Since this is only my second blog entry on this site, which is meant to concentrate on the subject of coffee and my experiences in connection with Destination Cafe, Mississauga's gourmet coffee shop, I thought it might be be a good idea to write about my own personal connection with coffee.My earliest recollections of drinking coffee date back to my childhood years when I was living in sunny L.A. on the west coast. I distinctly remember taking some instant coffee and turning it into a cold drink, complete with ice cubes and sugar. I found it both enjoyable and interesting from a taste point of view. This is the only time, oddly enough, when I can remember drinking coffee in this particular form, although of course I can't say the same about tea.
As I entered into my teenage years, the drinking of coffee became increasingly integral to my daily life, to the point where I became accustomed to visiting the local coffee shops and restaurants and partaking of the beverage on a regular basis. It was not long until I took to using these outings as an excuse to observe the people around me as they interacted with each other. Spending time in coffee shops and restaurants has always been for me a great way to observe the local goings-on unobtrusively.
Coffee (as well as smoking, which to me always seem to go together) have always been for me an important adjunct to any sort of serious work, whether it be doing some intense studying in school, or engaging in work. I have found that coffee aids me in my ability to focus and be productive. Coffee is for me the hallmark of most serious endeavors.
I cannot in all honesty claim to be a true expert on coffee in all its various manifestations, nor can I assert that I really know the difference between good coffee or bad. I just happen to like coffee as a drink: It tastes pleasant, helps me think better and gives me extra energy as well.
I don't believe that I am a coffee addict, however. I quite often will drink tea instead of coffee, especially first thing in the morning, when I am looking for something that has a little less impact on my system. I may however be dependent on caffeine in general, though not to the point where I can't function without it. I miss my sugar intake more than I do my daily dose of coffee or tea, for instance.
But if I were to say what it is about coffee that gives me the greatest pleasure, it is the opportunity to use coffee as a social tool, by which I mean having a cup of coffee and enjoying the chance to socialize. This has been (historically and culturally speaking) coffee's greatest impact on human society. With the advent of coffee in the Middle East and later Europe, coffee shops became a center of life in the community, where ideas both great and small have been discussed and debated by those frequenting them. This has been the case for centuries. People are not likely to attack one another if they are busy enjoying a cup of coffee at the same time.
I have read that there are machines coming on the market that may make the need for expert preparation of truly fine coffee a thing of the past. So it is now conceivable that we will one day be able to make truly fine coffee at home, without the need to visit coffee shops, whether good or bad. I doubt, however, that such technological developments will make going to your local coffee shop a thing of the past. People will always have need to go out and socialize, to observe for themselves what is going on outside their homes, or merely as a break from the tedious or routine aspects of daily living. At least I hope so. Sometimes the benefits of tradition must outweigh the merits of what is commonly called "progress."
