How it was started
When I was about 3 to 5 years old, I experienced the magic of coffee for the very first time. I remember a friendly neighbor, who often came to visit my family during the afternoons for a chat and a cup of coffee. Back then, my parents prepared coffee with a manual grinder and a Moka pot.
I don’t remember much from my early childhood time, but I do remember these coffee-moments. When I was at home with my family and the neighbor. I clearly remember the vivid sounds and delicious coffee aromas that were part of my childhood.
I loved these afternoons. It was a relaxed and easygoing time for me. My parents were engaged in conversations and did not really pay attention to me. As for me, I had plenty of time and freedom to discover my surroundings. If I felt like being social, I tried to interrupt the conversations my parents were having with the neighbor.
The first instrument that I broke in my life was a coffee grinder. It happened because because I wanted to find out, how it works. My parents had to buy a new one. And later on – more new ones.
I remember that the first drink that I prepared by myself in my life was not tea or hot-chocolate, but coffee! It was a rather cold coffee drink since I did not have access to boiling water. However, my mission to prepare and drink coffee for the first time proved to be successful. I did NOT get sick :-).
When I was about 11 years old, my family travelled to Bulgaria for summer holidays. There we spent time with a family and their much older boy. This boy convinced me to give it try to taste roasted coffee beans like a candies. I did not eat or swallow the beans, but I remember tasting them and being amazed about the experience.
Real coffee experiences
I started to drink coffee when I was 15 years old. Back then, I was passionate about getting coffee drinks from one of the vending machines at the train stations. These coffee drinks were not expensive. Their flavours were weak and the aroma was strange. But for me, these coffee drinks were just amazing. Whenever I had time, loved to spend time at the trainstation of my hometown. I enjoyed drinking coffee and watching people, who got ready to travel somewhere or who were returning back home. I was sitting there with my coffee, dreaming about travelling somewhere faraway.
Even today, once in awhile, I love to get a coffee from a vending machine inside a train station, for sentimental reasons. These coffee drinks remind me of the time, when I was 15 years old, getting ready to explore the world.
