now you're stuck with me for life. Shout out to your for being you.
Love always,
Hannah
