This wouldn’t be a Silent Stag blog if the first thing I post about isn’t coffee related. It’s weird—coffee never played a huge role in my life until now. It was only recently that I fell in love with coffee culture. And yes, I do love the culture surrounding coffee more than I love coffee itself. The margin isn’t large, however. I love how artisan it tends to be, especially when buying coffee—whether it be a cup or a bag of whole bean—at specialized, third wave shops & bars. Nothing beats the comforting feeling I get when entering my local coffee bar, ordering a pour over, a wush-wush in particular, and sitting down for an hour or two to handle my freelance work while listening to Julien Baker’s “Appointments” playing through the speakers.
All I can think is: THIS PLACE GETS ME !
Imagine living in a world where no one you encounter ever knows who City and Colour is. Or the joys of Keaton Henson’s soft, fragile voice intoning over a melodic tune strummed by six varied brass strings. It’s lonely! Totally and completely lonely . . . until you walk into a local shop to grab a coffee after a meeting with a creative director, and the first thing you hear is your favorite, apparently unpopular musician playing through the loud speakers.
Love at first sip. Or entry? Or hear, love at first hear?
I had an unhealthy relationship with caffeine when I was younger. It doesn’t help that I’ve also dealt with anxiety the majority of my life. But I didn’t know what anxiety was until I was sent to the ER for being extremely stressed and filled with caffeine, with little not no fresh water running through my system. I was 17; I was overworked. Justin Bieber’s movie was in theaters . . . That’s a story for another time.
I quit caffeine after that day. I wasn’t aware what caffeine was to be totally honest. I just really liked the taste of sodas. Little did I know, I was probably addicted to the stuff. Haven’t had a soda since then. It’s been almost nine long years. But now, NOW—I don’t drink coffee for the caffeine as much as I drink it for the culture. I have anywhere from one to three cups of coffee a week. Some weeks I have none. To me, coffee, the art of making it and learning about each type of bean, and roast, and way to brew, is all about the art and social aspects. Whether it be online or in person, coffee is a hobby that tons of people share. Yes, the majority of people abuse coffee for the pick-me-up/caffeine rather than the art or social facet of it—that is why Starbucks is such a huge company, selling tons of pre-ground beans at chain food stores as well as their own establishments—but there are plenty of people in your town right now who aim to make coffee culture a part of their lives. And it isn’t for the sake of caffeine, but for the thrill of the culture.
See, coffee tastes good, and the caffeine is great when needed, but the culture and artisan of coffee is absolutely beautiful.