What tastebud renewal does

On one of the hottest Melbourne days in November, I found myself getting ready for a meeting on Spring Street. I was keen to re-acquaint myself with Postal Hall, but the heat was almost oppressive. Then I spotted a tiny almost-hole-in-wall cafe very close by, and thought, "hey why not? A La Marcozza, sustainable coffee, should be all right..."

Poor guys never knew what hit them when they, out of the kind of courtesy that only people in hospitality risk, asked me how I had enjoyed my iced coffee ten minutes later.

"Ditch that pre-made pitcher of coffee, your coffee tastes sour and bitter from being left to sit like that, such a waste of a decent coffee. Just whack two shots of espresso on top of the ice cream when someone asks for an iced coffee."

"What about the temperature?"

"Just add milk."

Almost in awe (and mild fear in case I was a caffeine psycho and decided to hold their coffee machine hostage), they asked "Are you in hospitality?"

"No, just a blogger."

Out of the kindness of my heart (and feeling like I should make up for being so cruel that early in the morning), I ordered a latte to go for the meeting. Light, milky, so bland. Hmm.

Four hours later, I passed by the very well hidden Eclipse, and thought, "well, I have not had a decent shot of coffee yet today, let's try this place. SL did say the house blend was pretty decent, though I'll be darned if I order another El Salvador in Victoria..."

Light, milky, bland. What on earth...wait, we read over the weekend that our tastebuds are "reborn" every ten days. Could it be...oh dear, that means I could have been unfair to that cafe in the morning then. Oh dear. Too late, I can never show my face there ever again.

I did not dare touch coffee again until three days later; thank gosh my tastebuds were revived by the time I was on my regular jaunt to Toby's Estate. In the meantime, SL was enjoying Panamas around the place (why have I not seen any around yet?!) and letting me know at work how tasty they were, not to mention the Indian at Jasper's.

Then, the day after I had sneaked in a delectable Cuban "short" macchiato at Espressino (it looked more like a long mac and it was a tad too hot for my liking but what a bean!), I got an text from SL:

"Why are coffees all tasting bland to me today?"

Me being me, still grumbling over how Panama has eluded me, could only text back:

"Your tastebuds are renewing..."