I have this thing for candy canes. I know they’re not exactly good for me, since they’re full of artificial colours and flavours and sugar. I didn’t always like them, though. It wasn’t until I was 14 or 15 years old that I willed myself into liking them. I decided that it would be cool to be the sort of girl who ate candy canes, so I kept on eating them until I acquired the taste.
I’ve done the same thing many times. I didn’t always like cola, but around the same age I decided I should change that and after having a few cans of Coke, I did. I rarely drink it now (I probably average 3.5 cans per year), but there are times when it’s just what I want. I also gradually acquired a taste for wine, and strong cheese, and spicy food. I enjoy lots of things today that my eight-year-old self never would have consumed. This is why I try not to freak out if my kids are a little picky – I know they’ll probably outgrow it, just like I did.
There is, however, one taste that I have simply not been able to acquire: coffee. I’ve tried to drink it several times. When I was about 16 I thought it would be cool to drink coffee, but I could never get through a full cup. I remember trying to choke some down at a restaurant with a friend. I kept adding cream and sugar to it, trying to make it taste good, but it never did. Finally my friend said, “Give it to me, I’ll drink it.” She took one sip and promptly spat it out, declaring it more like hot coffee ice cream than actual coffee.
Image credit: Maxime Seguin on Flickr
When I was in university I tried, once again, to like coffee. I participated in an event called the Polar Plunge back in
Eventually, I made my peace with being a non-coffee drinker. I had an epiphany, in fact, when I realized that I didn’t have to teach myself to like it. Furthermore, by not drinking it, I was saving myself from becoming dependent on it. I watched my mom go through coffee withdrawal a couple of times, and it wasn’t pretty. Since I’ve never been a coffee drinker, I don’t need it to get going in the morning, and I don’t have to deal with any pangs if I can’t get it. In many ways, it simplifies my life.
Image credit: DavidD on Flickr
I will admit, though, that there are certain times when I think that maybe I should try to drink coffee once again. Those mornings that come all too soon after a long night with a sick kid. In the Vancouver Airport at 6:00am, waiting to board my plane to San Diego for BlogHer. At Starbucks watching all the other patrons with their fancy coffees topped with whipped cream and caramel swirls and chocolate shavings. I wonder if I couldn’t hack it when I was younger because I didn’t have the stomach I do now. I start to think that maybe I have something to prove. Surely if I put my mind to it, I could make myself like coffee! But then the moment passes, and I get over it.
I’ve acquired many tastes in my lifetime. I may still acquire many more. But I doubt that coffee will be one of them.
Any other non-coffee-drinkers out there? If you drink coffee, what spurred you to start? And what was your first reaction when trying coffee? I’d love to hear!
PS – I may not drink coffee, but I drink a lot of tea, and my tea cupboard shows it! I want to see yours, too. Write a blog post on or before January 18, come here to link-up, and show me your tea stash.
Monday and everyone’s thinking about coffee, hehe. I just wrote a post on it, too. I’m not a big coffee drinker, either, and can’t stomach straight coffee like my parents drink. I like my coffee to not taste like coffee. Sometimes, though, you just need a little kick in the morning.
C @ Kid Things’s last post … Maybe I Wasn’t Specific Enough
I’m not a coffee drinker, either! I’ve come to the same conclusion as yours as well. My religion actually “recommends” to not drink coffee, so it hasn’t been a big deal growing up not to drink it. Now, I don’t like the taste, and I’m not sure cream will change that. Surprisingly, people are more surprised that I don’t drink coffee than when I tell them I don’t drink alcohol.
Rebecca B’s last post … Sunday Surf: Jan 8-14
I have never had a cup of coffee. Years ago I had a sip. The smell just turns me right off.
I also don’t drink tea. I do sort of wish I did just so I could have a “grown-up” drink when I hang out with friends and everyone else is having a coffee or tea.
Coffee and I are the best of friends. Part addiction, part habit but mostly I do have a taste for it. I find it relaxing and a great ritual for me. That being said, I don’t drink it caffinated after 4pm or I’ll be up in the night. I did give it up for pregnancy times but by my last babe I had to sneak a cup or two on those hard days. I must have started the habit in university and ramped it up over the years.
Cheers! with whatever your drink of choice is. May it be accompanied by a peaceful moment.
Pam’s last post … Welcome 2012!
