333975 Fri Oct 13 21:21:09 -0700 2006 125 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1944660 I honestly don't remember exactly when, but probably sometime in my freshman year in high school. As to why? Dunno, I think its because I wanted to be like my uncle who used to down the stuff like a fish in water. It sure wasn't because of the taste. I ask because today at my local coffee joint for an after-lunch pick-me-up, there were these 4th grade school kids who must've been on a field trip ordering up lattes, mochas, and all sorts of coffee-ish beverages. Fri Oct 13 21:21:09 -0700 2006 11583 ipsedixit 1 1944684 Thats a little young. If i had to guess, I started when I was around 13, maybe younger. Every holiday there was coffee and my parents always drank it, so I started drinking it. Didn't have it daily until college when the cup of coffee and the crossword puzzles kept me awake through my morning classes (and by morning I mean noon or 1pm). those were the days... Fri Oct 13 21:28:29 -0700 2006 1944660 12821 ESNY 1 1944694 I was about 13 - we used to walk to the local plaza at lunch and get great fries from a local restaurant (Fresser's), sneak a smoke or two, and we used to get double double coffees. Yum. I haven't had a double double coffee in years of course, but that was my first coffee experience. Fri Oct 13 21:33:21 -0700 2006 1944660 23415 pescatarian 1 1944707 I'm one of the only adults I know that doesn't drink it. I've tried it at various times over the years but have never developed a taste for it. I think I'm too old to start now. Fri Oct 13 22:00:20 -0700 2006 1944660 14412 wontonton 2 1945528 Not at all. I know several adults who don't care for it, and I'm one of them! You're not alone. My brother was convinced I just hadn't had it the 'right' way. He spent several months in my twenties trying concoctions I had to try (milk, cocoa, sugar) and I always hated it. LOVE the smell, though. Could live inside a roasted coffee bean. For the record I come from and am surrounded by major coffee drinkers. I'm a big fan of tea, though. Sat Oct 14 06:18:46 -0700 2006 1944707 12487 krissywats 3 1947778 Add me to your list. I don't like coffee. I don't like almost all things coffee flavoured. I love tea, all kinds of tea (with the possible exception of Lapsang Souchong), and almost all things made with tea. I'm 24. Mon Oct 16 00:56:40 -0700 2006 1945528 24055 Atahualpa 4 1947967 One more here, no coffee flavored anything. Grew up in RI, the only one of 6 kids who hates coffee milk! Tiramisu -can't do it. Don't tell me to add coffee to any chocolate dessert to make it better - I can taste it no matter how small of an amout! Never bought a bottle of Eclipse, such a bad RI Girl!!! Mon Oct 16 02:54:08 -0700 2006 1947778 14620 hummingbird 5 1947971 This senior citizen never started drinking coffee either. Love the smell, don't care for the taste. Mon Oct 16 02:57:30 -0700 2006 1947967 11791 DonShirer 6 1948026 Me too, love the smell. Of course NJ husband just loves it. So I hate having to make desserts with it, but I do. Semi senior here! Mon Oct 16 03:27:10 -0700 2006 1947971 14620 hummingbird 7 1959353 One more non-coffee person. It tastes nothing like it smells... I don't drink much tea either, despite my British upbringing, but I'll drink Envy or Passions Tazo Tea. A lot of chocolate desserts suggest adding a scoop of instant coffee or espresso powder, but I've never done so, for fear that the end result would even slightly resemble coffee taste... I can taste even the slightest twinge of ginger in a dish, so I fear te same for coffee additions. I workout/run in the mornings for my "kick," rather than the caffeine. Fri Oct 20 03:34:20 -0700 2006 1948026 15572 Emme 5 1950566 Oh yeah, I'm with you - I've been advocating for years for tiramisu made with the ladyfingers soaked in a super rich cocoa or something. I don't like coffee ice cream or anything coffee flavored and I REFUSE to make my chocolate mousse with espresso. Tue Oct 17 01:44:32 -0700 2006 1947967 12487 krissywats 6 2990849 Another non coffee drinker here, but I do like coffee Hagen Daaz Ice Cream. I don't *mind* other coffee ish desserts but not my first choice. Oh and I'm a HUGE tea drinker Sun Sep 30 15:26:59 -0700 2007 1950566 69079 starlady 7 2992056 I am not necesarily a non-coffee drinker, but I am not a habitual coffee drinker. I much prefer juice or water in the am and typically only go for coffee when it has already been made and I am cold and need something to warm me up. I also have had it a few times at restaurants after dinne while lingering over dessert, but I could honestly never have another cup and be just fine. Mon Oct 01 06:29:16 -0700 2007 2990849 82243 ArikaDawn 2 2991711 I don't drink coffee (and for that matter, I'm trying to eliminate caffeine from my diet as well.) Originally this was for religious reasons, but I've also found that I don't respond well to caffeine in the first place (all it ever does is exacarbate the insomnia I've always had issues with) so right now 'm trying to avoid all caffeinated beverages. Sun Sep 30 22:47:04 -0700 2007 1944707 24644 Vexorg 1 1944708 Childhood, pretty early...around 10'ish. Came from a household of coffee drinkers. My mom would give it to us at that age, about 75% was milk, the rest coffee. Fri Oct 13 22:00:40 -0700 2006 1944660 15231 synergy 2 1944765 Synergy, my story is almost exactly the same as yours, tho' I remember my dad giving me "coffee-milk" as early as five or six. By the time I was 11 or 12, I was a regular coffee drinker. Fri Oct 13 22:25:26 -0700 2006 1944708 24849 antrobin 3 1944791 Probably even younger than that-- maybe five. Mom made me what I called "cossie milk"-- aka "coffee-milk" which was mostly sugar and milk with a splash of coffe. Similar thing with wine starting around 7 (a few sips diluted with sugar and water). The coffee-milk habit did't survive into middle school and I didn't actually start to drink coffee until college. Fri Oct 13 22:41:07 -0700 2006 1944765 36325 Procrastibaker 4 1947758 Five, when I started kindergarten. My uncle would drive us to school, so in the morning I would have breakfast at my grandparents down the street. In the winter my grandfather would give me a mug of cornflakes with coffee, milk and sugar in it. I think I started just frinking the coffee when I was 9 or 10, when I was traught to make and serve coffee by my grandparents when they had company. It was always Cafe Bustelo, and it was always delicious. Mon Oct 16 00:42:54 -0700 2006 1944791 22627 MaspethMaven 3 1945875 That's my story too. Somewhere in my mid teens I started taking my coffee black. My mom would make me drink it with milk when my grandfater would visit, I didn't like it too much but then again it was easier to do this than switching from scotch to beer when he visited, LOL. Sat Oct 14 16:30:09 -0700 2006 1944765 13030 free sample addict aka Tracy L 3 1945891 When we were kids the only time we ever had tea was when we were sick or had Chinese food. So tea is never something I enjoy like coffee. We now drink French Roast coffee, buy the beans & grind them. It's a strong coffee and we love it. Every other coffee tastes so watered down to us now. I also love coffee ice cream. Sat Oct 14 16:42:12 -0700 2006 1944765 15231 synergy 2 2992772 We lived in the US but went to visit my grandparents in Belgium every summer starting around age 12, often without parents for a period of time. Grandma made us drink the milk, which was not homogonized like US milk and didn't taste good to us. She filled it 1/2 full with strong French press coffe, sugar and milk. I LOVE coffee to this day, especially smell. Unfortunately, I still like it very light with lots of sweetness. Those old habits are hard to break. I still prefer milk chocolate to dark chocolate as well, I guess I am a creature of habit. Mon Oct 01 10:14:11 -0700 2007 1944708 15139 Diane in Bexley 1 1944712 Sophomore year of college. Had my hardest string of finals for fall semester and this was my only legal option to stay awake studying :). Fri Oct 13 22:02:56 -0700 2006 1944660 43960 ubermasonfan 2 