On a mellow evening of January, when the restrictions started to get stricter, and Vibha just had to cancel her plans to meet Shantanu on their coffee date. Vibha, with her tremendous convincing skills had finally gotten Shantanu to say yes to meet at a coffee shop near her. For Shantanu, he was not a very big fan of coffee.
And Vibha! She was a coffee lover by birth. Her friends called her a coffee freak. And very naturally, her most loved hobby was that of trying out different coffees and discover places or brands with the best coffees.
A rack in her kitchen was labelled coffee. And there she had coffees from over the world, of new and different brands. Every evening she would search YouTube for different methods to make coffee, take out a coffee jar from that rack and brew the best coffee ever. And then she would go sit in her window, buried in a book, and sip on her coffee as she got lost in another world.
And Shantanu here was her new assignment. As close Shantanu had ever gotten to coffee, was when his friends once made him try a coffee cocktail, which he bailed on after a single sip.
Vibha made Shantanu try new and different things. And just so, gifted him a jar of Hazelnut coffee from a new brand she had just discovered- OkCaramel on his birthday. Had he used it? She decided to find that out.
She logged on to YouTube, and searched for- ‘Simple ways to make the best coffee at home’. A video popped up and she shared it with Shantanu. She called him up and told him to watch the video.
‘You have one hour, I am not cancelling our coffee date when the weather is just so perfect.’ She said.
‘But what exactly is this? How are we going out on that date? There’s curfew.’ Shantanu
‘You are going to do something you have never done. You are going to enter the kitchen and make the best coffee ever.’ Vibha
‘Vibha, we will go out for a coffee date, its okay, you have convinced me, I am not going to say no.’ Shantanu.
‘Correct, you are not going to say no! Now just watch the video, gather all the ingredients and I will video-call you in about an hour.’ Vibha
‘Okay, but don’t make me hate coffee more.’ Shantanu
‘Ha ha ha! It’s time to get that Hazelnut Coffee out in the cup and actually drink it.’ Vibha
Vibha was all set and excited. Maybe curfew wasn’t the worst thing ever. So what? Coffee date was still happening, and in the best way possible.
It was going to take a long time for Shantanu to actually make that coffee. For Hazelnut coffee was not any regular kind of coffee. It needed to be made in a different way, to really bring out the flavour of it. From boiling the milk for a very specific amount of time, to whipping the coffee in the cup just right, it was all a process, one that Vibha always loved.
A rich nutty flavour, mixed in coffee grounds, Hazelnut coffee was Vibha’s favourite coffee flavour. And just the right one for first time coffee drinkers. It was not any plain coffee, you really had to search for the flavour, which was at times easy to fine. Savour every sip of that rich nutty and coffee taste.
Shantanu had taken out the coffee jar and had stepped in the kitchen. He was excited for coffee for the first time.
‘I am really doing this. I’m making coffee, for her!’ he said.
After a long video call and after Vibha had taught him the basics of coffee making, both of them sat down on their windows with a warm cup of coffee.
‘Go on, take a sip. Tell me how it is.’ Vibha
‘Hmmm, its actually really nice.’ Shantanu
‘See, I told you, coffee can really turn your mood around, right?’ Vibha
‘You are pretty mad, you know that right?’ Shantanu
‘Oh! Really? Why is that now?’ Vibha
‘You have confused me with this little adventure of yours, now I don’t know if I love you more or this cup of coffee’, Shantanu
Hazelnut coffee had done its magic. The rich flavour of love in his first ever coffee with a tint of blush on his cheeks, Shantanu was dancing to the symphony of a perfect cup of coffee.
Do you still think coffee can’t make you fall in love?