The Evolution of a Coffee Drinker

I've been daydreaming about coffee. Probably night-dreaming, too.

For 21 days, I'm tweaking my diet to get a bit of a metabolism boost, and maybe lose the couple of pounds I've put on since moving in with the boyfriend. (I was told it would happen, but I didn't expect it to happen so quickly!)

Anyways, on this short but strict diet plan (specifically, the 21 Day Challenge by My Fit Foods, which has a store located a block from my day job), it's 3 meals and 2 snacks per day... and no coffee. At least, not the way I like it (2 Sweet & Lows, light blop of French Vanilla creamer). Black coffee would certainly be allowed, if I could stomach that. Which I can't.

Drooling at the thought of my own coffee concoction in only 14 days time (I'm a week into the challenge, and boy, do I miss it more than anything else), I can't help but remember how my taste for coffee has evolved .

I found coffee pretty late, beginning to drink it at age 24, well after the all-nighters of my college years. I wonder now how I ever made it through. I gave it a chance, mainly because I was sick of going to coffee shops with friends and having no idea what to order. The issue was, I hated everything about the taste; blegh, so bitter -- so to mask it, I would only drink it cold-brewed (less acidity) with a large drizzle of Agave syrup and a metric ton of whipped cream. You know... super sweet.

This then evolved to, essentially, adding a bit of coffee to my milk. Mochas with sweetener turned to mochas without, which then led to lattes with sugar, and then... well, you get the idea.

It makes me think that I'm just on an ever-evolving path to drinking coffee in its natural, black state. Does losing a taste for the sweet of it all happen to everyone eventually?

How do you take your coffee? Have you been drinking it the same way for 10 years? Or does it change all the time?

{images via What Should I Eat for Breakfast Today?}