1947291 Same here. I dunno what year sophomore is in Canadian terms, but I started in year 3 when things got tough. Year 3 is usually when universities kick it up high year (at least for mine, and for accounting) and so drinking it in the morning would allow me to cram 3 chapters in 3 hours (otherwise 1 chapter for the day). Haha.. but the effects wore off after 3 weeks. Boo. Sun Oct 15 18:47:42 -0700 2006 1944712 12423 jennjen18 1 1944730 High school. I remember trying it as a kid and not liking it at all. When I tried it again in high school, I liked it. Sort of like beer. My parents were both coffee drinkers and their influence was paramount, of course. Fri Oct 13 22:09:26 -0700 2006 1944660 23430 Mr. Cookie 1 1944740 I started drinking it at around age 15. I wanted to be "grown" like my Mom. She said I could drink it but I had to drink it black, no sugar. It was one of the best pieces of advice she me "Life is simpler if you drink your coffee black." And it's true. Fri Oct 13 22:15:32 -0700 2006 1944660 11990 Janet from Richmond 2 1944754 So true. I see people dump in a half-gallon of cream (or milk) then about 8 packets of sugar ... and then I wonder, "are you drinking coffee or sweetened milk with a little coffee on the side"? Fri Oct 13 22:19:34 -0700 2006 1944740 11583 ipsedixit 1 1944752 Pretty late for a Rhode Islander -- junior year of high school, when I had a job at a grocery store that started at 6AM on Saturdays. Sometime around 10AM someone would make a coffee run to the Dunkin Donuts down the street. DD coffee regular (cream and sugar) got me hooked. Of course, being a Rhode Islander, I had been drinking coffee milk and eating coffee (and mocha MMMM) ice cream since I was a wee lad. Not really a big leap to coffee regular. Fri Oct 13 22:19:00 -0700 2006 1944660 12829 Bob W 1 1944766 Sophomore year in high school. I always liked the taste of coffee (my mom used to put a spoonful of coffee over vanilla ice cream, and we thought that was fabulous!), but it wasn't until high school that I started drinking it daily. I started with milk and sugar, then cut out the sugar shortly afterward (I was a 15 year old girl, and was worried about my figure ;-), but I still drink it with milk. I can drink it black, but prefer coffee with milk. And you know, I don't think I've gone a day in my life since then without coffee. Fri Oct 13 22:26:12 -0700 2006 1944660 11028 DanaB 1 1944785 In high school. My folks drank it and so did I. I also started drinking at parties and the coffee helped me get started on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Fri Oct 13 22:37:41 -0700 2006 1944660 10914 PaulF 1 1944788 Started drinking coffee at the age of 3-- half coffee, half milk. Started reducing the amount of milk immediately. Well, I'm Cajun-- what do you expect?! My grandmother gave coffee to all of us kids. It was that or start smoking, and Mom didn't want us playing with lighters. Fri Oct 13 22:39:47 -0700 2006 1944660 12805 rjw_lgb_ca 2 1947292 Oh my gosh, 3!!?? I bet you were a hyper kid. :P Sun Oct 15 18:48:33 -0700 2006 1944788 12423 jennjen18 3 1961205 Actually it was like ritalin-- it calmed me down! ;) Fri Oct 20 20:32:35 -0700 2006 1947292 12805 rjw_lgb_ca 2 2999088 I remember the first time, I was 3 and at a funeral of a great aunt. Little cups of Community Coffee were being served & I had one. Fell in love and asked if I could have another. They made me stop at 2 cups. The funeral was in Morgan City, LA. I grew up in New Orleans and with a Costa Rican mother & a quasi Cajun dad drinking Cafe Au Lait or Cafe con Leche at an early age was certainly no big deal. I love coffee but don't drink it everyday. I like the flavor too much for it to be an everyday thing at this point, tho there have certainly been times when I have had my daily dose! Wed Oct 03 01:46:28 -0700 2007 1944788 44582 Isabella 1 1944813 My father was stillaround so I was younger than 12. He gave me something called "coffee milk" which was my glass of milk with a shot of coffee. Ages 12-16 I was very skinny no matter what I ate. I graduated to a coffee milkshake every night with Ice cream, milk, and coffeetime syrup, The real deal started in HS from the Deli on the way to school. Sweet at first and then eventually got rid of the sugar. College went to Celestial Season Roaring Thunder, left overnight next to my bed and chugged 30 seconds after the alarm went off. Good jolt in the morning. 20-40's graduated to 5-7 cups a day and now I have my cup at how w DW and milk a second cup during the day at the office. Fri Oct 13 22:57:42 -0700 2006 1944660 11290 jfood 1 1944816 The first time I remember drinking coffee was in late high school. I was trying to stay stay warm at football games( I was a majorette) and I didn't like the hot chocolate that they served at the concession stand. I have to admit that the coffee was probably about 1/2 milk and coffee with a healthy dose of sugar. It wasn't until my freshman year in college that I actually developed a taste for black coffee (I had 7:30Am classes ever day) and still I prefer it that way now. I am still trying to perfect a device to get my coffee fix intravenously. It would free up the hand that usually holds my coffee cup, and I wouldn't have to wonder where I left my cup. Fri Oct 13 22:57:56 -0700 2006 1944660 22220 Kelli2006 1 1944822 Do we blame it on the Cajuns? I started at 3 or 4. In New Orleans. My grandfather and I sat at the dining room table every morning reading the New Orleans Picayune newspaper and drinking coffee. His coffee with a little milk. My milk with a little coffee. And like rjw_lgb_ca the amount of milk went down. I also learned to read before I started school. I dropped the milk when the man who prepared the coffee for the cuppings at the Wm B. Reilly Company refused to make coffee for us in the office if we put milk in it. He was the "Coffee Nazi" but he made spectacular brew. You had to drink it HIS way or not at all and he said that black with sugar brought out the full flavor. I still drink it that way except for an occasional cafe au lait at Cafe du MOnde or Morning Call. Fri Oct 13 23:01:47 -0700 2006 1944660 32444 MakingSense 2 1959373 Was all this actually coffee and chicory? I've lived here for 8 years now, and I cannot make coffee and chicory at home. Way too harsh. However, the two times I've actually asked a waiter what kind of coffee it was (I think it was Commander's and Galatoire's) because I was so moved by the quality of the coffee, it was coffee and chicory (I think Community, possibly Union). How do they do it? I use Community Between or Dark Roast, since I can't parse the chicory thing. I guess I should answer the OP's question, too: Started drinking coffee in jr high, usually only at holidays at my grandparents' house, where the coffee was so weak you could taste the well water through it. (We're midwestern). You could see the bottom of the cup. Like chocolate, my tastes in coffee have grown darker over the years. I prefer it with a little cream, no sugar. Fri Oct 20 03:50:29 -0700 2006 1944822 10559 JGrey 1 1944835 I guess around 16. I was working with a crew of painters and mid-morning they would brew their own coffee and it smelled so good! I came from a family of coffee drinkers, so it's no surprise. Like most, I started out w/cream & sugar but switched to black during college when we would regularly run out of milk and sugar. My roomates and I also switched to drinking Luzianne with chicory, because it was cheaper. Now I'm hooked on espresso . . . Fri Oct 13 23:09:22 -0700 2006 1944660 14610 bropaul 1 1944891 Wow! I didn't start until 18 and it was when I started working at summer camp. Had to keep up with a cabin of kids, live on little sleep and then have to get up for 6 am staff meetings. It was a ritual to meet this cute (but younger...and at that age it wasn't cool for girls to be with younger guys) guy at the coffee maker and we'd load up on sugar (in the coffee) before the meeting. It was the perfect excuse for us to hang out... I've been addicted ever since...to the coffee, that is. Fri Oct 13 23:31:28 -0700 2006 1944660 44315 