Dark and full-bodied, like me.

I wasn’t always a coffee snob. I have never been one of those types to confuse a barista with insane 20 step instructions to make a perfect cup of Joe, yet I am still pretty picky about my coffee.

I like my coffee black and strong. If it’s too weak, that’s a problem.

Even as a kid at church services, I liked coffee. But I liked it with creamer. I liked it not only because I thought it perked me up for the three hour event but because I genuinely loved the taste.

Then I went to college. In those times the energy drink was gaining ground. I, of course, was into drinking copious amounts of Mountain Dew.

I had a coffee maker but I used it for several other things and I never used it for its original purpose. My favorite use for the coffee pot was making Ramen Noodles and I couldn’t risk my noodles tasting like coffee.

My deep love of coffee and snobbery thereof did not occur until one day a couple of friends of mine decided we should go into a coffee shop in Saint Louis’ University City Loop, which is a huge college and tourist spot in Saint Louis County.

I had been to “The Loop,” dozens of times but this time was different. I walked into the coffee shop not knowing that my life would be changed by a cup of java.

When it was my turn to order, the menu was pretty complex. I didn’t understand most of the beverages they had at the time. I simply ordered a cup of coffee.

This wasn’t Folger’s. It wasn’t Maxwell House. It wasn’t Dunkin’ Doughnuts. It was the strongest, darkest, most flavorful cup of coffee I had ever tasted.

I ordered another cup as we enjoyed our collective caffeinated drinks outside in the cool fall night.

Ever since, I have enjoyed coffee dark and severely strong.

I still remember coming home and fixing coffee for my family in Chicago on a Winter Break. They freaked out but not in a good way. My mother was concerned that my coffee was too strong and that I would suffer a heart attack.

I still to this day enjoy two strong cups of coffee a day. One from our Keurig and one from a $4 single cup brewer that I bought from the Goodwill.