My first Word!

I remember my mom, each morning, in her fuscia night gown, coming down stairs into the kitchen to make coffee. She would point at the coffee jar on the counter and say “mmm, coffee…” It said COFFEE on the side of the jar in gold letters. So, at a really early age I learned to read, and my first word was coffee. My mom told me this, years ago. Being the smart lad I am I tried to prove it to one of my co-worker friends the other week. I said to her, “I’m serious, my first word was coffee, go ahead… call my mom!” I gave her the number and she called. My mom answers the phone and was asked,

“What was Joe’s first word?”

Mom says, “I don’t remember what it was.”

I grab the phone, “Mom, it was coffee, remember? You told me this a while ago!”

As it was clear I was disgruntled, she said “Joey, (she calls me Joey sometimes) I don’t think it was coffee, I could be wrong.”

“Mom, you told me it was coffee ok, so for future reference when I have someone call you and ask what my first word was, it was coffee, ok?”

I hung up the phone in disbelief and continued to tell my friend that my mom said she remembered all the sudden. The ploy was unsuccessful.

My parents must have had a hidden agenda while raising me. I was named Joe. Joe means coffee: “cup of joe” and so on. My last name is Consentino, very similar to cappuccino. It even rhymes.


Interest in coffee began early for me. I attended school for my early years, of course. When I turned 16 all that learning had become boring, so I started working at cafés’ and coffee roasteries. I was mystified by the steaming, shiny machine on the counter, which I wasn’t allowed to touch until I was trained. I am still mystified. I find myself staring at the milk as it cyclones in the pitcher. Its velvet texture, shiny when I swirl it, touches the espresso. It mixes with the cocoa and sugar and works itself under and around. I get so much pleasure making drinks for people who are exited to get something special. We try giving people a great experience here in the café, as we do with our online customers. Our coffee rocks. Try it!

Joe