korjay 1 1944921 In Japan, they had little triangle shaped milk cartons filled with "coffe milk" that children would drink like choclate milk. That was my first taste of coffee. Then in the US, as a high school student, my friends and I would go to breakfast on Fridays and have about 5 cups of coffee which would keep us buzzed for the rest of the day. Now I drink tea. Fri Oct 13 23:42:00 -0700 2006 1944660 10122 BombayUpWithaTwist 1 1944924 If you mean the first time I tried it, probably when I was very young, maybe 4 or 5. Of course, it was this horrible freeze-dried stuff that my mother kept a jar of "in case anyone wanted coffee" (almost everyone who ever came over drank tea) and the granules were all stuck together and had kinda turned blue. But if you mean when I started making real coffee, it would have to be when I was about 15. I found this pack of coffee filters and so I went out and bought some beans, ground them up in a coffee grinder (which I also found in the back of a cupboard), and, because we didn't have a coffee maker, secured the filter around the neck of a glass jug (using an elastic band) and slowly dripped the water through. After all that, the damn thing tasted so bitter, it very nearly put me off coffee for life. It wasn't until years later, when I inhereted a real coffee maker, did I start drinking coffee properly. Maybe in my early 20's. Of course by then, a little company from Seattle was just starting to invade CA and so that kinda made getting coffee easier (yes I know it's burnt but I like it like that). TT Fri Oct 13 23:42:35 -0700 2006 1944660 19247 TexasToast 1 1944945 I thought 16 was early, but I guess not! For me it was all about going to cafes with boys. The coffee was not important. I started out with mochas but soon moved on to espresso. I actually quit for a year in college. I'm not sure how I managed finals on herbal tea. Fri Oct 13 23:52:04 -0700 2006 1944660 11231 Glencora 1 1944968 freshman year of college to stay awake. i have a very vivid memory of the first time i tried to drink coffee to study for the Physics AP in high school... we were out of milk, so i dumped all this dry coffee mate and sweet and low and mixed it in, hoping it would help get it down my throat... and almost gagged. then suddenly my liking for mocha ice cream turned into a taste for coffee (black, mind you) in college. kind of off topic, but is anyone else totally irritated when people say, "why are you drinking DECAF coffee?" as if caffeine would be the only reason you'd be drinking coffee!!! Fri Oct 13 23:57:17 -0700 2006 1944660 11504 amandine 1 1944975 My mother you used to give us milk and coffee in our bottles. I remember drinking coffee since the time I can remember. I don't give my baby milk and coffee but my 7 year old has some with his breakfast when he's in the mood. Fri Oct 13 23:59:32 -0700 2006 1944660 27101 bolivianita 1 1945154 I didn't drink my first cup until the age of 29. My girlfriend had a more demanding schedule than I, so my "job" was to perpare her coffee while she showered. I figured if I had to get up to do that, I was damn sure going to make myself a cup. I didn't become an everyday coffee drinker till many years later when I started my own business. Sat Oct 14 01:09:08 -0700 2006 1944660 12245 Mister Big 1 1945163 Age 26 or 27, when I lived in Israel, and it was served to me. My first coffee was what the Israeli's call 'botz' or mud, and similar to what we call Turkish Coffee Quite an introduction! Sat Oct 14 01:13:51 -0700 2006 1944660 27868 plf515 1 1945194 Funny you are asking this question at a time when I find myself drinking half a cup or the 50% strength brew after decades of drinking it...but I've always had a yen. My parents drank iced coffee and loved coffee ice cream which is my first recollection. As an aside, my Dad loved Mocha cake..mocha everything actually. During my cig days, coffee went hand and hand first thing in the morning...quit the cigs but hung onto my coffee cup....enjoying it every which way...but about two years ago I started slacking, switching to teas...even chai...and now when I crave java....its only fresh beans, freshly brewed in the AM. (I recently tried Senseo pods, boy who the heck can call that stuff coffee.) Sat Oct 14 01:22:58 -0700 2006 1944660 36312 HillJ 1 1945226 I'm more of a tea drinker myself, but I think I first developed a taste for coffee through the coffee flavored ice cream my mom sometimes kept around the house. After that, I graduated to mochas. Yeah, I'm not particularly hard core. In fact, it's my lack of taste for straight black coffee that turned me toward tea. Once I found out the fat and calorie content of Starbucks concoctions, I figured out why I'd been gaining so much weight! After that, I took up tea drinking and limited my coffee-ish drinks to special occasions. I can't believe those 4th graders were ordering up Starbucks. They certainly don't need the caffeine, and, well, I've already mentioned the nutrition issues. Sat Oct 14 01:41:31 -0700 2006 1944660 44761 lemonfaire 1 1945232 I was going to college in France. Started out with lots of steamed milk and sugar. Now I drink it strong and black. Sat Oct 14 01:43:47 -0700 2006 1944660 17678 Francesca 1 1945383 my parents were both big coffee drinkers, and I think I started trying it at 7 or 8, very light and sweet. I didn't drink it regularly until college, usually late at night, in a diner, along with a side of cigarettes. ah! those were the days! i gave up the smokes, kept the coffee. I finally became an addict when working for a .com out of Seattle. We had one of the first commercial Keurig machines and it made very good coffee. I must have drank 8 cups a day. I should look into their home machines... Sat Oct 14 03:59:03 -0700 2006 1944660 12513 Divamac 1 1945450 my two year old started drinking it with his grandparents and now when we go to breakfast in rest. he tells the waitress he wants caulk key.His is half coffee and half milk but he loves the stuff.My husband says he only needs to take up smoking and he will be the perfect little old man.LOL! Sat Oct 14 05:01:39 -0700 2006 1944660 11854 LaLa 1 1945453 I think I've had about two sips in my whole life...once as a kid, then in college again. Never acquired a liking to it. Everyone in my family drinks it, some like water. I do think hot tea occasionally, maybe 1-3x a month. Just not a hot beverage or big caffeine fan...makes me way too hyper. I will drink iced tea or a coke once in a while which has about a 1/10th of power of coffee. OTOH, if others enjoy it, great. Sat Oct 14 05:03:38 -0700 2006 1944660 27275 ML8000 2 1945474 I also had my first taste of coffee from my Swedish grandpa in Duluth. He made me and my sister each a glass with a small amount of coffee and some hot milk and sugar. After that I didn't drink coffee again until high school when we used to hang out day and night in coffee shops and drive-ins and drink tons. I always drank it black until, when I was trying to quit smoking, somebody told me that it'd be easier to lay off cigs when drinking coffee with cream as that was more like a foodstuff than coffee and was a bit disgusting with cigs. It worked and I haven't smoked for 20 years. Unfortunately, I got used to the cream and haven't stopped using it since. I do only have one cup a day, though, so it's not THAT bad, is it? I do love Blue Bottle Coffee's iced coffee they sell at the Berkeley Farmers' Market on Saturdays. It costs FOUR DOLLARS! but it's worth it. Sat Oct 14 05:18:09 -0700 2006 1945453 10245 oakjoan 1 1945476 Oops, forgot to say why. Because I was enchanted by the idea of cafe au lait and figuered that coffee would be more palatable if cut with milk - plus some sucre. Everyone was drinking coffee and it seemed very grown up. As they say, when in Rome(or France)... Sat Oct 14 05:20:33 -0700 2006 1944660 17678 Francesca 1 1945532 Sometime during college, probably at midterm or finals, I started drinking coffee, but didn't enjoy the taste, only drank it for the effect. I'd always liked the smell as a child, but not the flavor. My junior year of college, I was