“I sipped my own coffee, heavy on the sugar and cream, trying to make up for the late work the night before. Caffeine and sugar, the two basic food groups.” ― Laurell K. Hamilton, Cerulean Sins
[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]I find it interesting how different drinks impose a social setting upon a situation. Champagne is obviously the most formal, being reserved for truly special occasions. Wine comes next, with the vintage and type determining just how uptight and restrictive the conversation should be. Tea, English style, probably comes next; I find it impossible to sip from china cups without extending my pinky. Everything else is more casual, beer being at the bottom of the list with its perpetual “I don’t give a fuck” attitude.
Coffee holds a unique place in that list, though, not truly formal even when served in the best of china cups, but not quite as insouciant as cocktails. There’s an implied comfortableness around coffee that is friendly, perhaps even neighborly, but still leaves room for serious conversation. We serve coffee at important meetings to help everyone relax and focus on the task at hand. We serve coffee after dinner, though, to reduce the formality of the evening and introduce a period of more relaxed conversation. Coffee’s ability to bridge social gaps is invaluable.
Where coffee may be the most useful, though, is in those moments where one is sitting with someone else and you don’t know quite what to say. Maybe you’re strangers thrust awkwardly together at a party. Perhaps you’re lovers who are not quite sure of the next step in your relationship. A parent and adult child sitting at a table trying to figure out how to breach that painful topic no one wants to discuss. Coffee is perfect for those moments, sitting there with a warm cup or mug between your hands, staring down into the darkness, maybe stirring it with a spoon just so there’s something making noise. Coffee is patient. Coffee allows you the time you need to find just the right words.[/one_half]
[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]For years, I’ve put coffee in the middle of meeting new people. I consider it a test of character, among other things. How a person orders their coffee says a lot about them, I think. Enough so that we can put them into groups.
People who are serious about business tend to drink their coffee black and the busiest of people, I’ve noticed, order an Americano so it’s not quite as hot and easier to drink on the run. These people are not going to have long conversations so get to the point.
When someone orders extra shots in their drink they’re almost certainly night owls, or at the very least people who forgo sleep for either business or pleasure. The downside is that keeping their attention may be difficult.
Occasionally I’ll come across someone who is fussy as hell about how their coffee is prepared, giving the barista special instructions. Be careful around those people; they’re not so much perfectionists as they are just difficult to please.
People who add a lot of sugar and flavoring, though, are more easy-going, more socially oriented, and almost never in a hurry. Find a comfy chair and settle down, these people are ready to talk.
In many ways, coffee is the great equalizer of drinks, enjoyable regardless of one’s social or economic status and generally accessible even when nothing else is appropriate. Coffee doesn’t require a certain style of dress, or being dressed at all for that matter (just be careful about spills), and there’s no requirement for a given manner of speech. Coffee invites everyone to relax and be themselves, and that is invaluable.[/one_half_last]
The Joys of Coffee
At The Coffee Shop (2011)
If it wasn’t for the coffee, I’d have no identifiable personality whatsoever. -David Letterman
[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]Yes, I’m well aware that today is Mother’s Day in the US and yes I’ve shot enough mothers and children to have given that the theme for the whole week. That’s rather crowded territory today, though, and if you’re sitting on your computer or mobile device reading this then you’re obviously not spending time with your mother, for reasons we won’t discuss, so we decided to go a very different direction for this week and talk about something that is near and dear to my own heart: Coffee.
I have been drinking coffee since I was 14. Granted, I didn’t drink as much of it then as I do now, and I tended to dump loads of sugar and milk in it until Poppa caught me and said if I were going to drink the stuff I had to drink it straight. I think he was hoping that would put me off and that I’d stop, but it didn’t. I learned to drink it black and enjoy the flavor of the bean itself, not all the flavor and garbage dumped on top. To this day, I fail to understand the fascination with lattes and cappuccinos and other fancy coffee-based drinks. I suppose there’s nothing wrong if you really like all that sweetness and confection actually in your coffee. I prefer my coffee black, a bold roast if you please, something of moderate acidity.
Coffee drinking has taken a lot of heat over the years (pardon the pun). I was told it would stunt my growth, that it would damage my kidneys, and that it could lead to more dangerous addictions (yes, a dear old church lady actually told me that). Some religions forbid the drinking of coffee because of its caffeine (they’d rather their members not be too alert). Like anything else we try to enjoy, there’s always someone right there waiting to tell us we shouldn’t. We tend to ignore those people.[/one_half]
[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Instead, we prefer to consider facts that say things like:
What may be most compelling about coffee in today’s society, though, is its qualities as an object of social construct. Coffee shops have become the meeting place for everything from first dates to important business meetings. Today’s picture, made somewhat humorous by the expressions on the men’s faces, is an example of coffee’s social attraction. A large storm had just swept through the area, flooding streets and knocking out power. Anyone in the neighborhood when the storm hit was just stuck. There was no getting out. Where did they go? The coffee shop. Their large carafes of coffee were already full and an honor box let patrons pay without needing a cash register. The coffee shop offered comfort, safety, friendship. and a place to pretend to get work done.
So here’s to coffee, the good and bad and everything else we’ll talk about this week. Now, put down your phone and go talk to your mother. Maybe over a cup of coffee.[/one_half_last]
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