Sunday 20 October 2019

Coffee

There was a time when I drank six or more cups of cheap instant coffee every day. I'm ashamed to say I drank so much of the stuff but I'm less ashamed to say it was cheap, sawdusty instant. My palate was undeveloped and undemanding, I was probably much the same. The world was a different place. We wonder why our kids are entitled but have we looked at the way we drink coffee?

This week my daughter attended a first aid course. One of the attendees returned from the lunch break 20 minutes late, take away coffee in one hand and phone in the other. She wasn't learning much and she didn't even notice when the instructor sarcastically reprimanded her. She was wasting her own time, wasting her money on the course, disrespecting the class and making a mockery of the whole idea of first aid. These people always existed, of course, but the addiction to coffee which many of us have in common seems to mean we are more forgiving, knowing that we might do the same.

At work we have an espresso machine. It is a hungry beast and I admit I am often found wanting in it's upkeep. The coffee grounds spill within the machine, I forget to descale it, the coffee is sometimes barely lukewarm and on rare occasions the milk in the attached milk fridge goes off. Even with both of our foibles, the machine makes an ok-ish coffee: warm, coffee tasting, caffeinated and not ever bitter.  In case anyone isn't happy with the espresso machine I also stock instant coffee, tea bags & leaf tea as well as a range of herbal teas. The choice (and frankly the quality) in the offering is better than I have seen ever before but when we had a class in a couple of weeks back, the class co-ordinator made a "coffee run" to the local shops, bringing back a raft of take away coffees individualised for each student.

In a country where we do little manufacturing, preferring to buy cheap slave made goods from China, Bangladesh or some other place where the people look different, we refuse to pay extra for Australian made goods but we can spend $5 or even $10 a day on coffee. Imagine how many industries, artists or charities could be supported with that kind of budget. (Well, I guess we'd leave a lot of baristas out of work but  they are probably all struggling artists anyway)

My biggest problem with coffee comes when at I look at it's use in the church context. When I see people who can't afford to financially support their church drinking expensive coffee, when I see people arrive late to services because they have been buying coffee, when I see the old ladies of the congregation cheerfully provide hospitality in the form of free coffee which is rejected because it's not fresh, single origin, packed in a cardboard cup, barista made joe. I wonder how much time we spend chasing the perfect coffee, time which could be spent in prayer or reflection or offering hands on help. If our priorities are shown in the way we spend money and time, we are worshipping in the cathedral of coffee but not building anything of beauty.

Secular society, of course, has no particular theology or ideology which is at odds with coffee drinking, whatever extreme it might take, so I can't criticise there but I do sometimes think we are drinking coffee, talking about coffee, driving to get coffee, making memes about coffee and spending money on coffee while ignoring the crises which surround us.

Bring back the tea pot, the urn, the dusty instant or even the plunger. Let's subvert coffee worship and find something else to do












27 comments:

  1. Quite a rant there Kylie. I like my own coffee and actually prefer it to those offered by Starbucks et al. I even make my own cappucinos and espressos. As to donating to churches, I stopped that a long time ago when I saw the horrors and aftermath of the predators. Many donate quietly and anonymously to charities and even strangers on the street. I can't see the coffee connection there.

    Anyway, rant on my friend. It does us a power of good.

    XO
    WWW

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    1. I can rant with the best! I think in the long run I just get frustrated with people who seem not to think.

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  2. I think maybe the cult of perfect coffee has gone a bit too far. From the extreme of instant mediocre coffee we were all used to way back when, we've now gone to the opposite extreme of cultish pursuit of the freshest, tastiest, healthiest, climate-friendliest coffee we can find. Personally I like a good latté but I'm not going to sweat over the latest coffee fad whatever it is. At home I have coffee from a cafetiere and that's good enough for me. Still, it all provides plenty of work for countless baristas, as you say.

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    1. I like coffee but I hope I have it in perspective.

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  3. Perhaps (and only perhaps) people are focussing on the 'perfect coffee' because they feel it is something that they CAN control, and that it is in their power?
    Or perhaps that is just me. I get overwhelmed often by the problems/injustices that I cannot change.

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    1. The overwhelm is constant and unbearable, I agree. You have humbled me with your very kind perspective

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  4. I once came home for Christmas holidays with the idea of quitting coffee. I quit. No problem but it was the worst Christmas I ever had. What an addiction!

