A Love for Coffee: How One Beverage Socializes Us Worldwide
Who could have ever guessed that one of the next big things in gourmet movements could be coffee for such a long time? It used to be that coffee was just part of a meal, but now knowing about it is an important part of most foodie repertoires. But more important than if you know some Jamaican Blue from some Java beans, coffee is a beverage for socializing, and a love for coffee helps make it easier to meet people worldwide.
No one can quite pinpoint the latest coffee boom, only comment on the far-flung places in the rural United States where it’s now possible to get an organic cup of coffee (thanks, Newman’s Organic and McDonalds). A large number of university cafeterias across the country fought for their right to fair-trade coffee back in the 1990s, so you’d think that this coffee trend, especially with foodies, would be a little over by now.
But for a little bit of history on coffee: not every country is capable of growing the beans, because they require weather conditions that are pretty precise. The most popular place that exports coffee is actually Columbia. And most important of all, espresso is not a variety of bean! This is the biggest beginner mistake that people seem to make. Espresso is just finely-packed coffee that is ground very, very small, making it more potent. The machines were only developed in northern Italy about a hundred years ago, so it doesn’t even go back in history that far. It’s just so great and potent that it took the coffee world by storm.
There’s a lot to be said about developing a love for coffee at a younger age. Instead of just getting hopped up on caffeine and sugar, it’s nice to practice drinking such a distinguished beverage. Because really, that’s what coffee ultimately is: a more appropriate social drink that you can’t get drunk on.
So learning to love coffee requires not just a learning of the back story, but also an understanding of what to order. Let’s say you aren’t particularly interested in drinking something with milk in it. Wherever you are in the world, avoid the phrase “con leche” or anything with an “appucino” ending, because that means that milk or cream is involved in making foam, or rather, milk is simply added to the coffee. For versions that you don’t have to drink with milk, the best bets are simply black coffee, or a double-shot of espresso.
Don’t feel bad if you want a drink with more taste than simply “caffeine is pumping through my veins.” A love for coffee doesn’t have to mean running around wound up all day. Go for the beverage with a bunch of milk and cream, add sugar, sip slowly (which should be easy, since an afternoon coffee in France could take hours), and don’t worry about looking uncultured. You’re doing just fine.
Want to make sure you don’t make any mistakes when you’re out drinking coffee in public? Just order a simple beverage, and pay attention to what everyone else is getting. If they get elaborate foamy drinks that take a while to drink, and you’re stuck holding a shot of espresso that’s not designed to be sipped, then you’re going to throw the balance off. Order a big drink when other people are ordering big drinks, and a small drink when people are ordering small drinks, and if in doubt, just add as much sugar as you want.
Don’t forget: the main purpose of drinking any sort of beverage with a group of friends is to socialize. You don’t need to be an expert on coffee, or even have a serious love for coffee, to go out and use the excuse of an afternoon cup to make a great friend or get to know a new place better. Just do it.
If Damian Papworth hosts a major party he pulls out the 12 cup coffee maker. For typical mornings though one cup coffee makers are fine
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