A Cuppa Heaven!

Quite recently I happened to pick a book from the Chicken Soup series at a book exhibition in Kochi. Memories sort of engulfed me; I can vouch, for Chicken Soup series used to be a thing of the past, marking the reading habits of me and my chums during our sixth and seventh classes, along with musty copies of Nancy Drew, Harry Potter and Malory Towers.

Evidently, Chicken Soup series are great; they used to be great back then, and they are great even now. The guys have come up with a new indulgent series of CS for the soul; a collection of books devoted to satiate the indulger in you. There were four books at the exhibition; CS for the coffee lover’s soul, tea lover’s soul, chocolate lover’s soul and wine lover’s soul. I would have picked up the first three if I had money, that is, if I ‘had’ which evidently I didn’t, so I ended up in picking up the first.

I have had the fortune to meet several coffee lovers in my life; ardent, passionate people for whom coffee is not just a beverage, but a way of life. I remember my friends Elizabeth and Anu, who cry when they see exotic coffee caskets at departmental stores. One day Anu woke up at the middle of the night; saw a brand new bottle of ‘Bru’, which she didn’t exactly had an access to and roamed around the house, murmuring “coffee, coffee”.  J

The book is full of quotes, humorous anecdotes, stories of addiction, stories of love brewing, and a lot more. I implore the book fanatics to try and get one of CS books on your favorite indulgence. There are, in every story, tales of the best coffee beans getting dried into the finest powder, the addictive aroma of coffee brewing, and the soft whiff of coffee and cream, which leaves you longing for your favorite cup of Java.

I recollect the escapades I personally had with the beverage. Late night preparations for exams would obviously top the list, the dark murky liquid with darker precipitate settling at the bottom of the cup- the concoction called black coffee that we call “kattankaapi”. The same thing that you gulp down when you are down with fever, sometimes with an added pinch of pepper or ginger powder.  The numerous cups I have had from railway stations and college canteen, which had tasted the same, thanks to the monotonous coffee machine. But I remember a coffee I have had from some railway station in Karnataka (this happened when I was little), which remains till date one of the best cups of coffee I’ve had. Then there are cups of coffee from south Indian vegetarian restaurants, made by guys for whom the aroma of coffee is, as I said earlier, is a way of life. Curling up with a book and a cup of coffee is my idea of heaven on earth!

Actually, what made me write this is, a couple of days back, I went for a competition with a best buddy, who for me, had been a real ‘partner in crime’ since our first year in college, and went to this famous coffee shop to have a cup. A blast of coffee scented air greeted us on entering the shop; a mixed whiff of coffee, cream and cakes (Sheer heaven!). A group of guys were discussing good films over their coffee, well known names of celluloid popping up in their discussion. We had this extremely bitter cup of coffee (which appeals to top notch caffeine lovers, but not to me, I presume) along with a gooey, creamy, chocolaty dessert. I don’t know what did the trick, a day off from the humdrum college or a good time with a friend, we were in good spirits that day. But honestly, I think it is coffee that did it. Coffee is really, a pot of heaven.

A true tea lover as well, “coffee or tea?” for me is like “Mammooty or Mohanlal?” to a Malayali. Still, coffee is a mood-changer, spirit-lifter, like no other beverage. To all those females who shy away from a cup in the fear that coffee makes you dark,

“Seriously, seriously?”

 A lot, a lot, a lot can happen over a cup of coffee.