My relationship with caffeine and sugar was not a healthy one. It crept up on me the way these things do. At one point I was having three Starbucks a day. A coffee to get going, another to keep going, something sweet to get through the afternoon. It got to the stage where I was enjoying both a Coca Cola and a coffee at the same time. I wasn't even enjoying coffee anymore. I was relying on it, and on whatever was added to it, without ever asking what was actually in my cup.
Then I became a mother, and my daughter started noticing everything. One day in the supermarket, she pointed out the cans of the fizzy drinks. It stopped me in my tracks. In that moment I realised she was watching absolutely everything I did. I was careful about what I put on my skin, washed my hair with but I had never held what I put in my body to the same standard, and it matters exactly the same. If I wanted her to make good choices, I couldn't just tell her. I had to show her. We lead by demonstration, and I wasn't demonstrating what I wanted her to learn about what we consume, becomes us. And one day she may just start drinking coffee.
I started researching more about coffee and whilst looking across the industry, I saw a great deal of amazing coffee, but we do not always know the full traceability behind it. For something so many of us drink every single day, that did not sit right with me. I wanted to understand arabica, and robusta beans, the roasting process and specialty grading.
That was the beginning of Siren Grounds. For a long time I'd measured my coffee habit in quantity. How many cups, how fast, how much to get through the day. What I learned is that quantity is the wrong question. It's about quality produce.
These days it comes down to one really good espresso in the morning. Maybe a really good full caffeine coffee later on. And then, if I still want the flavour of coffee, I can switch to a decaf. That is all it takes when the coffee is good. A properly sourced, carefully graded cup gives you flavour you actually notice, a ritual you actually enjoy and a reason to slow down. You do not need it to be sweet and you do not need to chase it. That shift from more to better changed how I drink coffee, and it shapes everything we make.