Liquid Focus

At 6am, bleary-eyed and sleep deprived, I can’t think of anything as glorious as my first sip of coffee. It holds the promise of wakefulness and activity, of coherence and clarity. It is my liquid focus. It helps jumpstart my brain and helps me forget (at least until 11am) that I have a 1 ½ year old child who has yet to sleep for longer than 5 hours straight. Ever.

It’s not just the beverage, which I covet on a daily basis, but it’s also the ritual that it represents. Coffee is the promise of a new day. It’s a guarantee that at least something will go right today. I love the sound of the drip, the tinkling of the spoon in my oversized mug (which by the way allows me to claim that I’ve only had two cups of coffee when it was more like six). Finally, my favorite sound in the world…the buzzer that lets me know that my morning brew is ready for consumption. I doubt that I could even wait 60 seconds before pouring my first cup.

My favorite job ever was as a barista in a local coffee shop. I knew the properties of each of the coffees we served. I could make any number of mixed espresso drinks to satisfy the cravings of even our most discriminating customers (the teenage girls who bought cappuccinos out of automatic vending dispensers located in gas stations). I loved both creating new drinks and serving the regulars their old standbys, but my favorite part of the job by far was my ability to educate the masses.

If you love coffee, I mean really love coffee, then you know how much misinformation exists about coffee and caffeine consumption. If you’re like me (which I’m sure that you’re desperately glad that you not), you’ll feel the need to correct this misinformation when you come across it. I think the coffee myth that peeves me the most is the belief that a shot of espresso contains more caffeine than a regular cup of coffee. (What, you didn’t know this was a myth?! ) While espresso certainly tastes stronger due to the dark roast of the beans, what actually determines the amount of caffeine in a cup of joe is the length of time that the beans are in contact with the water. In other words, the longer the brewing time, the more caffeinated the beverage.

I have a serious compulsion when it comes to correcting this myth. It’s not enough that I correct people in the line at Starbucks (yes, I’m THAT person), but my first ever call to a radio station was to correct a local DJ who bought a triple shot of espresso to combat his fatigue. He kept trying to put me on the air, but in my humility (and with the knowledge that all of my coworkers listened to that particular station and would never let me live down this latest episode of OCD), I was content to let him spread the message. As I hung up the phone, I breathed a sigh of relief that another bout of misinformation was corrected. Then I had the good grace to be embarrassed…but it soon passed.