treated to Christmas break in Rome, and had my first espresso. I mostly took it latte or cappucino and for the first time, I enjoyed the taste. In fact, most of the food and beverage in Rome was a freaking revelation. I came home a changed person. A foodie was born... I should add I'm not a regular coffee drinker. Honestly, it's too much of a production for me. I don't like brewed unless it's French press, and I'm too grumpy to grind beans fresh each morning, and too picky not to bother. Espresso is hard to make well without an expensive and counter hogging machine. I only have an inexpensive little one which makes barely passable, not much crema espresso. It'll do, but it's not a pleasure, you know? Most mornings I brew loose leaf tea, and leave the espresso to visits to my favorite barista as a treat. Tea is also a reasonably priced beverage, even when you buy good stuff. (Not great stuff, like crazy expensive oolongs or darjeelings, mind you, but entirely decent tea.) Sat Oct 14 06:25:53 -0700 2006 1944660 24126 amyzan 1 1945600 I used to sneak cups of old cold coffee when my parents werent around when i was about 15 or so.I was just curious I never really started drinking it regularly untill I was 25 or so.Lately ive been cutting back on coffee and drink more teas but i put powdered caffiene in the tea so its still got a kick in the pants lol Sat Oct 14 09:25:49 -0700 2006 1944660 43660 billjriv 1 1945637 The mid-80s, when I was around 25 or so. I used to be a tea drinker for the little bit of caffeine lift it gave me, but there came a time when it was just upsetting my stomach. I was working in a small company in Mifflinburg, PA, and my boss had me buy Sumatra Mandheling coffee beans (at the unheard of price of $14.99/lb from a store in Lewisburg!) to grind for the company coffeemaker. I've always loved the smell of coffee; never liked the taste. But since tea wasn't working for me, I started out with Sumatra "coffee-milk" - light and sweet. I've moved up to two cups a day - still using light or medium-roast beans, and probably drink it sweeter than most. Sat Oct 14 12:02:05 -0700 2006 1944660 10532 LindaWhit 1 1945651 My folks drank their percolated coffee black, in the morning, so I guess it was the caffeine for them. I was intrigued by the aroma, but found the flavor hideous and bitter (well, it was boiled coffee). Could never figure the attraction. Bring English, when Mom's sister or mother visited, a pot of fresh tea was always brewed and Gram tried to get me to drink it, but couldn't develope a taste for it. I thought it tasted worse than the coffee. As a child I had a very low tolerance for anything bitter. (Gagged on spinach) I started drinking coffee in my 30's when I went through a divorce and needed to get a new morning routine to help me through the newness of living alone after 15 years. I tried hot chocolate, but found it cloyingly sweet. Then an after-theater coffee house started up in a local bookstore (this was back in the day before coffee houses) and each cup was brewed with a filter cone to order. I tried chocolate mint coffee, and was immediately hooked on the quality. Not long after, I went to cafe mocha beans to home-grind, and I was grinding my daily columbian thereafter. Now it's the dark roast blend of a local roaster. I make 4 'cups', have one before work, and enjoy the rest throughout the day from my Zojirushi Tuff Slim. Keeps it piping hot for 8 hours. 'Scuze me, gotta go make some coffee. Sat Oct 14 12:34:57 -0700 2006 1944660 11234 toodie jane 1 1945661 I never drank coffee growing up (although my parents were tea drinkers and served me tea at breakfast from the time I was very young, probably 6 or 7). It wasn't until after university and I was out in the workforce that I started drinking coffee, mostly because that was all that was available to drink in meetings and the like. It didn't take long before I started to have it in the morning at home as part of my routine. Just instant at first and that's what I had for years. A few years ago though I bought a Melitta Mill and Brew coffee machine and that raised it another level. Throw in beans and water before going to bed, get up and press the button, and in 5 minutes you have the BEST coffee! The pinnacle was for a few years when Atlantic Superstore sold Sumatra Mandheling beans in bulk -- the best beans I have ever had. I was addicted to them. But then they did away with them and now I am back on a house blend of medium-roast beans that is still good, but not as good as those. I live in fear that my Mill and Brew will expire, since Melitta no longer sells them in Canada. Sat Oct 14 12:56:00 -0700 2006 1944660 12103 Greg B 1 1945909 I was four or five -- my Dad found a little demitasse cup which would be "my mug" to drink along with him at breakfast in the morning. With TONS of sugar and cream, of course. Sat Oct 14 16:48:26 -0700 2006 1944660 16933 Carrie 218 1 1945919 I was probably 5 or 6 when my parents started giving me a tall glass of percolated coffee with a couple of sugars and lots of milk. It's progressed from there, esp since Starbucks came along but I still usually have it with 2 sugars and a bit of 2% milk. Working on my 2nd cup as I type! Sat Oct 14 16:52:51 -0700 2006 1944660 12752 MsDiPesto 1 1945930 Like most native New Yorkers, I was raised on the cheap weak stuff at Greek diners. (For those who can’t remember that far back, when Starbuck’s hit the City in the early nineties, the going rate for a cup of Joe was fiddy cents at the neighborhood diner. Starbuck’s doubled the price and the rest is history.) However, my coffee palette was suddenly elevated in the late 1980’s when I traveled to Berkeley. There, in the city of hills, great year-round frontlawn gardens, aging hippies and C—z P—e (the holy one whose name must not be uttered) my cousin pointed out the window of her little car and said, “There’s Peet’s. Its really good coffee – you should try it.” And I did. Man, the Major Dickenson’s blend. Really good. http://wesfoodie.blogspot.com/2006/10/wesfoodies-dark-master-no-more-redux.html Sat Oct 14 17:04:14 -0700 2006 1944660 12111 wesfoodie 1 1946052 Probably around age 10, maybe a bit younger. It was a treat on Wednesdays, when my grandmother would come visit. She'd bring a loaf of rye bread, which we'd slather with butter and she'd make a percolated pot of coffee for her and my mom. They would allow my sister and I to have a mixture of milk and coffee, mostly milk of course. I didn't start drinking it "for real" until I started to work full time when getting up at 6am and commuting into NYC necessitated a caffeine buzz to start the day, which was about age 20 or so. I also gave up the sugar in it pretty fast - preferring it just with milk or half and half. Through the years, I've fluctuated with the kind of milk in it, right now I'm at 1% at home, but whole or skim when out depending on what is available. Still - no sweetener. I started drinking better coffee about 8 years ago after a trip to Spain when I suddenly realized that everything I'd been drinking up until that point was weak and insipid. It gave me a whole new perspective on coffee. Now, I can't stand the average cup of coffee you get from a deli, which I never gave a second thought to prior. I'm no snob about it yet, but given my choice, I certainly try to purchase the best whenever I can. I'm still on a quest to find the perfect electric, moderately priced coffee-maker for home. Does not seem to be such a thing. Love my french press, but sometimes, it seems to be too much of a bother to prep and clean. Sat Oct 14 18:49:52 -0700 2006 1944660 12099 sivyaleah 1 1946056 For me it was much earlier than Junior High. Parents approved coffee for me and my sibs so we could dunk our morning toast befor going off to the school bus stop. Memorable, and a comfort food memory; I don't dunk toast any longer! Sat Oct 14 18:55:06 -0700 2006 1944660 11361 Griller 1 1946242 I remember as a toddler looking up to my grandfather who would enjoy his cup of Sanka. I would take the sanka jar from the pantry and use it as a musical instrument, cause I liked the