Fort Simpson (May 09/03) - Lattes, espressos, iced cappuccinos.

Many people in the Deh Cho drool at the thought of such luxuries. But that doesn't mean they still don't get their caffeine fix.

Cheryl Hunt begins each day by pouring herself a cup of coffee. For some, coffee is an essential kick start each morning. - Derek Neary/NNSL photo

Cheryl Hunt, associate manager of the Fort Liard Northern store, limits herself to two or three cups of coffee per day, but one of those must come early in the a.m.

"I've got to have my morning coffee (or) I'm not me," she said, smiling.

Hunt is partial to Maxwell House, although most people she knows are hooked on Tim Hortons brand, she noted.

For Chuck Blyth, coffee became his constant companion during his first year in university.

Many years have passed but that hasn't changed.

Blyth, superintendent of Nahanni National Park Reserve, said his caffeine quota must come from coffee, preferably eight cups of strong, bitter-flavoured dark French with no sugar, just cream.

Without his coffee, he said he suffers from "blinding headaches ... seriously.

"Tea, coke and those kinds of things just don't do it for me," he said.

Because of his zest for beans with such a sharp flavour, he has been banned from making coffee at the office, where off-the-shelf brands from the grocery store

carry the day.

At the Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation band office in Kakisa, there is always coffee brewing.

"Right from 9 (a.m.) until the office closes," said band manager Ruby Landry. "It's for community members. People come in and have coffee and go back out."

On Tuesday, a technician who came to fix the fax/copier machine was treated to a fresh pot, Landry said.

She doesn't mind having a cup with visitors to be sociable, but she'd just as well drink tea, juice or water, she said.

"I don't have a taste for it any more," said Landry. "I like the smell of it though."