Let’s do coffee: The many faces of our wonderful bean friend

Let’s do coffee: The many faces of our wonderful bean friend Have you overheard people discussing the times the usually drink coffee?

Ever surprised you that so many people out there drink coffee at night?

The drink we usually refer to as a stimulant plays an important role in many of our lives. Besides keeping us focused in the office, we found out that coffee is a friend as well! Picture this scend in your head as you ease into your coffee break…It’s a cold winter’s night. The kids are asleep.

The house is quiet and warm and you are just about to turn in yourself when a friend rings to say she’s coming over for coffee. You accept the offer openly, not really wanting to go to bed just yet. But coffee – did she say coffee?

Did she mean tea, or maybe wine?

No, she meant coffee. We have found, after years of collecting anecdotal evidence based around the coffee habits of interesting people, that coffee provides comfort. People love to ‘have coffee’ with someone. Let’s do coffee, let’s meet for coffee are the two most popular lines of communication throughout the world between friends, acquaintances and family. Non-coffee drinkers, and I am aware of at least a few, use this line when making arrangements with people. Coffee, as it were, provides not only comfort but security. When someone asks you to meet them for coffee there is often a depth to the meeting that travels far beyond the bottom of the coffee cup.

People meet for coffee when they want to confide, when they need advice, when they need a shoulder to cry on.

There is a reason why people don’t say’ let’s go out for tea’. Coffee, in colour, texture and flavour is warm, giving, soul-filling. When you think about it, the time of day people often need comforting is at night. During the day we are either too busy working or worrying about others to stop and think about our won needs. At the end of the day, when every chore that could be done has been done; when we finally have a moment to ourselves, we reach for comfort. And this often means a cup of coffee with a friend.

Yet it is the concept of and not the physical drink of coffee that people reach out for. Coffee can thus be a euphemism for many things, from a deep and meaningful conversation, to a private work meeting, to a catch up with a good friend. And coffee doesn’t have to be involved at all, besides being the initial arrangement trigger.

I have watched people meet for coffee and order anything from white wine to hot brandy and still end the meeting with ‘we should do coffee again!’ It is quite intriguing that even people who do not drink coffee, who advocate against it even, will happily admit that they regularly go ‘out of coffee’. Whatever tis attraction, it is clear to us that coffee provides so much more than a stimulating beverage. In coffee, people find familiarity, security and warmth that lasts a lot longer than the drink does. People use the familiar ground that coffee offers to start friendships, launch business deals and mend family friction.

And that’s why we love it!

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