(Heavy term, “enslave.” ) 

Lately, I’ve been having coffee in my system occasionally. Say, somebody treats me out for a coffee talk, or I wanna unwind and be away from the world, or I must stay awake if the situation calls for it. But most of those times are spent at home with a good friend. We used to hang out from one coffee shop to another for the past two years and I guess we’ve just had enough of those different kinds of tastes. So what we do now is experimenting a coffee mixture at home. Aw actually, he does that all the time. I don’t know a thing about creativity involving food (or drinks.) HAHA. A regular coffee with a little mixture of creamer or milk or chocolate or just anything that he can find available at home. It may be hot or iced or lukewarm or whatsoever. He does that creatively all the time, and I am the, hmm, taster? HAHA! In all fairness, he never failed yet. He better do it well or else, he’s kicked out of the house. This morning, he experimented on a certain kind of coffee with . . . oh, he didn’t tell me what mixture it was. I cared less because I told you, I’m just a “taster!” It was sooo good! Most outstanding, so far. Better than Mocha Blends? Or Starbucks? Or Bo’s? That cup of iced coffee made my morning. ^_^ As he said, we don’t need to spend a lot in a fancy coffee shop for just a cup of coffee. What matters most is the talk that gets in between every sip and gulp.

Amazing how coffee brings us together with the people we love to talk with. I normally think of a cup of coffee as for a father who sits on the chair early each morning and read the news, and just a few sips, he’s done. Just a few minutes and it’s all consumed. But when you spend it with someone over a chitchat, amazing how slowly it gets consumed. More talks, less drinks. More laughters, less sips. The giggles, the sentiments, the most profound realizations that come in between you and the person you talk with — all those become more meaningful, because of that cup of coffee. I’m not talking about dates here or spending time with a boy/girlfriend or whatever, though I guess it’s a bit sweet that way. I mean, the simple and natural way of dealing with the issues in life that matter to both you and the person (whoever that is) you’re with. Whenever I want to spend time with a person dear to me, I prefer spending it over a coffee talk. I’d rather choose sipping a cup of coffee than eating a bowl of lasagna . . . it’d be better if I’d have them both, though! HAHA

It’s much more amazing how coffee brings us nearer to the person that we personally are, right now. Whenever you’re alone and you’re reading a book or scribbling something, or listening to music with that one person in your head, you’ll find yourself being drawn closer to who you are right now. In my case, I always have a lot of self-talk times, especially these days that I’m not going out of the house, and a cup of coffee has always been my companion through those lonely afternoons while a certain song plays on and the memories, every and any kind of memory, come flashing back to me. (Sounds so dramatic, and gay!) But I love how I get to know myself better during those self-talking times, and of course, coffee has something to do with that.

I see coffee as a magnet that draws me and a certain person together, and me together with my dear self. As for me, it’s always a good time spending coffee with someone, especially with yourself. Little pleasures, little joys, great memories!

God is just so wise for creating coffee — He knew where it was going before we even reached the Starbucks age. ^_^

Recipe -  adapted from America’s Test Kitchen

0.5 lb medium ground coffee

9 cups of room temp water

salt, simple syrup, agave and/or milk to taste

1. Stir together coffee and 9 cups room-temperature water in large jar or half the ratio and put into a french press. Allow raft of ground coffee to form, about 10 minutes, and stir again to incorporate. Cover with plastic wrap or jar lid and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours (an hour shorter or longer is fine).

2. If using French press, plunger firmly on grinds to separate them from concentrate.

3. Pour coffee concentrate into coffee filter-lined fine-mesh strainer set over large measuring cup or use a filtered pour over coffee maker over a bottle. Let sit until concentrate filters through. (concentrate can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days).

4. Combine ½ cup coffee concentrate, ½ cup cold water or milk, and sweetener or a pinch of salt as desired. Pour into glass with ice. Drink.

This recipe gave me 8 cups of concentrate. Plenty to keep me going for a while. Plus, I froze some into cubes to put in my cafe glace, so my strategically formulated milk/agave to coffee mixture won’t get watered down. I know, genius.