Coffee is a beverage that bridges the globe and civilizations. It helps reawaken us when our energy runs low and even motivates us to get moving when we would rather take a long break.

Coffee helped drop Juan Valdez on the map. Not a soul had ever come across Juan Valdez, a poor mountaineer who barely kept his family fed lost in the bountiful mountains of Colombia. Then one day, a special person at Folgers decided to showcase someone from the coffee growing parts of Colombia for their mountain grown campaign, and the next thing you know, old Juan’s a millionaire…

In reality, almost nothing is better than a hot cup of coffee in the morning as you eat your breakfast, read your paper, smoke your cigarette or just attempt to pry your eyes open. That morning distillation will perk you up even from the fragrance, as it cradles your nostrils with that caffeinated love. Whether you have it black, with cream and sugar or any of a handful of artificial sweeteners or with some flavoring syrups, a cup of coffee seems to set our day back into focus.

Often consumers will complain that coffee is bad for their overall health, but if you were to really think about it, would you really want to drive on a thoroughfare where nobody had had their morning cup of coffee prior to setting out? It is my opinion that coffee is responsible for saving a ton of lives on the highways of the world, as an alert driver is almost certainly more valuable than a hazy one! This means that coffee is better for your health than a half awake driver.

We simultaneously want to have our cake and eat it too, and of course a nice delightful cup of coffee with it to drown out the sweetness of the cake. I hope you have enjoyed this little journey down the rough trails of Colombia with me. I know I enjoyed my nice cup of breakfast blend joe while creating it!

Micheal Savoie is the editor of Little Cups Of Coffee, a blog about coffee makers and coffee.