I'll be honest; I struggled to write an article this week mainly due to the fact that I was going on vacation to camp in Colorado with my brother, Pat. Therefore, my mind was pre-occupied with packing, laundry, and mentally preparing my brain and survival skills for possible Mountain Lion attacks (my plate was full). Somehow I knew that I would come up with something, but what? Then I reflected upon the fact that my brother is the reason I work in a coffee shop in the first place.

My older brother Pat originally worked at Hubbard and Cravens 49th Street when I was still in high school. Occasionally I would take a trip in to the ol' café and have him fix me up some sort of fancy drink, his specialty being hot chocolate. It was neat having a family member in the coffee business, but I never thought about it too seriously. Then when I was seventeen, I had the opportunity to visit a friend living in Paris, France. My parents were fine with my transatlantic journey but concluded that if I really wanted it I would have to pay for it. At the time I was working at Some Guys Pizza at 62nd and Allisonville Road (try the Barbeque Chicken Pizza it's the best in town), but I knew that in order to pay for the ticket I would need more money.

And then I smelled the coffee, so to speak. I applied at Hubbard and Cravens and continued working at Some Guys, it was crazy juggling school and two jobs but; hey, when this girl has a dream, nothing will stop her. Working at Hubbard and Cravens paired my brother and me together in the workplace and we were quite the team. Pat made phenomenal drinks at high speed; he knew every customer and what they wanted. He was, and still is, my barista role model. It was not all smooth sailing; sometimes sibling spats occurred - which was not very professional - but then again, older brothers can be mean. I remember one time he told me I was not working fast enough, I lost it and walked out the door and let him finish closing by himself.

It can be difficult when working with a family member or it can be marvelous (for the most part it's a little bit of both). I am grateful for the time I spent with my brother working in the coffee shop. Pat made making drinks and talking about coffee fun; I guess that's where I caught the bug. He is surely a coffee legend in my book and really I owe my job to him. So who first introduced you to coffee?