Kahani coffee ki

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 8^th 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!