A Nostalgic Cup
The Cups I’ll Never Forget
Think back long, long ago into the archives of your brain. All the way to last week. And you’ll remember we talked about the best coffees and what make them special. The tastes, the ambiance, the company. And that got me thinking (dangerous, I know) about the best and most memorable coffees I’ve experienced in my 31 years of living, and more specifically, my 12 years of coffee-drinking.
This type of discourse is not uncommon if you’ve spent time around me. If you’ve spent a few consecutive hours with me, you’ve probably heard me say something along the lines of, “this is a top 4 lamb dish I’ve ever made” or “this is definitely in my top 2 freshest bites of tuna” and then continue on to name the rest of the contenders.
I like knowing what I like best. I like hearing what you like best. I feel that it gives me a better understanding of myself and my peers.
So I challenge you to think back on your life and try and recall the best coffees of your life. And if you’re really struggling with identifying any, I want you to start noticing going forward. Maybe you’ll have a velvety cappuccino at your next brunch with friends. And it’ll remind you of another joyful coffee you shared with the person across the table with you.
Nostalgia has a funny way of working sometimes.
ANYWAYS, here are my favorites. I will try to be chronologically-friendly for clarity.
Nobody Forgets Their First
Freshman year at THE University of Maryland. First semester. Midterms week.
Up until this moment of my life, I hated the smell of coffee. Hated the taste. Hated coffee-flavored things. And yes, I’m quite stubborn when I have an opinion. Especially, a mal-informed opinion.
I was studying on the 7th floor of McKeldin Library. It was getting late, fast. And I was fading, fast.
A friend I was studying with suggested I get a cup of coffee. I insisted I hated coffee. They told me to give it a try with something sweet.
I settled on a caramel macchiato.
At McKeldin Library, there’s an awful café on the first floor named Footnotes. It was a small shop that sold Adderall snacks and a terrible cup of coffee poured into a paper cup with a Starbucks logo on the front.
But my goodness, this caramel macchiato may have been the nectar of the gods.
I cannot tell you how fast I drank this drink. I still have scars on my tongue from it. I finished it on the elevator ride back up to the 7th floor.
So what would any mildly-adjusted 19-year-old do? Go back down to Footnotes, ask for the most caffeinated item on the menu, get handed a red-eye, and take a sip.
It was just awful. To the point of spitting it out. But I learned a valuable lesson that day.
Don’t be an overreacting idiot all the time.
Only some of the times.
But I also learned that I like coffee. And that’s why it’s a special cup.
The Cup I Barely Remember
I spent a weekend in February 2017 in New Orleans. For Mardi Gras.
And honestly, I don’t think I could tell you one notable thing about the city.
The weekend went exactly according to expectations.
There was one night, my friend Ben and I went to Café Du Monde. Because drunk me needs a drunk beignet.
I don’t remember ordering. I don’t remember who we were with. I don’t remember eating it.
But I remember a sip of coffee. Chocolatey. Nutty. Smokey. Delicious.
The next morning, I did some research, and found out that Café Du Monde is insanely famous for their coffee. Even more so than their fried dough balls.
Shows how little I cared about coffee.
Before High Frequency Coffee was even an inkling of a thought, I made cold brew for my personal consumption. Those batches were made with the Café Du Monde grounds.
The flavors of that blurry Mardi Gras cup forever changed the trajectory of my life. They served as a seed.
So I guess my advice here is go to Mardi Gras and try not to remember a single thing and you’ll be way better off because of it. Foolproof, right?
But actually, you never know when inspiration will hit you. Or how long it will fester for in your brain before it hits the surface. But keep trying new things.
Company Matters
Not just company – good company.
In February of 2022, I went around the Little Italy in NYC with a couple of my closest childhood friends, Zach and Lonny. And naturally, we ate. We ate good.
I remember meatballs out of plastic Tupperware containers. I remember un cannolo in wax paper, the shell crumbling in my hands, leaving a trail of powdered sugar along Mulberry St.
To cap off this tasting menu of a day, we sat inside Caffe Roma for espresso and pignoli cookies.
Do I remember how the coffee was? Absolutely not. Do I remember the taste and texture of the pignoli? Again, not one bit.
But I remember the company.
I remember feeling like a kid in a grown-up body. Sitting with two of my childhood best friends, living our own independent lives in NYC, cackling about utter nonsense of years past.
It was a warm, cozy feeling that I wish I could carry for the rest of my life.
It’s not always about the coffee that makes it one of the best cups of coffee.
Keg Stand
One major step of the High Frequency journey was kegging our cold brew.
I’ve never worked with kegs. I’ve never tapped a keg. I’ve never cleaned lines. I’ve never put a refrigerator together.
But in order to grow, I needed to learn.
A lot of slammed fists. Plenty of crumpled user manuals. Too much gritted teeth. A bevvy of YouTube tutorials.
Hours of it.
But alas, I prevailed. I built this damn kegerator. I installed the nitrogen. Tapped the kegs. And I poured my cold brew from the tap.
I was ecstatic. I worked so hard to create a product and find an effective way to serve it. And that first pour out of the tap tasted so, SO good. I’ll never forget when it hit my lips.
I mean, look at this smile. That’s pure, unadulterated joy.
Clay Pot
I mentioned, in last week’s blog that drinking a regional coffee in that region is a special experience.
Café de Olla hit a little different for me.
High Frequency Coffee has hit a lot of palates over the years. One comparison I hear often is to Café de Olla, which is a traditional Mexican coffee served from a clay pot. It’s made with coffee, piloncillo, and cinnamon.
I was able to try Café de Olla in Mexico City. We sat down in a tienda that primarily sold handmade ceramics and dishware. The lady at the counter ladled the liquid from the pot to our cups.
My goodness, it was delicious. I very clearly understood the comparisons to our cold brew.
We ended up buying a platter and tiny cups from her, so we get to have the warmth of nostalgia every time we use them.
Those flavors still sick with me. I miss them.
The Moment Everything Came Together
On March 23rd, 2025, my wife and I got married. It was the most incredible wedding. Surrounded by the most amazing people. The best day of my entire life.
On March 25th, we departed on the long journey to Australia for our honeymoon.
On March 27th, we arrived at our cabin in the mountains, two hours outside of Sydney.
The adrenaline from the wedding still coursing through our veins. The stress and fatigue from 24 hours of travel weighing down on us. The excitement of being halfway around the world for the first time setting in. Together. As a married couple.
However. There were still four hours until our room was ready. And there was NOTHING to do in this area.
So what did we do?
We sat on wicker chairs. On a deck overlooking the woods. A foggy haze actively clearing from the morning sky. The skyline of Sydney deep in the horizon. Birds chirping all around. Drinking our cappuccinos.
I’ll never forget that moment.
I’ll never forget those feelings. I’ll never forget the taste of that coffee. I’ll never forget those deep breaths. I’ll never forget the immense joy and pride and relaxation I felt in that moment.
I’ll never forget that moment.
When I think back to those perfect few minutes, I remember that cup of coffee.
It was so much more than just a cup of coffee.
It was safety. It was new beginnings. It was true love.
What It All Means
Coffee is a simple creation. At its core, it’s just beans and water.
But it can be so much more.
It can open up new doors for you. It can make you feel like a kid again. It can teach you that attention to details matter. It can exemplify that hard work will pay off.
It can show you that love is tangible.
Coffee is so much more than what’s in your cup.
That is what High Frequency Coffee is all about.
