Through all my days and works, as far back as at least 50 years, coffee has been my most companionable steady.

My parents who were neither rich nor poor were always trying, as Mama put it, “to make both ends meet.” So, taking my studies to heart, first in University of the Philippines (UP)-Los Baños, and later, in University of the Philippines-Diliman, I needed most nights to keep still at my desk, relax and focus on the next day’s academic task. This was how my life-long affair with coffee began.