Janet Cerda, owner of Cafe Niña in Boyle Heights, remembers her first sip of coffee from childhood.
Unlike those of us who tried to sneak a sip from mom's cup when she wasn’t looking, desperate to know what this magic beverage tasted like, Janet didn’t have to sneak. As a child, having a cup of cafecito every morning with her abuelita Dolores “Lolita” was just tradition.
“When I was growing up, my grandma used to give us a lot of coffee,” she laughs, remembering those first sweet jolts of caffeine. “She used to give me the galletas Maria, along with my café calientito (warm coffee) before going to school back in kindergarten.”
Although she was fairly young at the time, she vividly remembers how special those moments before school with her grandma were.
“It made me feel very comfortable and very peaceful when I used to be around my grandparents, and I feel like that’s what coffee brings into my life," she tells L.A. TACO. "It’s peace, community, and family."