March 12 POD – soy and coffee “latte”

Technically speaking, is it still a latte if the other half of the drink is not milk? Is not latte very close to lait (French for milk)? Or do I have my languages/root words/meanings mixed up here?

Sour cream, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, cottage cheese, fluid milk….I love and consume them all. But there is something about the taste of soy milk in coffee or chai tea….well, I just like it, OK?

Last time I was fully caffeinated, I drank it black. And only freshly ground Columbian beans (with a pinch of cinnamon in the mix) would do. Yes, I was a TOTAL COFFEE SNOB. Every morning I would brew (and drink) a big pot for myself. My kids were quite little at the time and I was pretty sleep-deprived. Coffee was my Mommy’s Lil’ Helper.

What got me off the coffee was that it was giving me uber-painful breasts at that special time of the month. My then-doc told me that caffeine was the cause and I wouldn’t believe her. (Typical addict behaviour: outright denial). Until the month came where I was in so much pain that I was popping Tylenol to get through the day…..at that point I thought: well, what if she’s right? I should at least try giving it up and see. And, of course, she was right.

I switched to tea. Became a TOTAL TEA SNOB, of course. Loose leaf tea blends, infusers, special pots, you name it – I had it. I actually had to pack my own tea when going away on business or vacation because goddess knows, the tea bags provided by the hotel might not be up to snuff – then what would I do? Eventually I decided to give that up too, as I didn’t like the feeling that tea owned me, instead of the other way around. So I’d start my day with a glass of water. And have the occasional cuppa herbal. More so in the winter months, to keep warm.

Now I mix it up. Some days water, some days tea – herbal or green. The occasional black tea. And now coffee again.

This go-round I am drinking it only at work (1 cup…ok…mug per day), and with some kind of whitener in it, moo or otherwise, because I am probably deluding myself that a) this makes it less potent, and b) it won’t stain my teeth as much. I’m drinking it mainly for the mental clarity/alertness it brings me. Boss’s Lil’ Helper.

So here is where I am at, with caffeine. I may have to kick this habit to the curb once again, but for now let’s see where it takes me.