When I was a teenager (through most of the 2010s), I saw coffee as one two things:
1) The sweet kind of coffee drinks for basic white girls
2) The black coffee for working blue collar people and, like, i don't know, farmers and truck drivers.
Based on my experience, the coffee from the second group didn't taste too good. I had had a sip of it here and there, but never thought much of it, or just thought it was icky. My mom sometimes talked about this coffee, and how she "needed the caffeine to get through the day". So I supposed at the time it was some kind of magic energy pill drink that helped you get by when you had gotten less than ideal amount of sleep the night before.
In my late teens/early 20s, I sorta started falling into the first category.
Like any teen fresh outta childhood, I liked a good sweet treat that had the "grown up" feeling because there was coffee in it.
So, I went to a few Starbucks, had a few Frappuccino's. I kind of WAS a basic white girl for awhile... I'll post a pic to prove it... (The drink in this photo doesn't even have "coffee" in it...)
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| ... the only thing missing was a T Swift obsession (who I disliked then and even more now, LOL) - I was in Chesterfield MO here. |
Picasso's coffee was a staple locally owned coffee shop in Saint Charles (near where I lived in Hazelwood at the time) and so I would sometimes go there, because hey! They had the popular icy blended drinks too - but their own version. I didn't care so much that they were locally made, I just thought it was something different than Starbucks to have sometimes.
Additionally, I didn't go out of my way to MAKE any coffee ever. I didn't have a coffee machine (I think we HAD one, in the household, but it was just a typical drip Mr. Coffee maker that the family could use. I may have used it once or twice but it wasn't a ritual for me), and I didn't have any other contraption to make coffee. Heck, I didn't even know there existed different contraptions to make coffee.
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| Here I am at Picasso's, on Christmas Eve 2018... drinking my frozen drink IN THE WINTER XD |
In other words, there was black coffee, but it was mostly yucky. And then there were milkshake-like "coffee" drinks that somehow had coffee in it, and because of all the flavorings and sweeteners, it didn't taste quite so yucky. So when I DID get coffee, this is the type I would get.
That was the entire scope of my coffee understanding as of 2020!
And then..... 2021 happened.
And everything changed.
It started when I was hanging out this with this guy who was my friend. He had recently started experimenting with his coffee tastes before meeting me. He and I did lots of things together (not as dates... but as friends. But believe me, we did get questioned XD). We started hanging out to go on walks, and we also enjoyed studying scripture together. And what better place to study scripture than coffee shops?
So one day in April of 2021, he takes me to Upshot Coffee Brake Shop in St. Charles.
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| At Upshot, during one of our early studies. You can even see his bible open in the background. We were just friends and, unknowingly, had started on the adventure of a lifetime. |
And I had my first SPECIALTY, well-made latte ever. When I tell you, my world was changed. It was from that first sip that I finally understood - that coffee was not all that I had supposed it was. That coffee was not as limited a concept as I thought it was. There were possibilities here. There was... how shall I say it, flavor.
GOOD flavor.
My friend and I continued to hang out. We went to other coffee shops too. I discovered that black coffee, when actually brewed well, actually TASTED good. Frequent words used to describe black coffee that I had heard and also used myself, such as "burnt tasting", "bitter", "dirty", no longer applied.
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| At Upshot. One of our many coffee scripture studies together. Building a foundation of scripture for our marriage - and a love for good coffee! |
When brewed correctly, I now knew new words to describe the many different notes that can be found in different regions of coffee - "chocolate", "berry", "citrus", "oat", "nuts", "toffee", "jasmine", "raspberry", "caramel", "smoke", "herbs", "date", "cherry", etc., you name it!
And I even further learned, that it did not just matter how it was brewed, but also how it was sourced, WHERE in the world it was sourced, and also HOW it was roasted.
Basically, I learned that every single step of bringing coffee to the cup makes a difference in how it will taste.
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| At Course Coffee Roasters. This is a cortado with sparkling water. |
So it was no longer a wonder for me that there are so many coffee cups out there that frankly taste disgusting because they don't get it right on just ONE (or more) of those levels!
I know I am sounding like a total cringe-y millennial know-it-all coffee hipster. But when you think about the complexity. All the layers. All the expertise. There are so many ways you can get coffee "wrong". But when you get it all RIGHT... you get something truly beautiful and at the least, eye opening.
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| This is at Quarrelsome Coffee, in 2023-ish (they have since sadly closed) with a pastry they sourced from Knead Bakehouse |
But let's get back to my story. Me and this guy (who, I'll just spoil the story for you, did end up dating me later in the Summer of 2021, and yes, we eventually got married, and yes, he is the one I call my husband now!) continued to visit coffee shops because we both realized that our understanding of the subject was beginning to broaden in ways we hadn't imagined before.
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| At Upshot, in Summer of 2021. With Cody! |
You could really call this the "golden age of coffee" for me and Cody.
We were trying new places and developing our palates for the stuff. And through it all, we were growing close the Lord and close to each other, even falling in love.
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| At Course Coffee Roasters - shortly after we started officially dating, Summer 2021 |
It was in the Summer of 2021 that we discovered the coffee shop that would become more dear to us than any others we had visited thus far, or any that we would visit after. The coffee shop that was so consistent with their coffee drinks, and was so hospitable in their kindness, that it became a second home to us of sorts.
