I gave up coffee when I was 9 years old.
People don't believe me when I say that. But it's true, and I need to tell you the story because it's silly, yet explains a lot about why I'm building what I'm building.
My great-grandparents lived on a farm in the Dominican Republic. They grew coffee. I remember going to the bushes and picking the red cherries and bringing them back to the house, where they'd dry them, roast them, and do whatever else needed doing to turn cherries into coffee. They had a pilon, a mortar and pestle that was bigger than me, to pound the coffee beans into powder. I was maybe 6 years old, pounding coffee cherries with a tool twice my size.
My great-grandmother, Mama Vira, would make this super strong coffee for the family. For the kids, she served it half sugar, half coffee. Freshly roasted, incredibly sweet, full of the flavor of the farm. I was probably bouncing off the walls after every cup and the next day she'd give me more. I was her favorite, her Davicito.
That was my introduction to coffee.
When we moved to the US, I was almost 9. My parents, perhaps irresponsibly, kept letting me have coffee because I'd always been allowed to drink it on the farm. So I tried what was available. Whatever was on the grocery store shelf back then. Maybe Cafe Bustelo, if you know, you know.
It was god awful.
None of the flavor I associated with coffee from Mama Vira's farm was there. There was no love, only the taste of factory. There wasn't enough sugar to put the love into it. I was just drinking straight black coffee with a bunch of sugar, and it was gross.
I tried it maybe 2 or 3 times. And then I stopped. I have not touched coffee since.
Now, as an adult, I know there are better coffees available. I know I could probably recreate something close to what I had on that farm. But at this point, giving up coffee at 9 has become part of my identity. I don't want to drink coffee again because I want to keep telling people this story. Selfish? Perhaps. Self-serving? Perhaps. Silly, for sure! But still true.
And I want to be clear: I am not anti-coffee. I run a bakery that sells coffee every day. I'm building a beverage that is in some ways a complement and in some ways a competitor to coffee. There's space in the market and in people's lives for both.
But here's what I know. There are people who feel like they're consuming too much coffee. It's messing with their sleep, their energy, their afternoons. They're looking for something with flavor and complexity that they can enjoy without the caffeine spiral.
That's where cacovu comes in.
I'm not asking anyone to give up their morning coffee. Your first cup is yours. But your second cup, the one you reach for at 2 PM when you want something interesting but don't need another jolt, that can be cacovu.
Your first ritual is coffee. Your second may become cacovu. Your call.
Disclosure: I write these posts. AI helps me edit them.