“Let’s Go Get A Coffee”
Whenever someone I love is upset, I like to offer them a hot drink. There is nothing a cup of tea or warm hot chocolate cannot fix. I got this mentality from my mum, who used to always offer me a cuppa and a cuddle on my stressed or sad days. At the same time, when there was something to celebrate or something exciting to chat about, it would always be “let me make a cuppa first!” A hot drink is a morning pleasure and often accompanied the post-school wind-down with a biscuit. The first thing my nan asks when we pop round to my grandparents is “do you want a hot drink?” and I have memories of always having hot chocolate before bed when having sleepovers at my nan and grandad’s in the school holidays. In my experience, truly nothing defines love more than a hot little cup of comfort.
So, why is grabbing a coffee so much more than grabbing a coffee? Going out into town for such a simple yet grounding pleasure may be just what someone needs. Asking your friend out for a coffee in the midst of the business of our everyday chaos could give them the break they’re craving. Going out for a coffee is a short pause from the rush of working life. It allows you to have a conversation with someone you love, or get to know someone you just met. Coffee dates can allow formal meetings, or informal coming-togethers. The last time I went out for a coffee with someone was with my mum, and we had no rush to be anywhere after. Instead, we sat in a cafe and enjoyed the meditative nature of sipping an oat latte for myself, and a chai latte for my mum. We updated each other on life and our plans in between sharing bites of a chocolate cake and I suddenly realised how un-lonely I felt in that current moment.
After all, coffee is defined as a social beverage, particularly for the Dutch and Italians who enjoy the simplicity of an espresso or filter coffee over conversation. In his creation of the little-known coffee chain Starbucks, CEO Howard Schultz said he wanted to replicate the “magic of experiencing espresso” with the same hospitality and relaxation that the Italians had crafted. Amongst many cultures, drinking coffee is intended to be a whole experience, rather than just a caffeine kick--and this experience began way before coffee shops and brunch spots started sprouting across our towns and states. The natural homeland of the Arabica bean is Ethiopia, and coffee was drunk across Africa and Asia to keep people awake during religious ceremonies. The commodity was then sold to the West during the seventeenth century, and suddenly coffee was uniting the world rather than just small communities.
Coffee continues to unite cultures and communities across the world today as coffee and brunch and the hospitality industry dominate the travel economy. In 2014, I travelled to Amsterdam and spent my days enjoying the taste of espresso beside canals, hidden beneath the clouds of smoke from the locals. The Dutch even have their own phrase, bakkie troost, which translates to “cup of consolation,” highlighting the significance of coffee and just why we drink it. Sipping the syrupy beverage is a comfort externally, considering you share it in good company, but also internally as it warms you up from the inside out. Another poignant memory for me, triggered by the taste of coffee, is sitting in a restaurant in Sausalito Bay, San Francisco to the sound of indie music and surrounded by the views of a beautiful city. I remember thinking “what an amazing atmosphere to work in,” and today I find myself working as a part-time barista. I can see Brighton beach from the coffee shop that I work at and get to practice my latte art four times a week, serving regulars and tourists. I have become intertwined and immersed in the culture I once only admired. Now I admire the coffee industry from a different perspective: one that appreciates coffee-drinking as a whole lifestyle.
The coffee and brunch industry which has the globe craving avo toast and acai bowls (see Vogue’s best brunch spots in London, or Time Out’s review of the best coffee shops in New York) was initiated in Australia, as Italian Immigrants began bringing coffee machines down under during the war. The Aussies even invented my current go-to coffee order, the flat white, to celebrate the strength of a coffee taste while still enjoying the creamy texture of milk usually offered by a latte. Now, coffee is more than a caffeine fix, or an accompaniment to conversation. Coffee is about the interior and the design, from the art in the cup to the art on the walls of the shop, from the cake selection to ceramic choices. At London’s famous newsagents, Shreeji news, you can buy a takeaway coffee to partner your magazine shopping, or cat cafes originated in Asia and are incredibly popular in Finland and Estonia.
Grabbing a coffee is so much more than grabbing a coffee because it means interacting with the originality of the coffee shop and being inspired by the art and people inside it. It is tapping into creativity as you read or write or draw alongside the sipping of your beverage. Grabbing a coffee is enjoying time with yourself, your friends and family, or chatting to the stranger that serves you. Next time you find yourself at a coffee shop, even if coffee is not your caffeine hit of choice (perhaps a peppermint tea instead), look around and fully submerge yourself in the culture and lifestyle that coffee has to offer. Think about where that coffee has come from and how many people around the world love this experience, just the same as you.