sound of the "flavor crystals" when I shook the jar. My grandma gave us kids tea with milk and sugar every morning since I can remember, 2-3 years old. But I was wondering why my grandfather would drink the black stuff. I didn't get into coffee until a starbucks came to the LA area and my brother's girlfriend got a job there as a barista. Back then they had to go to Starbucks University for training. Of course, she would give us free drinks, so I pretty much tried everything on the menu- caps, americanos, lattes, the blended thingies, etc. I was about 13 years old then. I only drink lattes at any of the Brand name coffee shops. I still drink my tea with sugar and milk like grandma made. In the past 3-4 years I've acquired a taste for black coffee, which is what i'll have if I go out for breakfast, or do middle of the night diner run. Sat Oct 14 21:26:14 -0700 2006 1944660 25247 Veggietales 1 1946252 While I don't remember my first cup of coffee, I have a crystal clear memory of my first cappuchino. My parents never made a big deal out of coffee and I think I took a sip when I was seven and didn't drink it again until high school. When I was eighteen and moved to Boston to go to school, I went to my first coffee shop ... on Boylston Street about two blocks from the Ritz on the Boston Common. I never knew such drinks as espresso, latte, etc existed. I ordered what everyone else ordered. The cap tasted of cool, sophistication, worldliness and adulthood. Sat Oct 14 21:40:03 -0700 2006 1944660 10264 rworange 1 1946763 As a kid I loved the smell of coffee, and always begged for coffee ice cream. But my parents drank (and still drink) crap coffee, black, which was disgusting to me. That and the fact they frowned upon drinking coffee "too early". When I was 18, just weeks out of high school, my family visited my older brother and his family in rural Quebec. Sitting on their deck in the home they'd built with their own timber and a bit of help from neighbors, we'd drink coffee out of the pottery mugs my brother made, with milk less than 30 minutes ought of the cow's udder, sweetened with a bit of brown sugar. I've drunk coffee nearly daily since then but it will never taste as good as it did at my brother's farm. Sun Oct 15 05:18:17 -0700 2006 1944660 16831 Ruby Louise 1 1947004 In high school, and because I loved the smell of a freshly roasted pot. But it was a 'cool' thing to do with friends, y'know, "go out for coffee". Of course, we would go to those places where you get a bottomless pot, and the coffee shop craze was still many years away at that point. I worked for a gourmet coffee shop too, (no, NOT a chain!). No crap coffee ever crosses our threshold in this house. We buy fresh beans and grind them ourselves. Pre-ground canned coffee tastes like burnt tin to me. I still love coffee, and have contemplated quitting, but still find irresistible the smell of a freshly brewed pot, and the first sip in the morning is heavenly. Why give that up? Sun Oct 15 14:11:23 -0700 2006 1944660 14083 cooknKate 1 1947365 Well I grew up with both my parents drinking coffee. My Father drip, my mother instant. I started staying up late baking cookies and making coffee concoctions in about 7th grade. I would add cinnamon and cocoa to the the basket before brewing. It was fun. My parents divorced when I was about 13-14. When I would stay with my Dad we would travel around trying out all the local coffeehouses. It was something we bonded over. Good memories in a bad time. I have been a regular coffee drinker since then. My tastes have evolved. Peets is my current favorite, with Costco's in house roasted house blend a surprising close second. Always strong and black. I never could stand it sweetened. Sun Oct 15 19:34:32 -0700 2006 1944660 11259 Becca Porter 1 1947821 Just to add to the whole thing...I remember my parents saying two things about coffee: 1) it's for grown up and 2) drinking it two young will stunt your growth. Don't know about #2 but I do remember thinking to myself, "that stuff is awful, must be for grown ups." Mon Oct 16 01:25:53 -0700 2006 1944660 27275 ML8000 1 1947845 I'm amazed that so many people started so young. Also, that quite a few grandparents were the ones who introduced coffee to the grandkids. Were they perhaps trying to drive the parents crazy? My mom gave my son a drum for his third birthday, but not coffee, thank goodness. Mon Oct 16 01:41:49 -0700 2006 1944660 11231 Glencora 1 1947863 Wow, a lot of early starters. I remember trying to like it in high school, but it never worked. In college we had a fantastic coffee shop where I got numerous "Mr. Blondes," which was basically a white mocha. In grad school I took my turn as a barrista and slowly began to appreciate regular coffee, albeit well-doctored. That winter I was with my parents visiting my grandma. As you can imagine my ideal New Year Eve at 22 was hanging out in podunk, OH. By 9:00 my dad and grandma had gone to bed and it was my mom and I watching the Arrested Development marathon. My mom hopped up and said we we're going for coffee. I'm not sure what it was, but it was at that point that I felt like I was friends with my mom. We got to go run to the truck stop 15 miles out to get Starbucks as two people who understand each other, just hanging out. Since then I've dripped, pulled, pressed and even roasted numerous cups, and every one has been an attempt to summon that experience. I never pass up a chance to have coffee with my mother. Mon Oct 16 01:56:03 -0700 2006 1944660 30158 amkirkland 2 1950567 Are you a writer? That made me tear up a bit. Tue Oct 17 01:46:28 -0700 2006 1947863 12487 krissywats 1 1947887 I was around 12 or 13 and have been drinking it ever since. By the time I was in college I was so addicted to it that I warped all of my plastic cup supply by pouring boiling water in them to make instant. Now I drink French roast-cafe au lait style without sugar. Oddly enough, coffee does not keep me from sleeping at night like other people. I used to drink tea occasionally when I had a cold but now I find that when I'm sick I really look forward to having a good strong cup of coffee. Mon Oct 16 02:07:13 -0700 2006 1944660 28950 Abbeshay 1 1948152 My grandmother used to give me "coffee milk" as a child - 6-7-8 years old. Maybe she knew of the calming effects coffee has on children( a 'wives tale")but didn't understand why. Well, now 40 years later, I'm still drinking the elixir! Unfortunately, on an adult brain, coffee behaves just the opposite. I must have a very leaky B.B.B. (Blood Brain Barrier) so I drink decaf. :)KQ So, let the young'ins drink up- it's when they're grown that coffee offers the jitters. Mon Oct 16 05:21:58 -0700 2006 1944660 11934 Kitchen Queen 1 1948362 I was about eight when I first had coffee. My family used to spend a few weeks every summer sailing in some remote areas of the Great Lakes and frequently supplies were depleted to the point where the kids were given instant coffee with condensed milk. I am fond of neither, but drink my coffee usually "black as hell and as sweet as a stolen kiss." Mon Oct 16 12:50:21 -0700 2006 1944660 43623 chilihead 1 1948520 I used to "drink" coffee when I was in elementary school. My grandmother would make me "coffee soup" as a child. I have no clue where it originated, but I am guessing sometime during the depression. Anyways it's basically coffee loaded with cream and sugar poured on top of a slice of white bread. It may sound odd to you, but as a kid I loved the stuff. I barely drink coffee now, I am just too lazy to make it. On the weekends I will occasionally buy a latte with 3 or 4 extra shots of espresso thrown in. Mon Oct 16 14:33:36 -0700 2006 1944660 24546 bitsubeats 1 1948525 I started as a kid when I learned the family tradition of dunking buttered italian bread in light and sweet coffee. My god, that is still my favorite breakfast of all...especially when the bread has sesame seeds. Mon Oct 16 14:36:34 -0700 2006 1944660 14271 tamerlanenj 2 3007248 That sounds exactly like my mother's childhood breakfast. Fri Oct 05 07:43:48 -0700 2007 1948525 102095 vvvindaloo 1 1948546 I was a tea drinker for years until I went on the Atkins diet in my mid 50s. I couldn't stand hot tea with Splenda so I started drinking coffee with half-and-half and Splenda. Now I don't drink tea anymore and I'm addicted to coffee. Mon Oct 16 14:45:17 -0700 2006 1944660 13609 Scagnetti 1 1948920 Although my parents and grandparents brewed coffee everyday and many Sunday meals included dessert & coffee my own coffee routine really peaked from working in offices. 