Unlike most other non-alcoholic drinks, coffee is given the honor of having establishments dedicated to offering it in a lot of different forms and really building an entire cultural system around the drinking of it. And that’s it. Maybe it’s not the actual drinking of the coffee itself that makes the coffee shop experience what it is. Coffee is just a tool used by people to have an excuse to get together and share ideas and creativity.
Not everyone goes to coffee shops for creativity, but that’s why a lot of different types of establishments dedicated to coffee survive independently. From the pure campus coffeeshop to the ultra modern Barista Run Starbucks in Midtown Manhattan, there are a lot of different options all centered around coffee.
Being a legal stimulant could have something to do with its appeal. It’s a small stimulant, but one that you can feel having an affect on your body, especially when you drink a lot of it or do multiple shots of espresso in a row. (Not recommended! I have a friend who is still awake after three days. We’re starting to get worried. Just kidding.)
That little joke there is part of what I’m trying to get across about the coffee shop culture, though. There’s an unwritten (and perhaps unfunny) joke around the idea of people gathering to drink cups of roasted beans to get a slight buzz and talk to each other or sit back and relax after a long day.
From artists struggling to get by in the modern world lounging around all day, to the bank manager stopping in every morning and evening for a cup to go, a lot of different type of people come in and out of coffee shops all the time. This is part of their appeal.
Some people just don’t get it. Some people don’t understand the culture around coffee that’s built up over the centuries. They’re the people that don’t understand a lot of other things too, though. That is, them not getting it might not be a problem.
In fact, it could be looked on as a good thing, enabling the people who do appreciate the coffee culture to bask in it without being pestered by tourists trying to latch onto the latest craze. So forget everything you’ve just read. You do NOT want to become part of the coffee culture and hang out at your local coffee shop. Trust me. It’s a bad idea. You’re getting sleeeeepy…
Ok, maybe it’s too late and that won’t work. Promise me this, though, that when you go out there and immerse yourself in the hip coffee culture, don’t lose yourself or try to become something you’re not. That’s part of the culture around coffee – people being who they are like coffee beans are just like they are. You know?
Have a nice hot cup of coffee and savor it before you answer that question.