As my relationship with my soon-to-be husband deepened, my troubled relationship with my own family began to deteriorate. GOD was pulling me one way, and my family another. Without going into the nitty gritty of it all, it got to the point where it was so bad that I needed to leave my own home. I lived in my fiance's basement for awhile, having nowhere else to go.
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| On our wedding day at Course Coffee Roasters - April 2022. Photos by Mary Ann Prahlow |
In those darkened days of Winter, 2021-2022, we found a place of solace and comfort in the seats of Course Coffee Roasters.
We met there to continue getting to know each other, while praying and honestly stressing about the complexities of our situation. All the while, Course Coffee was a safe place when I didn't have a home, and didn't feel at home almost anywhere.
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| At home at Course Coffee Roasters, St. Charles MO. |
Finally, my fiance and I got a place of our own in March of 2022, just a month before our scheduled wedding. The stress of life and the stress of our family's situations started to ease.
In April of 2022, we got married! It was joyful and happy, although scary and uncertain in other ways due to the family issues.
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| On our wedding day, at Course Coffee Roasters (photos by Mary Ann Prahlow) |
But aside - to honor Course Coffee, and because we just freaking loved the place and their coffee (and coffee in general) so much, we had our "first look" right outside the shop, and even had some pictures taken inside the shop.
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| Our wedding day, after our first look. At Course Coffee Roasters (photos by Mary Ann Prahlow) |
For our honeymoon, instead of a "honeymoon", we decided to have a "Coffee Moon".
We took two weeks off, and decided to go to as many coffee shops around the St. Louis and St. Charles area as we could.
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| At Maypop Coffee & Garden Shop in Webster Groves, MO (a really nice neighborhood in our area!). This was taken during our Coffee Moon in 2022. |
The top contenders in this area are (as of now, and in my opinion):
- Sump Coffee (probably my top rec in the City)
- Goshen Coffee
- Course Coffee Roasters (obviously)
- Honorable Mention: Quarrelsome Coffee - they are closed now :( But they were one of the best in StL!
- Maypop Coffee & Garden Shop
- Coma Coffee Roasters
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| Taken at Sump Coffee - probably my favorite coffee shop other than Course. Especially the interior decor and design! This was taken I believe 2021 or 2022. |
Not surprisingly, when we had our first child, the first place we took him after coming home from the hospital, was Course Coffee.
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| Cody the new dad - and Malachi the new son! in June 2023 at Course Coffee Roasters. |
Currently we have a small espresso machine, a French press, and an Aeropress. I personally use the Aeropress every day for my home iced lattes (using beans from Course Coffee of course).
I also frequently experiment with coffee syrups to add to my lattes. My current favorite is a syrup made with sugar, water, molasses, cardamom, cocoa powder, almond extract, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. It's quite delightful!
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| At Road Crew Coffee & Cycles during our Coffee Moon in 2022 |
While I mainly make iced lattes at home (and the occasional black coffee), my favorite go-tos to get out are:
- Traditional Cappuccino
- Traditional Cortado
- Cold Brew
- Nitro Cold Brew
- Traditional Espresso Tonic
If you had told me in 2018 that my life would become so intertwined with the love and knowledge of coffee and my romance love story with my husband would be so involved with coffee, I would not have believed you.
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| At Course Coffee Roasters - doing more Bible study. This was late 2021 early 2022 about. |
It's something truly unique in my life, that I love both independently and with my husband together as well! I'm so glad that coffee is so much more to me than "icky black stuff" or "sickeningly sweet milkshake stuff". It has truly brought a richness and joy to my life that wouldn't be there otherwise.
And the cool thing is too, that coffee is so many different things to different people!
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| At Calvin Fletchers Coffee Company, which we stopped at on a road trip passing through Indianapolis, IN, in 2024. It was a worthy pit stop! |
To the basic white girls, iced frozen sweet coffee is still something for them. Coffee is something for the trucker on the road at 5am. Coffee is something for breakfast, it's an after-dinner delight. It's an afternoon pick-me-up. Ther's something for dairy-free people and dairy-loving people. It's something for true coffee hipsters to brag about. It's something to the people of St. Charles who support their local shop. It's something to the people around the world where coffee is sourced, as a source of income for them. Heck, there's even something for non-caffeine drinkers, with decaf! It's a multi-faceted thing that means so much to so many.
And for me, while my story is one among many, it just means a lot to me too.
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| Preparing for the birth of my son, March 2022 at Course Coffee Roasters. |
I hope my story inspires you to try your own local shops in your area, and develop your taste for this wonderful, versatile beverage.
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| The first latte I ever had at Course Coffee Roasters, this was in 2021. It was a seasonal drink they had called a "Golden Compass", it had turmeric and black pepper and was delightful! |
If you need a place to start, I would recommend checking out on YouTube:
To name a few favorites!
Farewell now, and thank you for reading!
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| A beautiful shot by me and my little iPhone, taken at Coma Coffee, most likely in 2022. |
Do you drink coffee? What's your coffee "story"? What is your favorite coffee drink? Let me know in the comments!
- Amaris ☆ //
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