…besides the fact that it tastes really good!
Meditate: even the busiest of specialty coffee lovers have one or two moments a day when they simply stop and let go. That’s basically meditation. And no, it doesn’t necessarily mean they do yoga. The simple act of preparing a cup of coffee in the morning is a kind of silent ritual, when only you and your morning beverage exist in the world. The water is heating up, washing the filter, the first drops of this precious liquid falling into your cup, you breathe deeply, thinking of nothing, just the moment, letting the moment unfold… Congratulations, I don’t know if you noticed, but you just finished your meditation and are ready to start the new day 🙂
Explore – Drinking specialty coffee means constantly exploring. Exploring the coffee itself, different origins, new varieties, new processes, new regions. Have you tried the Mundo Novo variety? Have you ever had coffee from Guatemala? What kind of coffee from Brazil do you prefer? Do you remember the time when it was “just coffee,” just a habitual dose of caffeine straight into your veins?
Love – I won’t lie if I say that when we go to a restaurant, we expect a chef to love their work, and when we buy clothes, we expect the designer to love what they are doing. Specialty coffee, in many ways, is a labor of love. At every level, the people in the coffee business love what they are doing. Isn’t that a perfect reason to drink it?
Get Closer to the Product – It’s now common to find the producer’s name on a specialty coffee bag. How powerful is that?! Once again, coffee that was completely devoid of personality is now a product with the name of the person responsible for growing it. I think this is a great step towards appreciating the effort of the people around us in general and understanding that things don’t just appear out of nowhere; certain people produce them for us. We are all interconnected. It would have a great impact to know the names of the people who produced the food we have in our refrigerator, wouldn’t it? We can start with coffee.
Consume Locally – Specialty coffee is best enjoyed freshly roasted, no more than 4 weeks after the roast date. This is why many people prefer to find local coffee roasters and buy directly from them, ensuring that the coffee they drink will be fresh, even knowing the roast date. This is not really the case with commercial coffee bought at the supermarket. By buying locally roasted specialty coffee, we support small (or not so small) businesses and contribute to the fact that people in our community are living a better life.
Appreciate the Details – Anyone who has tried to make a “simple” espresso from scratch knows how difficult it is. I’m serious. Evaluating the coffee’s potential, “building” the desired espresso in your mind, choosing the ratio, adjusting the grinder, tasting the result, measuring TDS, adjusting the espresso to the desired extraction yield. All these steps just to make a small “simple” espresso. Anyone who starts drinking specialty coffee immediately understands that beauty is in the details, and all the details matter. And not just in coffee, but in life in general. Starting with your cup of coffee, you end up appreciating more and more every aspect of life that requires effort.
Community – Specialty coffee has one of the most dedicated communities around it. As you begin your journey, you’ll find more and more people involved in the coffee world (or discover that some of your friends have been doing it for a while), share your preferences, your discoveries, and expand your perception. New friends, new acquaintances, new people, all revolving around one simple thing called “coffee.” And you thought it was just a drink, right?
Improve in Tasting – in tasting everything. This is simple. When we start paying attention to the coffee we’re drinking, we want to pay attention to more things we’re eating. You’ll want to try different beers, different cheeses, think about experimenting with new wines. You’ll discover that whisky can be different, bread can be made from different types of flour, and with different fermentation levels required. You’ll try sourdough. Craft beer. Natural wine. You’ll expand your palate. And in this way, you’ll end up eating more consciously, paying attention to the taste of products even more than before. You’ll be able to savor nuances you never thought existed.
Find Harmony – Drinking specialty coffee brings peace and harmony to your life. Making coffee in the morning is like meditation; it brings you closer to the local producer and roaster, gives you an idea of what it takes to grow a product like coffee, and how much love goes into a coffee bean after all the work done to get it to your table… Coffee turns out to be much more than we ever imagined. And yes, it tastes amazing! https://www.sanagustin.com/9-razones-para-tomar-cafe-de-especialidad/