About three years ago, I wrote an article about bubble tea, which serenaded the beverage’s allure, flavour and variation. Three years later I acknowledge its lack of substantiality, practicality, and effectiveness. Now, I am a coffee neophyte.
When I was in high school and university, I only drank coffee when there was a deadline. I often associate the bitterness of Americano with my stressful due dates, while the number of shots of espresso was directly proportional to the number of unwritten essays. I often infuse myself in caffeine for the sole purpose of being functionable.
On the contrary, bubble tea represented my social life. When hanging out with friends, we often ordered roasted oolong with grass jelly at Chatime, or a fruity beverage with artificial toppings at one of the few bubble tea shops in Canada. It symbolised the sweetness of youth and blissful memories.
However, ever since I graduated from school, coffee no longer represents the pressure of life but becomes a necessity in life. Even though caffeine slowly loses its effect on me, morning coffee never fails to work its magic. The taste of coffee also changes from bitter to bittersweet. The taste of Americano becomes a wakeup call, while the shots of espresso represent the challenges I am ready to conquer.
As people grow up, the binary in life slowly merges, just like the taste of coffee – it can be both bitter and sweet. The line between my professional and private life is also blurred just like coffee slowly moving into both aspects of my life. Stress no longer only comes from my academia but it becomes part of me. As I grew older, I realised that life doesn’t always need to be like bubble tea, coffee can also spark the same joy once you accept that the sweetness always comes after bitterness.
