i heart coffee

I love coffee. I was around 12 or 13 yrs old when I first began to drink it. My friends and I would drink it at church gatherings. Back then I drank it black with a little sugar. I remember one Christmas during Jr. High when I was drinking a cup of coffee at my family's annual Christmas Eve gathering. My grandparents were surprised but seemed almost delighted that I liked this drink.

Everyone has their own unique recipe of how they like their coffee. With time I found that mine is with 2 spoons of sugar and some cream (I can't imagine my coffee w/o cream now, flavored creams are even better!). My favorite coffee is Breakfast Blend from Starbucks.

And how very awesome that we do in fact have Starbucks in Saudi and they do in fact sell Breakfast Blend. In fact, I have a pack in my kitchen right now. :)

I was doing a little research on coffee. I found this article the other day with 25 nutrition secrets. Secret #1 says to drink a 2nd cup of coffee as studies indicate a possible reduced risk of adult on-set diabetes. Cool.

Then I did a little visit over at Wikipedia (which I go to quite a lot, for a lot of things, I never knew I'd be such a dork as an adult...lol). There was a heck of a lot of info there. But I learned a couple interesting facts.

1) It is believed that coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia.

2) Coffee drinking spread from Arabia, to Italy, to Europe, to Indonesia, and to the Americas (in about that order).

3) It was banned during some periods of time in certain countries/empires mostly for political reasons.

4) Using a paper filter is healthier as it traps oils that are linked to increased risk of coronary heart disease.

5) Studies show that consuming coffee can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, heart disease, cirrhosis of the liver, etc.

I particularly enjoyed the "good" facts because I went from someone who enjoyed a cup of coffee now and then just for fun to someone who NEEDS a cup of coffee daily. Sad to admit but I get headaches if I don't have at least a cup a day. I also drink it after work for a pick-me-up. At least I usually don't go over the 2 cup daily recommendation.

What about you? Do you like coffee, and if so, how do you like yours?

images via Starbucks.com and WorldMarket.com