9-5; coffee pots, coffee service, brewing coffee for clients, meetings off site always included coffee (I use to wonder how the tea drinkers managed). It wasn't until I shifted careers, became a virtual warrior that I realized just how much coffee I consumed and how ready I was to drink TEA. So I work in my pj's (don't tell) and brew 50% coffee for the morning to "gear up" but ice tea (all flavors) is my beverage of choice now. My parents (god love em) still "brew" coffee in a metal perk pot...gosh that stuff is vile! Mon Oct 16 17:02:04 -0700 2006 1944660 36312 HillJ 1 1948994 I started drinking those General Mills International coffees when I was in college (blech). Now I drink regular coffee black or with cream or with sugar or any combination of the above! Mon Oct 16 17:24:19 -0700 2006 1944660 10695 Velma 1 1949988 Oh yes! I started with those General Mills International coffees also when I was in high school! I was transfixed by the different flavors, and even though my parents were non-coffee drinkers (my mother claimed that caffeine gave her benign breast lumps; after she quit drinking coffee in medical school, the lumps went away), my mother indulged me in this. It wasn't until college that I started making myself coffee regularly, but only for a couple of years - while I lived on-campus, I got off meal plan my sophomore year, and the market was a good mile away, and I didn't have a car. I used a French press, and since I'm one of those people who likes her coffee sweet, I would always stir in condensed milk. Then I got lazy, and besides, Ocean's (a local coffee chain) was on my way to classes, much more convenient, and always put the proper amount of sugar in my iced coffee. Since college, I've since pretty much stopped drinking coffee - not for any real reason but that I got too lazy to make it at home, and I'm always running slightly late getting to classes in the morning and never have time to stop. Since I like the taste of coffee a lot (albeit doctored with milk and sugar), I do drink decaf more now, especially if it's after 3pm since I'm rather sensitive to caffeine. Mon Oct 16 22:26:52 -0700 2006 1944660 10604 jacinthe 1 1950240 I started in high school, too - for me it was a really cheap way to be out of the house, since I discovered that I could sit in Tom's Cafe all evening drinking coffee for one lousy nickel! Once in a while, if I had another fifteen cents to spare, I'd add a piece of pie. As you might have guessed, that was quite a few years ago... Tue Oct 17 00:00:15 -0700 2006 1944660 11478 Will Owen 1 1959180 i was young, really young drinking coffee.... my parents didn't drink coffee at all (only tea); however, my dad ordered a coffee machine and espresso machine from the credit card points he accumulated and so when i was about 7, my dad decided to play with coffee. he would make it at night, around 9 pm and serve it to me and my siblings... we'd put condensed milk in it, then none of us slept the whole night... but we'd do this once every two weeks.... i don't think my parents ever figured out that coffee at night was no good... cuz everytime i visit my parents, the coffee maker comes out... Fri Oct 20 01:55:28 -0700 2006 1944660 14643 mabziegurl 1 1959417 My mom drank a lot of coffee when I was a kid. I started at least at 11 or 12. When I got my first paycheck I bought an espresso machine! Yum. Fri Oct 20 04:17:08 -0700 2006 1944660 10099 JudiAU 1 1959564 Such a popular topic, I think I'll add my own! I'm not Cajun, but I had coffee in my sippy-cup. Then when the other kids clamored for vanilla, chocolate or strawberry ice cream, I always wanted coffee ice cream. Now I drink red eyes, triple or quad espressos or the occasional americano. Fri Oct 20 06:39:51 -0700 2006 1944660 45942 grapenehi 1 2990746 Well looks like this topic is pretty old but what the heck it's about COFFEE! I was eight years old, and started because my Mon & Dad drank coffee. I bugged my Mom until she let me have it half coffee & half milk. Now at age fifty two I'm just starting to roast my own beans. Which is how I found this post researching roasting. Sun Sep 30 14:35:17 -0700 2007 1944660 125837 bluesman 2 2990760 OOPS! I tried to edit my post and my stuff ended up at grapenehi"s post. Sorry don't know how it happened or how to fix it. I'm afraid if i try I'll only make it worse. Sun Sep 30 14:42:43 -0700 2007 2990746 125837 bluesman 1 2990757 When I was eight my Grandmother offered me a Demitasse, and, because I'd said thank you, I drank this (as I remember it) extraordinarily strong and bitter drink in a small china cup. Fast forward 24 years, no coffee passed my lips until I was staying in a pension in Leon Spain and the provided breakfast was a large slice of buttered bread and a huge cup of sweet coffe au latte. Thirst overcame my remembered distaste and the sweet and cream in the coffee were pretty good. (And asking for a Coke would have been pointless and I really didn't want to drink the water.) Sun Sep 30 14:41:40 -0700 2007 1944660 79896 shallots 1 2990779 Another Rhode Islander (and baby boomer): I think my mother put coffee milk in my baby bottle. At about 13, she started serving me something called Postum (sp?), which was some kind of training coffee. Then at 15 they sent me to France and I came back insisting on a "bowl" of coffee for breakfast. But, yeah, it is kind of weird to see 4th graders lined up at Starbucks. Sun Sep 30 14:51:08 -0700 2007 1944660 120945 ccferg 1 2990807 I was 10. My parents told me, "It'll stunt your growth", but I was already shooting up towards 6' and stood out like a sore thumb in school, so I drank it hoping that I'd be normal sized. Well, that didn't work. I'm now 6'3". Stunt your growth, indeed! Sun Sep 30 15:06:55 -0700 2007 1944660 88192 holy chow 2 2997779 That's why I started drinking coffee, holy chow... and nobody else I know had ever heard of this medical theory. I started drinking coffee when I was 10 (and 5' 6" which was awful in the 5th grade!) because my mom said it would stunt my growth....I figured it worked, because I never got much taller! Tue Oct 02 15:35:02 -0700 2007 2990807 24930 kmr 1 2990892 I don't. I think coffee tastes vile, and I figure instead of adding all sorts of chocolate, caramel, sugar and cream to make it palatable I'll get ice cream instead. Sun Sep 30 15:45:41 -0700 2007 1944660 126482 AislingCatriona 1 2991020 Had a little bit when I was about six years old -- my mom would drink it occasionally and I would have some. I did it because I loved the taste of it, especially with the Cremora that my mom had it with (I know, it's pretty gross). After childhood, I really only drank it to stay up. I had it in copious amounts during high school and college and grad school when I had to cram for exams. And after grad school where I didn't come home from work until 11P and had to wake up at 5:15A for my kung-fu classes. At that point, coffee was a necessity. Now, I've given it up completely and feel so much better for it. I'll have it occasionally in the form of espresso gelato, etc. Sun Sep 30 16:54:19 -0700 2007 1944660 10763 Miss Needle 1 2991263 Tried it first when I was probably nine or ten. I was staying at my grandparents' house, and my cousin wanted to try it, and as the follower of the pair, I chimed in too. My cousin didn't like it at all, but I did. I didn't start drinking it regularly until some years later. Lately, I've really come to dislike American brewed coffee. I find it too watery. Also, it really churns my stomach and the lack of flavor in most brands of coffee is not worth the intestinal discomfort. Another reason I don't drink much coffee