christinamguerrero.com ~ the official site ~
How Coffee Might Have Been Invented
Copyright 2014 Christina M. Guerrero
First published at Suite.io
DEDICATION
This is for coffee.
STORY BEHIND THE STORY
Joy.
ABOUT THE DRAFTS
First draft:
Too short and needs work.
Yep. I can see the gods or God thinking,
"These dudes need something to wake them up in the morning."
At some point the Creator (or the universe, or whatever you do or don’t believe in) decided:
There isn’t something available yet that will stimulate the mind and make animals more alert.
So let’s hide a drug inside several layers of varying thicknesses and watch the fun begin.
Furthermore ...
Let’s put the drug and its varied layers inside a bright red cherry, hoping the color will draw the attention.
After noticing it, the observer will attempt to open it. Let’s make it a bit difficult, by making the surface thick and a challenge to break. Let’s also add a couple of odd, differing layers, to make it a treasure hunt.
And divide the drug into two, special-wrapped, so each bean has to be peeled individually.
They’re gonna wonder what to do with it. They might chew it. And discover it’s not easily broken down.
Then they’ll experiment. They may roast it, or grind it, and eventually understand that varying degrees of ground will produce different tastes when mixed with hot water.
To make the enjoyment of this drug even more bittersweet -- both figuratively and literally -- let’s place it only in a thin band around the center of the earth, so it has to be harvested and shipped from far away.
These Earthlings will crave it to the point that it will become the second most traded commodity on earth.
BACK TO JOURNALISM - * - BACK TO ARCHIVES