coffee: a love affair

My relationship with coffee has lasted longer than most of my relationships with humans.

The earliest coffee-related memory I have is falling in love with it as a teenager when I stopped adding sugar to it and discovered what it really tasted like. It has been over three decades since that fateful day, and we have been through a lot together.

At different times, coffee has been my reason for getting out of bed in the morning, a travel companion, a substitute for food, my social crutch, and in recent years, it has been an excuse for having a sit down!

Coffee was a constant throughout my teaching career, although it was more about the effect of drinking it than the taste itself. Our relationship lasted through the testing times of the health and safety boom, when suddenly it needed to be drunk in plastic 'safety cups,' and the faces children made when they stuck their noses into my half-drunk mugs always made me laugh. I can only guess at the number of decisions made in meetings powered by coffee! One of my proudest moments as a headteacher was linked to coffee; when we received a wellbeing grant as a school and decided together that rather than using it to give everyone a day off, we would buy a posh coffee machine for the staff room. I am also proud to say that I abolished the staff coffee fund as soon as I took over as head. If a school cannot offer its staff free tea and coffee, then there is something majorly wrong with its ethos, in my view.

I have only adopted one new coffee-related strategy that I learned through teaching; my office manager always added an extra spoonful of coffee when she made them, so thank you, Rachael, for the 'double coffees.' 

My relationship with coffee has had many highlights outside of work, but there are too many to mention here. However, if I were to pick a few, they would include:

• Around twenty years ago, when ordering espressos in Truro for my partner and I, being warned by the nervous barista, 'you know, these are quite strong'
• A few years later, when we decided to try 'double double' espressos in Cheltenham. We regretted it almost instantly.
• A cup of coffee and a Yorkie bar (when they were proper chocolate bars) with my dad watching the cricket.
• A trip to a coffee plantation in Jamaica, seeing the beans being grown, and trying delightful Blue Mountain Coffee for the first time. The combination of the wonderful setting and gorgeous taste made for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
• My partner finding a slug in the garnish of her sandwich in a popular national coffee chain, only to be told, 'Well, that proves the salad is fresh.'
• Trying Greek frappes for the first time and learning how to make them myself (the secret is to use the cheapest possible coffee!)
• Enjoying a Mexican Coffee in Cancun (it's like an Irish coffee but made with Tequila and lots of sugar!)
• Recently, in a well known coffee shop, being my partner being asked if she wanted milk with her mint tea!

Of course, my love for coffee does not just include the drink itself, as it extends to coffee-flavoured things. For example, it is impossible for me not to order a tiramisu in a restaurant if it is on the menu. Coffee cake, of course, has always been a favourite, and without a doubt, the best is made by my mum. Also, after a fun trip to Mexico, the same one as when I tried their coffees, I developed quite a liking for Black Russians!

Since I left teaching, our love affair has not dwindled; it has risen to new heights. I recently purchased an espresso maker so that I can pretend to be a barista at home. I even grind my own beans! I am also learning to make flat whites, cappuccinos and lattes using James Hoffmann videos from YouTube. I even try to watch baristas at work when we visit coffee shops to get some first-hand tips. I am truly turning into a bit of a coffee snob, so the plan is to learn how to do those nice patterns on the tops of them next!

As such a lover of coffee, I feel like I have become a bit of an expert on the pros and cons of different coffee shops from twenty years of visiting them on a regular basis. Therefore, I would like to finish this post by counting down my top 3.

3. Cornish Bakery - This is South West based, as the name suggests, and their cakes, etc., are amazing. Coffee is great, too, and would have probably been my number two if it wasn't for the incredibly slow service. 

2. Coffee#1 manages to retain a personal atmosphere, despite being owned by Cafe Nero. The food here is particularly good.

1. Boston Tea Party is another South West Based, family-owned chain. Great atmosphere, lovely coffee, and wait for it, as this is a game changer, they bring your coffee over to you so no more waiting in a queue for them to make it!