is because caffeine doesn't seem to have the same effect on me as it does for most people. It doesn't really give me an energy boost. Sometimes it seems to help my concentration, but only marginally. I must prefer a good espresso, for the taste, the consistency, and for not having an over-burdened bladder. It also doesn't mess with my stomach. I'm 22. Sun Sep 30 18:46:04 -0700 2007 1944660 106932 Agent Orange 2 2991394 When I was in my early teens my parents had the habit of drinking tea after dinner. This was OK, but they seemed to have the idea that one teabag made a limitless number of cups of tea. (A Russian friend of theirs, used to really strong tea, called it "Pyecckh water".) I got tired of drinking coloured water, so I started making myself coffee instead. Sun Sep 30 19:49:24 -0700 2007 2991263 54222 ekammin 3 2991535 I guess my coffee "tastings" allowed by my family started around 12 or 13 years old, for myself. It was always watered down with lots of half and half, and 2-3 teaspoons of sugar. In high school, I started lessening the amounts of half and hald, and only 1 teaspoon of sugar. Then, around 25 or 25 years old, I had a job that had me awake and up at 9am. I'm NOT a.m. person, at all. I began to drink more and more coffee then, averaging around 6 mug-fulls a day. The half and half and sugar were gone. It really wasen't drunk for enjoyment's sake. I'd not known about Starbucks, or "trendy coffees" untill I tried Gloria Jean's Coffee Bean..My days of drinking red-eyes and triple esspresso's began, but those were maybe 1-2 times a week. Now at my job, i'm considered the "coffee lady", as I make it, clean the equipment, request re-orders and make it a nice, clean enviorment in the office. But, oddly enough, i'm drinking around 1 mug at work, only! I nurse it, getting bitty refills to re-warm what's there in my mug. I like to think my likes in coffee are more refined than my younger days. I also drink alot more tea than I ever used to, and love it at times more than coffee. I am also a firm believer that headaches from not getting my daily coffee are -real- as anything. I drink my cup, it goes away. I'm happy. I know i'm addicted to it, but i'm not as bad as I used to be. (does this make me sound like a sad junkie, or what??!!) My young cousin was around 9 years old, when she started. She's 12 now, and her favorite thing to get as a gift is a Starbucks gift-card! Her parents drink lots of coffee, and aren't worried about her drinking it at all. I wonder if it was really proven that drinking coffee as a child stunts growth? Sun Sep 30 20:44:22 -0700 2007 2991394 23858 Honeychan 4 2995925 Oh, yeah, those headaches are real! I was drinking 12 cups a day in college one year to get through finals, and after the last final I quit cold turkey. WORST headache I ever had! Endured it for a few hours, and then finally gave in to my craving for coffee with one cup... which cured it instantly. Definitely an addiction. Tue Oct 02 08:35:23 -0700 2007 2991535 98500 Bat Guano 4 3012820 I have the headaches if I don't have my coffee, too. But wait, there's more: after a couple days the headaches wear off and then I'm just stupid for about a month. I've given up giving up coffee. Sun Oct 07 15:17:05 -0700 2007 2991535 32586 revsharkie 1 2992114 I started in high school, when I held a job after school from 4pm-11:30pm, so coffee was a necessity for me to stay awake. I'll never forget how my body reacted the first time I had coffee: my hands were shaking like mad. That soon ended, and I now have 1 cup a day every morning to give me that boost. Back then, I would get home around 12 midnight, eat a light meal, do homework, get to bed by 2am and be able to get up the next morning around 6:30 to start all over. I look back at those days--and my stamina--with awe. Ah, youth! Mon Oct 01 06:51:41 -0700 2007 1944660 12045 gloriousfood 1 2992131 Last spring, as a sophomore in college- discovered the joys of massive iced coffees with milk and some sort of syrup as a reward for exams! Now I'm in Italy for the summer, and already learning to hoard and treasure every sip of cappuccino, this time with real milk and sugar. I'm guessing the cafeteria just will never live up to this... Mon Oct 01 06:57:49 -0700 2007 1944660 41097 chocolatstiletto 1 2992804 I really liked the smell as a kid, especially those early mornings when we got up while it was still dark to go hunting, fishini, or clamming. I started drinking (good) coffee in my freshman year of university--to stay awake!. By the time I finished my comprehensive exams in grad school, I was drinking a thousand cups a day (just an exaggeration for heuristic devices). The day I finished those exams, I quit drinking coffee for almost eight years. Now one of the things I do is work with coffee farmers in Central America who produce high quality, organic, shade-grown, fair trade coffees. I'm not a good taster, however, having burned out my coffee taste buds years ago. Mon Oct 01 10:20:58 -0700 2007 1944660 36661 Sam Fujisaka 1 2992964 Law School: Really between it and Diet Coke that is most of the sustenance you get in your first year, and then once you start work it kind of goes with the job as a lawyer. Mon Oct 01 11:03:17 -0700 2007 1944660 92426 ktmoomau 1 2994744 23, when I moved to Italy and had to have *something* to get over the jet lag. It's made me very schizophrenic about coffee. It either has to be a good cappuccino or macchiato from a real press in a real glass/ceramic cup, or one of those coffee-flavored "designer" concoctions. I do enjoy those, but more as a sort of hot ice cream-like treat than as coffee. I have never gotten to like americano-style drip coffee, and probably never will. Mon Oct 01 19:40:26 -0700 2007 1944660 102571 mordacity 1 2996005 I acquired the taste as a child. I used to be allowed to have a small amount of coffee in a glass of milk, with sugar, of course. I suppose I regarded it as an adult treat. Then I started drinking it in my college dorm, partly because everyone did, I guess, partly because I liked it, partly because of the caffeine (did you all see the recent Time article on caffeine?), and partly because it was free. Tue Oct 02 08:54:31 -0700 2007 1944660 84129 Lady Grey 1 2997932 Sept 1969, I was working for Uncle Sam in RVN and used anything to hydrate as long as it wasn't plain water,,,,coffee, instant ice tea,Kool Aid, Beer,etc etc Haven't kicked the to this day, but usually only in the AM till about 11:00 the switch to cola for caffeine Tue Oct 02 16:21:52 -0700 2007 1944660 11562 Hue 1 2997998 When I was 27; I'm embarassed to say I started because of a man. I was taking a marine biology class in Pacific Grove, CA at night, and he served coffee during the break because he drank a lot of it. He was absolutely gorgeous (married, of course), and I started drinking coffee to talk to him at break. I no longer remember his name, but I still drink coffee. www.littlecomptonmornings.blogspot.com Tue Oct 02 16:47:34 -0700 2007 1944660 91169 janeer 1 2999079 I think I've probably had less than 20 cups of coffee in my life. I love the smell, but find the taste to be rather... meh. I'm 30 and haven't drank it in years now because of a health condition that's severely exacerbated by it, and because I'm naturally a hyperactive, completely awake morning person. I think I'm better off starting my day with Valium instead! Wed Oct 03 01:06:57 -0700 2007 1944660 75881 vorpal 1 3007195 I can't remember a time when I didn't like coffee. I was not offered it as a child, but was notorious for drinking everyone else's. I was in my early 20s when I switched to espresso only. Fri Oct 05 07:34:23 -0700 2007 1944660 102095 vvvindaloo 1 3007379 When I was in high school because it was the hip thing to do. (Smoking too but that's another story.) Sure those kids weren't order hot chocolate? Fri Oct 05 08:18:36 -0700 2007 1944660 12082 PeterL 2 3007406 No, I've seen it, too. Kids younger and younger are ordering super-sweet coffee based drinks. Because to a 10 year old, a caramel macchiato with whipped cream is not only tasty, but it looks cool because grown-ups