How I Came to Love Coffee

Coffee? Ugh, no thanks. This will be the response of the majority of people under the age of 16, as it was for me. I didn't see why people drank something (by choice) that tasted so bitter. Instead, the majority of my early "coffee" drinking days involved the creamy and delicious Espresso Smoothie from Crowfoot Valley Coffee in Castle Rock, CO. Whether or not there is actually espresso in this is debatable, but it was my first step. I was introduced to this soon after my very first Caramel Frappuccino from Starbucks. I walked into crowfoot (feeling indignant and uncomfortable) and asked for something like a Caramel Frappuccino. 

The Espresso Smoothie was addicting (despite the lack of caffeine), but it didn't compare to the addicting atmosphere of an actual coffee shop. I was hooked: the smells, the comfy purple chairs, and the people. Mark, Luke, Chris, and Parker. My four favorite people. I rarely socialized with them outside of the coffee shop, but that didn't stop me from seeing them nearly every day for my junior and senior years of high school. They slowly eased my progression from Espresso Smoothie to The Trio, to Vanilla Latte to Soy Latte, to Latte, to Parker's special (and still my favorite) Trio Americano, to Americano, to straight up coffee, and finally straight up espresso. 

Coffee, it seemed, could be delicious from the most basic cup o' joe, to a fancy and expensive espresso drink. I was hooked, and soon considered a regular... ya know when you walk in the door, are greeted by name, and handed the drink that you would have ordered? Yea, that was me. Honestly, you don't just become a regular. In fact, it took me a while before I got up the guts to actually introduce myself the the owner, Jason. Once I did that, the whole being a regular thing really fell into place. When it was time to leave high school and go to college in Boston, I was excited... think of all the possibilities to become a regular!