Coffee: A Love Affair
Oh Coffee, my Coffee!
- Robin Williams (not really)
The snow is currently falling outside Loyal Coffee in Colorado Springs, CO as I'm writing this. The sky is white and my booth seat is warm. I have headphones in listening to my Pure Focus playlist from Apple Music.
I sat down to write and drew a blank. I have a list of topics and ideas I could jump off of, but none of them resonated with me at the moment.
I stared down at my exquisite single-origin Colombia (No. 77) cup of batch brew and thought, "Gosh, I so enjoy coffee." Then I started to ponder, "Why? Why do I enjoy coffee so dang much?"
And there was my writing topic of choice.
Coffee is adored the world over and the estimated size of the export market for it is around $19 billion. It's robust blackness has an array of possible flavors, and it's invigorating!
Coffee Solves Problems
Thought it is amoral and illiterate, coffee is quite the problem solver. How, you ask? I will tell you! Coffee meets three basic needs: caffeine, contemplation, and community.
First - caffeine. Obviously, we've all said something close to, "Don't hate me, I haven't had my coffee yet." Why? Because of the caffeine. Caffeine is an energizer bunny to the brain and body. I won't get into the science of how it does so, but we all know that it does. And we like it. A lot. As a legal addictive substance, most of us are drawn to it's heat and smell every morning. I once had a parent tell me, "One cup of coffee per kid." She has three kids. That's quite the daily consumption.
The second problem coffee solves is our lack of contemplation. I could be alone in this camp, but I prefer my morning cup of joe alone in silence, preferably in a comfortable chair near a window with a great view. Holding a warm cup of coffee early in the morning puts me in an almost meditative state. It helps me to contemplate the issues of life: marriage, parenting, death, faith, poverty, weakness, insecurity. You know, light stuff. I'm a reflective introvert, and my morning cuppa puts me in the headspace I want to be in.
Lastly, coffee drives community. In our fear-induced coronaconomy, we need relationship more than ever. Some of us have (re)connected with family and friends in ways we hadn't before. And some of us haven't (present company included). But coffee has a way of bringing people together. It's a way to connect with someone without forcing them to pay for lunch. I can't tell you how many times I've heard (and said) the phrase, "Want to grab coffee?" It's ubiquitous these days. In part, we can thank the hit TV show, Friends, for encouraging the "hangout" coffee culture we experience (and enjoy!).
Thomas Merton said,
“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another.”
I concur – and coffee is a fantastic facilitator of that destiny.
But Be Careful Though…
Even though I thoroughly enjoy the experience of coffee, I do wary of its addictive properties. For this reason, I attempt (lots of emphasis on attempt) to fast coffee for a week at a time every 3-4 months - just to keep me honest. I suggest you do the same. It helps remind me that I still have some control of my body and I do not have to succumb to its cravings. Will power only goes so far for so long, but I still like the challenge and counter-cultureness of abstaining from coffee camaraderie every quarter.
For the Folgers and Maxwell House drinkers, I admonish your simplicity. I wish I could settle for store-bought coffee, because the craft beans I purchase on an almost weekly basis is burning a hole in my pocket. But - OH! - I could not part with my daily dose of delight.
Oh coffee, my coffee.