drink it, too. The danger of caffeine on a young system isn't something they consider (good heavens could you imagine if cigarettes tasted like caramel and whipped cream?!), and to be honest it isn't something most parents I know consider talking to their kids about. There's no afterschool special about coffee drinkers. (anyone have a video camera? I feel a million dollar idea coming on...) As for me, I didn't start until college when it became a necessity to stay awake late nights and it seemed a little more sophisticated than getting all jacked up on Mountain Dew. By then my tastebuds had developed an appreciation for stronger flavors and I found I liked coffee, vs. other times I'd tried it when I was younger, and it became a 7 - 10 cup a day habit. I'm down to 1 or 2 a day now, though. Fri Oct 05 08:24:40 -0700 2007 3007379 79545 jsjs09812 1 3008447 I started young too. My parents would always drink it so I think I tried sips when I was reallly little, and started ordering my own in junior high. I'm 22 now and I find that I don't even like coffee anymore! I like some lattes, but I used to drink coffee black and now I just would rather drink tea. Fri Oct 05 12:28:09 -0700 2007 1944660 112406 Chew on That 2 3008503 My dad was a tennis pro at a local country club, and as a little kid, I remember going to the club dining room and the waiter would always serve me vanilla ice cream for dessert. My dad would usually put a few Tablespoons of his coffee over my ice cream and I loved it! I must have only been about four or five years old. Other than that, I didn't begin drinking coffee until I went to college and realized that the caffeine would help me to stay awake studying for exams. I'm now in my 40's, and I love coffee, but I'm trying to cut caffeine out of my diet. When I drink regular coffee now, I get jittery and a little sick to my stomach from the effects of the caffeine. -R Fri Oct 05 12:43:35 -0700 2007 3008447 131124 ctflowers 1 3009764 I remember having coffee at different times when I was a kid and not liking it much. However I did like coffee ice cream. I started drinking coffee for real in college. I went to college in RI so there were coffee houses on every corner. I have at least a cup every day. I used to drink the sweet concoctions at Starbucks. But I started dieting last year and I could not justify the calories of a triple grande caramel macchiato. Now I make my coffee in a moka pot and drink it with a little ff evaporated milk and Splenda or agave nectar. Fri Oct 05 21:37:52 -0700 2007 1944660 86005 amethiste 1 3010416 During boarding school in the 80s - Monkey see, Monkey do! This of course was pre Starbucks Era & the setting was Lynchburg, VA (Virginia Episcopal School) - we had Gills aka Fist Colony House Coffee (Breakfast Blend) - it's still one of my favorites today right next to Dean & Deluca's (Georgetown Blend)! Back then I had to have half & half with sugar, but now I've matured to just half & half. Sat Oct 06 09:37:59 -0700 2007 1944660 124137 JayVaBeach 1 3011880 We were on a youth group camping trip and I was 14. The only things left to drink where my father's black coffee and a quart of milk. I took the coffee. I also ate brownies for breakfast. It was either that or the very dry muffins provided by the church ladies (whom I loved dearly, but not their lowfat muffins) Sun Oct 07 06:26:02 -0700 2007 1944660 94635 adventuresinbaking 1 3012755 I started drinking coffee when I was 17 years old. I had just started a job at IRS and when everybody went on break, they got coffee. So I just started doing it too and now I'm one of those who can't start a day without it. It's one of those comforting things to do too on the weekends and rainy days. Sun Oct 07 14:39:01 -0700 2007 1944660 27357 PDeveaux 1 3012834 I guess I drank some coffee while still in high school, at least tasted it from time to time. Had my first espresso on a college visit to Portland, Oregon, my senior year of high school (1986). But I didn't start drinking it in earnest until I was in college. At first I was working at my dad's cafeteria, and of course there were these huge urns of coffee I was pretty much in charge of. Cain's Hotel & Restaurant Blend, which is really pretty nasty, but that's what everyone in those parts served. I used to melt a Pearson's Mint Pattie in it and then top it with whipped cream. When I went off to Wichita State, I had a hot pot and a jar of Folger's Crystals. I mixed it about triple strength and drank it at all hours. Home for Christmas I bought myself a little four-cup drip machine--also about triple strength. I'd put lots of cream in it. But a friend told me shortly thereafter that I couldn't consider myself a real college student until I could drink my coffee black. So I did away with the cream, for the most part. (I still have a little cream now and then if I've got some of the real stuff left over from a recipe or something.) Sun Oct 07 15:23:02 -0700 2007 1944660 32586 revsharkie 1 3014618 Army. 20 years old, give or take. It was cold, wet, and I was sitting in a foxhole on a training mission. Someone handed me a cup and said "drink this...it'll make you stop shivering." It was then that I became a coffee drinker but it wasn't until years later when I got out of the Army that I discovered there was such a thing as good coffee. Now I have a 2-latte a day (Seattle's Best Henry's Blend) habit on a $600 espresso machine. Mon Oct 08 10:31:28 -0700 2007 1944660 102650 creativeusername 2 3014638 i didn't get started until recently, in my 40's, when the reports came out that coffee cures liver disease. ;-) Mon Oct 08 10:34:02 -0700 2007 3014618 122578 TBird 1 3015314 I started in college, purely as a caffeine delivery system for all night paper-writing and early morning classes. Maybe 2 or 3 cups a week. Once I entered the working world it became a daily occurance. I now limit myselft to 2 cups a day, just so I don't become one of those people who drinks a whole pot by lunch. Mon Oct 08 13:05:48 -0700 2007 1944660 58128 ajs228 1 3022838 Personally I don't... I've never liked the bitterness of coffee. I only like it in desserts like tsirami-tsu or coffee icecream. I've tried real coffee quite a few times and never been able to stomach it. I started drinking tea when I was in the first year of highschool - our homeroom teacher was also the special needs person and she occasionally took the whole class up to her room for a reward and gave us tea or coffee... I doubt I'd ever had had it if not for her. My mother was horrified that I was going to ruin my beautiful white teeth with the tannin, but I think she was more horrified at how much sugar I was putting into it to make it drinkable! She said that if I was going to drink the stuff, I had to wean myself off the sugar and drink it plain, so I did. Wed Oct 10 14:52:39 -0700 2007 1944660 67657 Kajikit 1 3144570 When i started directing theatre in high school and needed the caffeine to get through long rehearsals. Bitter sour awful old coffee that'd been sitting in the green room all day. Tue Nov 20 23:12:29 -0800 2007 1944660 11077 Simon 2 3145483 Simon - mine was back in school as well. I recall my parents grinding beans & brewing coffee when I was younger, but it was forbidden for my siblings & me to drink their grown-up morning concoction - haa. I began during boarding school in the 80s - Monkey see, Monkey do! This of course was pre Starbucks Era & the setting was Lynchburg, VA (Virginia Episcopal School) - we had Gills aka Fist Colony House Coffee (Breakfast Blend) - it's still one of my favorites today right next to Dean & Deluca's (Georgetown Blend)! Back then I had to have half & half with sugar, but now I've matured to just half & half. Wed Nov 21 09:33:54 -0800 2007 3144570 124137 JayVaBeach 1 3145752 When I was very young, my grandfather would give me a little bit of coffee mixed in with what was left of his creamer whenever we were at a restaurant. I would then drink it out of the mini creamer "cup". Thanks for bringing this up. That was a great memory I have of my Papou. Wed Nov 21 10:53:24 -0800 2007 1944660 142652 madgreek