Hope you're having a good start of the week, with lots of energy, unlike Horacia 😸who seems to need an extra kick of caffeine--and just in case you're wondering, of course, I'd never give coffee to any kitten because that'd make them sick or worse.

...And once more, it's time to #SpilltheBeans ☕️😁

I haven't met many people with weird habits when it comes to drinking coffee. I seem to remember a high school teacher who had to drink her coffee in a small cup because otherwise the coffee didn't taste the same to her, so she'd carry a little cup in her purse, haha. But about the rest, there's not much to say. Oh, I clearly remember my high school photography teacher who had to smoke a cigarette with his after-lunch coffee. The breath was indescribably awful. Even when we were in the darkroom, the smell of chemicals would not hide it 😫😷

Turmeric (Black) Coffee on an empty stomach

Since COVID-19 hit us in Venezuela (March 2020), and since not a few people had difficulties to buy treatments, even something as basic and usually inexpensive as anti-flu, people started to listen to the popular, millenary wisdom, which spoke of the power of some spices to strengthen the immune system and reduce inflammation in the body. Because these natural treatments were much easier to acquire than pharmaceutical treatments, people began to use some spices for medicinal purposes and along the way, they became sort of educated about it.

One of these star spices is turmeric--as well as ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, and others that I may forget right now; so I started to hear more and more about people drinking turmeric infusions (ginger and black pepper), but also about people putting turmeric in their hot coffee in the mornings. I haven't tried this yet, so I can't tell you if it tastes any good, but I don't think this is practical in my case anyway, for I enjoy my coffee without any additives, just as I greatly enjoy turmeric infusions and the usual blends of turmeric with ginger, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, and other spices.

Turmeric has transcended the frontiers of chicken rice and curry stew, haha, to become one of the most outstanding ingredients you'll find in a Venezuelan beverage. Turmeric wisdom is everywhere around me: 2 out of 3 people to whom I tell that I drink curcuma infusions regularly, tell me, “But remember to put some black pepper in it because otherwise the curcumin doesn't activate.” I always tell them that that they should always tell their doctors they're consuming it regularly because as it happens with aspirin and other medications, it's necessary to suspend their intake before a surgery, even if it is a minor one; they reply, "Oh, yes! I know!" Everybody is an expert, haha. Of course, as of today, turmeric in coffee isn't as popular as in infusions. In fact, turmeric black coffee is still uncommon despite the growing popularity and prestige of the spice--now even seen in expensive beauty treatments against hyperpigmentation (I guess for its anti-inflammatory properties).

How About a Little Coconut Oil?

As often happens to Horacia--only in her case this occurs naturally in optimal health 😺--I was very sleepy when I was infected with COVID-19; for a full month, I slept half the day and felt like sleeping the other half, and although I didn't lose taste and smell properly, I was affected anyway: coffee tasted bitter and astringent. It was then, and after I confirmed that a pinch of salt didn't solve the problem anymore, that I started to put a teaspoon of coconut oil in my hot black coffee, about a teaspoon in 200 ml of coffee. I think that qualified as weird back then, but not so much now, when people have also taken from natural medicine that coconut oil is associated with the absence of candida, Alzheimer's, high bad cholesterol... I have seen that some people around me are putting coconut oil in their morning coffee, a lot more than I used to.

After I got my full taste and smell back, I never added coconut oil to my coffee again, just in case you want to know. Was it good? Well, it did the job at the moment, but I couldn't tell if it's good for me now. When I have coconut oil as medicine, I drink it just like that--and no, it doesn't make me wantto throw up, but it's not particularly pleasant either in my opinion.

So that's my short history with weird coffee habits. It's a scarce and new story. It seems that if it had not been for COVID-19, here in my country, as far as I'm concerned, the weirdest habit would still be to add salt to latte.

What about you?

Is there a person in your life whose coffee-drinking habits puzzle you?

Take the case of Horacia. Almost every day, she'll do yoga while sipping her afternoon latte 😺

All text and images are my own. I have taken the pictures with my Redmi 9T cell phone. And if any GIFs here, I've used GIPHY for all them.

Thank you so much for your visit :)

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