There is no reprieve from the boiling cauldron of humidity that surrounds you in the Carolina summer. You must become one with it.
by Jenn Bianchi | illustration by Jillian Ohl

There is no reprieve from the boiling cauldron of humidity that surrounds you in the Carolina summer. The heat swallows your thoughts and bends your will. You cannot run. You cannot hide. You cannot deny the ever-present moist warmth crawling into your veins.

How can you rebuff such a power? You must become one with it.

This is the lesson my grandparents gave to me during summers spent in Emerald Isle. And they did that in one way: with hot coffee, first thing in the morning.

Hot coffee, to remind you that heat is all you know.

Hot coffee, bitter and burning, to prepare you for the sun’s mighty forces ahead.

From my Papa, lesson one: Life is pain. Get used to it. Did he say these words to me? No. Did he hand me a cup of coffee? No. Did he hand me a cup of milk with enough coffee in it to change the color slightly? Yes. Did I pretend that I was a haggard World War II vet just like him? You bet I did.

This was our morning routine: Get coffee and walk to the pier. Many a morning was spent watching shrimp boats off the coast. No words exchanged, just that first cup. Sit, sip, repeat.

That routine is still with me almost 40 years later. The first cup must be piping-hot, drunk in quiet contemplation. With each sip I return to this mortal coil; with each sip I prepare to face the reality of the blazing day.

I have no quarrel with the iced coffee drinker. Do I find them weak? Yes. Do I find their attempts at refreshment meager? Yes. Do I think they are missing the point of what coffee is?  Absolutely.
I embrace the heat, the bitterness, the brown. They are in my blood.

For those that just moved to the Carolinas and have yet to experience the onslaught that is late summer, let me tell you: You must adapt. Exposure therapy is the only way to make it through. Repent your iced coffee ways and join me.

Join me in the madness that is heat on heat.

This article originally appeared in the July 2023 issue of WALTER magazine.