The Daily Ping

Somehow I’ve gotten to the point in my life where I can almost drink black coffee. Almost!

Coffee and I, we go way back. I first started drinking coffee late in high school and, naturally, I took it pretty much like my mom and dad did: with a lot of cream (milk, really) and sugar. I look back now and realize that those two things fundamentally change the drink – or mask the “meh” taste of Folgers. But that’s how I started drinking it, for better or for worse.

At some point in the past I tried coffee sans cream and realized, “Hey! This isn’t so bad!” What I was gunning for was the sugar, of course, because sugar is sweet and tasty. That was the first step. Slowly I ramped down the sugar I put in my drink which also gave me a chance to taste the actual coffee. Like a purist!

I’ve occasionally had black coffee within the past year or so. I’m almost ready for it. The variable is, as always, the quality of the coffee. If it’s bad coffee it’s going to taste horrible unless it’s masked by dumping a fair amount of stuff in it. But if it’s good, smooth, well-brewed coffee I think I could get behind it.

This also just might be another sign of me getting older. I’m already drinking coffee on occasion in the afternoon, and that’s just a step away from having it with dinner at 3:30.

Posted in Food and Beverage