I’m a non coffee drinker, and at 57, believe me past any chance of succumbing. I’m not adverse to the stuff; the taste bothers me not. I avoid caffeine, and prefer fruit juice to any hot beverage. Seltzer water is my preferred sipping drink during the day.
nelle’s last post … fault lines
I actually DO like the taste of coffee, and I used to drink it black in my early 20s. Then I had a severe bout of insomnia for a year so I cut out all caffeine for a brief time. Now, if I have a cup of coffee, I’m very very sensitive to the effects: heart racing, shortness of breath, shaking hands for 6 hours after a single mocha. It’s pretty awful and it made me realize how powerful the physical effects are…to the point where I’m glad that I’m not dependent on the stuff. I find it amazing that coffee drinkers can be so hard core about loving it/needing it and not really think of it as a drug. (Not like heroin, but still, a drug).
I don’t drink it at all now, even if I would enjoy a cup a couple of times a year just for the taste. Instead, I drink tea several times every day.
Also, I’ve tried many times as an adult to try to acquire a taste for olives and I just can’t do it. As a result, I never really feel like an adult at parties.
Alison @ Bluebirdmama’s last post … 2012 in a word
You are lucky. I am a total coffee addict. I really hate being addicted to it! I know that once we get to Asia it will not be as easy to obtain a good cup as it is at home so in preparation for our trip I keep trying to quit. I have tried to quit four times in the last year but I guess I just have really low willpower cause I keep on going back!
Amy’s last post … Managing Expectations
Hee hee. I somehow failed to notice coffee until I was well into my 20s. Of course back then, it was the nastiest stuff every made. it was a latte that bowled me over. It wasn’t so much the taste as the burst of energy and social high that came with it. A real RUSH. It’s a drug people! I’ve been hooked every since. I still don’t like drip or diner coffee but I can drink straight espresso
harriet Fancott’s last post … Never say never again
I didn’t really start drinking coffee until I became pregnant (and yes I know most pregnant women STOP drinking coffee, but that’s when I really started). I had so many complications, including horrible pain that I slept no more than a couple of broken up hours each night, but I was still expected to go to work and run some substantial projects. I became addicted to vente coffees from Starbucks, and never looked back. Last year, I actually had to put a stop to the coffee. It was out of control. Now I’m back to a cup or two a week. Much better than a pot a day. My first love is, and always will be, tea.
Marilyn @ A Lot of Loves’s last post … The Yay and Nay of the White Stuff
I didn’t like coffee until I tasted espresso. Then I realized what I disliked wasn’t coffee, but coffee that isn’t freshly made.
I can’t abide coffee. My parents drink it constantly, so I grew up wanting to try some, and then discovering the stuff was NASTY! Starbucks always smells so nice, but every time I’ve given in and tried some, I’ve always been disappointed. I do like coffee ice cream, so that’s something, right?
Then one time when I was in an airport, I went to Starbucks for some kind of non-coffee drink and they got it mixed up and gave me a mocha frappecino instead. It wasn’t terrible, so I drank the whole thing … and had horrible diarrhea immediately after! Another time I had a Mountain Dew, which tastes nasty to me as well, and came down with horrible shakes everywhere. I think my tastebuds know better … they know I have zero tolerance for caffeine and shouldn’t even try.
Seeing as it IS a drug, I see no reason to get myself hooked. My husband doesn’t care for it either (though he occasionally forces it down when he’s sleepy at work) so we don’t even own a machine.
Sheila’s last post … We need Daddy around
Thankfully, I have never liked coffee nor desired to drink it. Most of the coffee drinkers I know feel their day simply cannot get going until they have that first cup of coffee, and I would not want to be dependent on that. A few years ago my heart started not agreeing with caffeinated soft drinks, so I had to stop drinking those. That was hard enough, and I can’t imagine trying to break a coffee habit.
As far as fancy Starbucks drinks—try the hot chocolate! Since I’m vegan I get mine with soy and no whip, but I’m sure you could add whip and chocolate shavings, and sip along with everyone else. (I find it delicious with some added powdered vanilla and cinnamon they have out front.)
I have never gotten into drinking coffee. I have always figured if I didn’t get hooked on it in university (nearly 35 now), why start now. I love the smell of coffee, but not the taste. It honestly bothers my stomach. Tea is my hot drink of choice.