Confessions of a Caffeine Addict

At the start of every new day I enjoy a mug of steaming hot English breakfast tea and this has been a daily ritual for decades now. But, as much as I like my early morning cup of tea, I love coffee. I save the prospect of this treat until later in the day.

The truth is – I am addicted to coffee.

In my home city of Auckland, every day I seek out my favourite coffee places to sit and savor a good strong long black as a mid morning “kick start”. It’s a habit which is easy to indulge in as, in New Zealand, we have access to numerous cafes and many serve cup after cup of superbly roasted and expressed coffee.

Aside from restaurants and cafes, coffee’s offered at petrol stations, garden and sports shops, golf lounges, car grooming establishments, book stores and various mobile coffee carts. They do a great job of luring coffee lovers like me to partake – to sit awhile or have a caffeine “hit” on the run. Of course, I’m not a passive participant in this.

My fanaticism for the “perfect” coffee even extends to baristas where I have identified particular favourites. I am surprised how identical coffee beans, roasted, ground and processed through the same machine but expressed by a different barista can create a completely different taste experience.

Conferring “preferred barista” status is something I take very seriously and like categories for the Academy film awards, I have favourites for different types of the drink - one who produces an outstanding long black and another to create my late afternoon cappuccino. A cappuccino is a work of art. It’s presentation deserves an award of its own and sometimes one is treated to delightful patterns in the froth - swirls, a fern, hearts, chocolate bits or sauce which combine to create an overall “coffee experience”.

In truth, not only do I have my favourite coffee spots in Auckland, I have acquired a list of preferred cafes in small towns and cities throughout New Zealand and in a separate section I have some details. My plan is to add lists of “My Favs” from other countries throughout this journey.

Now, as I leave New Zealand to embark on this journey to South East Asia and Eastern Europe, I’m hoping I can find places, to satisfy and please my discerning coffee palette, particularly in those towns and cities I will stay awhile. Otherwise it will be tea and me which is not a bad second. Of course, I could always resort to instant or plunger coffee. But then again – no – not by choice anyway!

However, drinking coffee; drinking tea; it matters not at all, because I’ll be imbibing these drinks in faraway exotic places surrounded by new faces, different sounds and smells and fresh sights and that’s what I look forward to. And, if this indulged westerner can’t get the coffee she wants in some out of the way place, then so be it as there really are more important things in life.