The velvety
and smooth texture of the Coffee Walnut ice cream touched my palate. I
experienced ‘love at first sight’ for the first time and fell in love with a
flavor so rich and powerful, that it stays in the mouth for a while. I was introduced
to Coffee when I first ate this lovely ice cream. I am a huge fan on walnut and
since the ice cream had some crunchy walnuts in it, I decided to give it a try.
Little did I know that it’d introduce me to a slightly unconventional flavor
which would have its name on top on my list of favourite flavours.
I had a
faint idea about Coffee. The memory of maa beating her own coffee was
perhaps my first experience with it. The aroma of piping-hot coffee was as
soothing to me as a walk on the seashore is. The most vibrant memory of coffee
would perhaps be the daily dip-dip rendezvous. The dipping or dunking of
the Parle-G biscuits in my parents’
coffee was perhaps the best way to experience how delicious coffee can make
even the bland Parle-G biscuit. Sometimes, the biscuit used to get so wet that
it used to fall inside the coffee.
I never
drank coffee until 8th grade. I was afraid that it’d be too bitter
and dark for my taste. I was accustomed to bitterness though, for I loved the
strong flavours of mint, tulsi and elaichi. Once, I took a sip
from maa’s coffee and found it too bitter. It’s really ironical, since
what I drink now is the purest form of coffee without any sugar or milk-
Espresso.
Baba (Marathi for father) is a very
frequent traveller. I don’t know where he got introduced to Espresso. What I do
remember is that he used to try it at almost every restaurant we went. It used
to be this really tiny cup, which had a dark and almost jet-black liquid in it.
I used to be scared by the sight of it.
Westin is a
hotel in Pune, and we used to visit it quite frequently when we had its
membership. We used to visit it on at least one weekend per month for
breakfast. The scrappy sister and I used to munch on yummy grilled sandwiches
and hot chocolate, and baba used to have his Espresso, which was perhaps
the best one he found at that time. I guess my introduction to Espresso
happened here.
The first
time I drank Espresso was at a place named Olive Bistro. Baba had
ordered some and by now my curiosity for this dark yet interesting drink had
risen to infinity. So I demanded to try it. I bought it close to my mouth, and
at first I actually got scared to try it out. I succeeded in the second
attempt. When the Espresso touched my lips, my bitter taste buds got to work
and the most bitter, weird and unknown flavor touched my palate. I almost felt
like spitting the thing out. I tried drinking water, but this eerie taste
remained prominent. We paid the bill and walked to the car. The taste in my
mouth was gradually changing. It was unknown and new, but it was one I strongly
admired. That was how I was introduced to Coffee.
My love for
Espresso only increased after that. The weird and unknown flavor had now become
the most familiar and lovely flavor. I try Espresso at almost every restaurant
I visit now. I can’t have even a pinch of sugar in my coffee, because I find it
too sweet.
But somehow,
there was one coffee with milk and sugar that I liked immensely. It’s named
filter coffee. I’ve had filter coffee only thrice, even though I yearn for
more. There’s a food joint in Phoenix Marketcity by the name UpSouth which had
heavenly filter coffee. My parents used to always love this joint, even though
I didn’t find anything great about it. Recently, when I had gone with baba
to watch The Mummy, we were waiting for the movie, so meanwhile he took me
downstairs to try out this extraordinary cup of coffee. It lived up to its
expectations. It was truly phenomenal! The first cup was a wee bit too sweet
for my taste so I had another one, which was stronger and yummier.
People say
that coffee takes away sleep. Well, I drink the strongest form of coffee and
still sleep for 10 hours straight! Most people are deewanas of
chocolate. I was a fan of chocolate and used to love eating chocolate ice cream
but now I have merely 4 flavours which I absolutely love (and eat ice creams
of)- mint, coconut, coffee (ofcourse!) and our very own paan.
I realize
how much I love my Espresso each time I visit Le Flamington in Kalyani Nagar.
The first sip ignites a smile. The dark, bitter and always better teeny-weeny
cup of coffee makes my mind race a million miles per hour and switched on my
‘happy mode’. So, kudos to coffee!
Oh, I completely
forgot, a very happy new year to all!
