What is Connection and Conversation Without Coffee?

Most of us know the important role coffee can play in connection. When the goal is to bring people together, coffee can be a great catalyst. 

Are you ever at a family get-together, then coffee is served and you can feel the mood of the occasion change for the better? The person responsible for supplying or serving the coffee is almost looked on as a saviour!

One of our coffee blends that we recommend for family occasions is Crema Ultimo. Drinking coffee together can really enhance a social gathering. The smell and flavour can be so alluring that it’s common to get “decaf” requests so people can still be in on the experience without the caffeine hit. 

This reminds me of an old story that went down on Ethiopian lands, hundreds of years ago. Apparently, there was once a shepherd, who went by the name of Kaldi. He was showing the coffee in its berry form to a religious elder. Unimpressed, the elder spat the cherry into an open fire. It started roasting, and the two men decided that they loved the smell, and then realised they were onto something. Because there is no official record of Kaldi, it is most likely a myth (penned by writer, Antoine Faustus) but it’s still a fun and interesting visual -- the scene does sound like it belongs in a Pixar film…

Imagine that first moment in history where a human had the idea to stop consuming the coffee plant as a raw berry, and see what happens if it were cooked instead…

If you’re out walking in your neighbourhood and you can smell coffee coming from someone’s home, doesn’t it make you smile? Depending on how active your imagination is, you could begin to picture a family gathered around their kitchen table, or a retired couple taking a ritualised coffee break. 

What is connection and conversation without coffee? When I’ve hosted my kids’ birthday parties in a park and I ask the parents if they’d like me to do a coffee run, the way their eyes light up is priceless!

Does that explain why, historically, traders were given a 5-gun salute when they were coming into Yemen’s port city of Mokha for the coffee exchange? (As it turned out, Yemen wasn’t just the place that Chandler - from the TV show, Friends - said he was indefinitely moving to escape from oh-MY-god Janis.) It is also the city where coffee was cultivated and developed for consumption as we know today.

Okay, so a 5-gun salute might be a slightly overkill welcome for a family lunch or a kid’s party, but it does go to show that the person in charge of coffee is very much appreciated indeed…