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    1. Yep, I'm still drinking it. Do you drink coffee now, Red?

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  5. I don't like coffee much, I never have. I have about two cups of coffee a year out of politeness, and I've never been inside a Starbucks. So the coffee revolution has gone completely over my head.
    I've always found it strange that people buy takeaway coffee.... oh - tell a lie, I do like cold coffee! I went through a short phase of buying that from the supermarket. And coffee with alcohol is always nice.
    Sx

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    1. Cold coffee on a hot day can't be beat!

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  6. If the whole world became Mormon (Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), the problem would disappear. Mormons don't drink alcohol, coffee, or tea because they are STIMULANTS!!! They have hot chocolate breaks. I kid you not.

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    1. Maybe I should become a Mormon and coffee culture would pass me by....

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  7. I am a tea nut and could never really take to coffee. Both are grown in India and so that takes care of the kind of approach that you have taken about local vs imported stuff!

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  8. Thought-provoking. I have also witnessed the growth of The Coffee Cult with its different branches - Starbucks and Cafe Nero for example and widespread in Britain - Costa Coffee. They have become like churches for the worship of coffee. I just don't get it.

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    1. You got what I was saying, which I appreciate

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  9. Well, there's one in the eye for all those people who bow down and worship before the altar of The Great God Coffee.
    When I was still working I was on the coffee machine cleaning roster. The machine only stayed a few months as people were reluctant to pay the subsidised one dollar per cup. Cheapskates.
    Currently there is no coffee drinking here at the Trash Palace. Whatever tea (bags) are on special at the supermarket is good enough.
    However when I go out to shop shortly, there will be a stop at a cafe for a coffee.
    Alphie

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    1. Tea at home and coffee out is a sensible plan!

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  10. As someone who can no longer tolerate anything with caffeine in it, I agree wholeheartedly. But that's easy to say when I'm no longer drinking it :D

    I do find it amazing how much money, time, and gas I see people around me spending to get their coffee fix. People idle in the drive-thrus in this little town, emitting carbon quite merrily. When the power was out for less than 24 hours from Hurricane Dorian, the first coffee shops to open up had hundreds of customers lined up. Crazy! Closer to home, my husband, who drinks one pot of coffee (about 4 cups) first thing every morning, was not in good shape either. He finally fired up the BBQ (at my suggestion) and boiled a pan of water to pour through the grounds. It created instant sunny weather inside the house :D

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    1. Four cups every morning! He can drink me under the table!

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  11. When I was working I used the walk down to the coffee shop as an excuse to get up and away from my desk. Silly really I suppose, especially when you see the prices. Now I'm retired it's 2 cups of tea (in a teapot no less, with tea cosy) and one cup of coffee. It's weird because when I go home to England I drink tea all day and it has no effect on me. Here if I drink any more than one cup of coffee or 2 teas a day I'll be up all night! I could probably live without both though if the truth be told!

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    1. Tea cosies are such a lovely tradition!

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  12. I have never drunk coffee. I will drink iced tea at home, but never buy tea when out at dinner. I do not use sugar or sweetener of any kind.

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    1. I like my cold drinks sweetened but hot can be plain. We are funny creatures, aren't we?

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  13. It's a while since you appear to have visited the blog but I'll comment in the hope that you'll return soon.

    Like others I can't see a link between coffee and religion per se in that the points about the amount we spend on any pleasure/addiction is often to the detriment of spending on more worthwhile or necessary things.

    I drink straight black medium strength coffee with no sugar. I drink it long like an Americano. Simple. At home I make it with a capsule machine (so that others can have espresso or ristretto). I have an Italian espresso maker for the hob (which, on writing this, I realise will not work on my new induction hob so that can go to the charity/op shop) and various cafetieres for ground coffee. However most of the time at home I drink Azera instant barista style coffee with grounds.

    For me the whole point about coffee when I'm out is social and the café where I go frequently in the morning is a meeting place for friends.

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    1. Hi Graham, I'm not commenting much anywhere right now but I will be back!
      I drink coffee socially, too. It's a nice easy catch up

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  14. Oof. A few years back I was on more than one occasion the person who walked into class late while holding a giant iced confection from Dunkin' Donuts. And I do remain a terrible offender when it comes to coffee devotion, if no longer, thankfully, to coffee-related lateness.

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