A cup of coffee, please

Arabs are reportedly responsible for the discovery of this most exhilarating of beverages. And ever since the age of 19, daily consumption of it has been a staple feature of my life. I am referring, of course, to the uncrowned prince of drinks: coffee.

Yes, it has caused loss of sleep at times, and it is, according to a former student of mine, listed by a UN agency as a highly addictive fluid, but still I will continue enjoying its scents and flavours that come in a gratifying number of varieties. Coffee is one of my few loves that I'm certain will cling to me, and I to it, for as long as I am able to relish its existence.


Formerly, coffee was the center of much controversy in all kinds of circles: the environmentally inclined despised it because of the toxic fluids used to protect crops from the onslaught of bugs and bacteria; those insisting on fair trade and fair treatment of workers at coffee plantations vilified it as it brough untold profit to large, multinational companies - but left very little in the way of a surplus to those who laboured and languished to bring the precious beans down from the coffee bushes.


These days coffee producers seem to be working hard at cleaning house, each and everyone striving for noble or ignoble purposes towards becoming certified fair traders. Ecology awareness, too, is on the up, and thus, on Coffee Heaven, stars shine brighter than ever before as new generations embrace the Caffe Lattes, the Double Espressos, or the Ice Vanillas.


I had my last cup at around 6 p.m. this evening. Why? Well, whatever qualities coffee has, it certainly doesn't induce a good night's sleep. But tomorrow is a different story. It usually doesn't take me and my coffee maker more than ten minutes before a steaming hot, fresh cup is ready to be downed by the early-morning-liquid 'predator'.