I had my first taste of coffee when I was five years old. I was sitting with the adults while they were talking about life. One of my grandmothers (the wife of the brother of my maternal grandfather) was drinking coffee while coolly smoking a cigarette. She saw me eyeing the cup in front of her, and in her hoarse voice, she encouraged me to drink it. I remember sipping from the cup with molten golden yellow content with a hint of calamansi. It tasted weird, but I wanted more. My grandmother would have allowed me to drink all of it, but one withering look from my mother told me that it would place me in a precarious situation.

At home, the tall Nescafe bottle was never absent in the kitchen. We were told to prepare cups of black coffee but never allowed to taste the black liquid. As a young Catholic girl with decent manners, I followed what my parents told me to do. I thought I would go to hell if I disobeyed them (well, it remains to be seen). So, I never had the temerity to even think of tasting coffee at home.

It was not until I was 14, living in my high school dormitory, when I had my second (third and fourth) bout with coffee. Like the first time, it was not pure black coffee. It was flavored coffee with foam and other impurities. I bought two sachets each of different varieties because I wanted to feel like a faux adult, and I wanted to be awake at 2am to study for whatever tortuous exams were waiting for me in school. That second flirting with coffee was short-lived because it was an expensive (almost) habit, especially for someone living on a student budget, and more importantly, it did not succeed in keeping me awake at the wee hours of the morning.

I never had coffee in college. I woke up and stayed awake when I had to (those Chemistry exams gave me nightmares) without the help of coffee.

As an adult, I have a taste of coffee here and there when I travel.

Given my non-proclivity (is this a word?) to coffee, I cannot deny that I love its smell. When the aroma reaches my nostrils, I have the urge to be as close to the source as possible, but I draw the line at smelling. I know that I can drink coffee, but the experience of tasting it just does not appeal to me as much as the sensation of smelling it. I think I am weird. Haha.

At present, I am surrounded by coffee drinkers. I have not succumbed to drinking coffee despite the multiple invitations bordering to bullying. I repeat, drinking coffee just does not appeal to me. But, I sometimes end up buying coffee as gifts for friends. I know, it is weird.

Anyway, last week, I ordered at least four varieties of coffee from the famed town of Amadeo in Cavite. However, only three were available: Café Amadeo Development Cooperative Café Amadeo’s Pahimis Blend, and Lois Eritz Trading Brookside Café’s Excelsa and Variety Blend.

I know that I cannot give a proper review for these coffee, but TR and have cute photos with them.

Café Amadeo’s Pahimis Blend is a classic blend. It is a selection of the finest Robusta, Arabica, Excelsa, and Liberica green beans expertly roasted to provide an authentic intense flavor and aroma. It comes in a jute bag where the nicely wrapped ground beans are contained. It has proper labeling, from the manufacturing and expiration dates, to the directions for use. Café Amadeo’s Pahimis Blend is manufactured by Café Amadeo Development Cooperative in Brgy. Dagatan, Amadeo, Cavite. Café Amadeo’s contact numbers are (046) 443 5738 and 0917 5039574.

These are perfect gifts for my co-workers and friends who are coffee drinkers. The jute bag makes them presentable and environmentally-friendly.

And yes, I wrote this to share my coffee non-experience. And TR’s photos as a laborer. Hahaha.

Thank you, Florence. 🙂

*Exchange Rate: US $1.00 = P51.02