I Got Started Pretty Early
![Stove Top Percolator](http://procaffeination.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/5753692_f520-300x286.jpg)
My earliest memories of coffee are in my grandmother’s kitchen, watching the bubbles in the glass top of the percolator on her stove as she made coffee for my grandfather.
I must have been 3 or 4. I remember enjoying my own cup with lots of milk and what I assume was a saccharine tablet for sweetness (although I am old enough that it might have been cyclamates!).
I remember feeling so grown up.
Fast forward to my junior year of high school where the occasional late-night essay required “a little boost.” By my senior year, I would occasionally sneak into the teacher’s lounge – coffee was not available anywhere for students, presumably because it would stunt our growth – for a pre-lunch “pick me up” so I could be fully attentive in Mr. Macnamara’s AP European History class. He may or may not have felt that that particular act was appropriate.
In college, I had a morning radio show (let’s hear it for the Woo Crew) and we would go through at least three pots of coffee before we were through. If I decided to skip French class (who knew I would need to speak French?) I would have another couple of cups at breakfast, followed by a couple after lunch and dinner, as well. I may have had a small caffeine problem at this time.
My work life always entailed multiple trips to the office coffee maker, regardless of the quality of the brew, but then I bought a Kona coffee farm on the Big Island of Hawaii back in 2008. That is a story for another time. After ten years of beating back the jungle, I am now living in Europe and am very much looking forward to connecting with a nice group of coffee lovers.