View Full Version : Coffee Culture
ferretchucker
05-13-2014, 11:47 AM
Having moved to London some 8 months ago, I've been exposed to "coffee culture" for the first time in my life and quite frankly I just don't know what I make of it all. Won't lie, this thread's a bit of a strange one - just some excerpts from my daily ponderings, nothing profound.
Perhaps one of the first things that baffled me was the pricing - I know I'm in a Capital City, but £3 (what, roughly $5?) for a single drink seems baffling...I still pay it, and this is perhaps the strangest thing - how quickly we've all accepted this.
Onwards we move to cliché city - the writers. Those solitary figures who sit for sometimes hours at a time writing on their laptops and periodically ordering a drink. We've all heard the jokes and teasing aimed at these chaps. Whilst I now think it's a self perpetuating phenomenon (they go because it's well known that that's where they go), where did it start? What advantage does an overpriced busy public space have over ones own home for the creative process?
Then the oversaturation of the market. Starbucks may be the most famous, but quite frankly (in England at least), the streets are just as full of Prets, Costas, Lavazzas and Caffé Neros. Besides subtle differences in price and one or two menu differences, these places all seem pretty identical in both product and aesthetic. Whilst I understand that there are a lot of people to feed, but just...well, just how do all these competing shops stay afloat?
Again, these are nothing more than my idle walking-to-class ruminations but I need answer, goddammit!
neverending
05-13-2014, 12:18 PM
Well, they "stay afloat" (thrive, actually) by fulfilling a public demand. Simple economics. Over here we've gone well past the old joke of Starbucks right across the street from each other; now there are office buildings with 2 or 3 Starbucks. At the mall I used to work in when someone asked me where the Starbucks was, I had to ask, "Which one?" Hell, our LIBRARIES have Starbucks in them.
I speak as an outsider of this phenomena, myself. I never picked up the habit, but it's a basic component of modern working life- if you need stimulants to make it through the day, coffee is a satisfying, socially acceptable way to get them, as opposed to, say, snorting coke. I don't draw the parallel lightly- they're both dangerous, highly addictive drugs.
A coffee shop is also a convenient, socially acceptable place to meet and socialize without having to imbibe alcohol. They're also a lot easier to carry on a conversation in, as opposed to bars, which can often be noisy.
Aside from the high blood pressure, heart problems and other medical conditions over-consumption of coffee can cause, "coffee culture" seems relatively harmless.
totem
05-13-2014, 02:53 PM
Somewhere in England, in 1653, the first coffee klatsch opens. Until then, the water being too nasty to drink, alcohol was the dominant form of liquid consumption. Liquor, as you know, is a depressant.
With this new establishment serving coffee, a stimulant, you now have a setting where alert people are sitting, talking, & exchanging information. Within 50 years, you have The Enlightenment.
Coffee FTW! ::smile::
MichaelMyers
05-13-2014, 03:25 PM
Love coffee, hate the coffee shop.
hammerfan
05-14-2014, 03:52 AM
I've never been a big coffee drinker, at most 3 cups a day. Usually just 2. After being diagnosed with high blood pressure last year, my doctor has cut me down to 1 cup of regular a day. I can have as much decaf as I want. It wasn't a struggle for me. I have friends who drink coffee all day long. I couldn't do that. I would end up with a headache, stomachache, and the jitters. As for the coffee shops, I make my own at home and put it in a travel mug. Unless I'm at the mall and feel the needs for a cup, I'll stop at Dunkin Donuts.
Despare
05-14-2014, 06:02 AM
If I go out to the book store or want something to drink while out at Target or the mall I'll always hit up Starbucks. I don't mind paying extra for the convenience of being able to get a peppermint mocha with an extra shot to sip on while out and about.
ChronoGrl
05-14-2014, 06:58 AM
if you need stimulants to make it through the day, coffee is a satisfying, socially acceptable way to get them, as opposed to, say, snorting coke. I don't draw the parallel lightly- they're both dangerous, highly addictive drugs.
That's an interesting and apt parallel to make, I think. People joke about caffeine addiction but it's true; I get headaches and feel slightly sick if I don't have my big cup of coffee in the morning. In fact I'm drinking iced coffee that I brewed at home right now...
I don't typically drink coffee throughout the day (maybe a diet soda or green tea in the afternoon if I need a pick-me-up); if I have too much I get anxious, sick, and jittery.
As for the culture around going to a coffee shop and paying the $5+ for a cup of coffee, I don't necessarily participate in that (unless I want a fancy frozen coffee beverage that I can't brew at home)... But my lack of participation is more about me saving money and personal preference - I love Peet's coffee but there aren't any stores near me so I buy it and brew it at home.
What I do like about coffee shops are that they're a convenient place for a meetup/stopover... Have a few minutes before dinner? Grab a coffee - Have a few minutes after dinner? Grab a coffee - It's easy and comforting to dip into especially during the winter.
Sculpt
05-14-2014, 08:08 PM
Having moved to London some 8 months ago, I've been exposed to "coffee culture" for the first time in my life and quite frankly I just don't know what I make of it all. Won't lie, this thread's a bit of a strange one - just some excerpts from my daily ponderings, nothing profound.
Perhaps one of the first things that baffled me was the pricing - I know I'm in a Capital City, but £3 (what, roughly $5?) for a single drink seems baffling...I still pay it, and this is perhaps the strangest thing - how quickly we've all accepted this.
Onwards we move to cliché city - the writers. Those solitary figures who sit for sometimes hours at a time writing on their laptops and periodically ordering a drink. We've all heard the jokes and teasing aimed at these chaps. Whilst I now think it's a self perpetuating phenomenon (they go because it's well known that that's where they go), where did it start? What advantage does an overpriced busy public space have over ones own home for the creative process?
Then the oversaturation of the market. Starbucks may be the most famous, but quite frankly (in England at least), the streets are just as full of Prets, Costas, Lavazzas and Caffé Neros. Besides subtle differences in price and one or two menu differences, these places all seem pretty identical in both product and aesthetic. Whilst I understand that there are a lot of people to feed, but just...well, just how do all these competing shops stay afloat?
Again, these are nothing more than my idle walking-to-class ruminations but I need answer, goddammit!
To answer your questions, and not that I have expertise in all of them...
Paying that price for coffee I also find bizarre. But like a bar, it's about the environment more than the product. It's a place for people to meet and talk - there's no booming music, it's cheaper than a buying food at a restaurant, and nobody has to clean their house for multiple guests.
I don't frequent them by choice. But if I'm meeting there, I like getting a tasty mint chocolate latte. I certainly don't have those at home, although I could make an inferior one for 1/10th the price, but it's not that important to me.
Yes, I'd never want the distractions of writing in a Starbucks over writing at home. But I suppose some folks have worse distractions at home (kids, etc). And some find inspiration with a change of environment, and seeing and listening to conversations. I can't imagine any writer goes to a coffee shop to sit alone as some sort of status symbol or customary requirement.
They stay afloat by making a profit on high priced coffee.
Despare
05-14-2014, 08:13 PM
http://weworshipcoffee.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/pros-and-cons-of-coffee-consumption-infographic-jason-tham.jpg
Sculpt
05-14-2014, 08:34 PM
Well, they "stay afloat" (thrive, actually) by fulfilling a public demand. Simple economics. Over here we've gone well past the old joke of Starbucks right across the street from each other; now there are office buildings with 2 or 3 Starbucks. At the mall I used to work in when someone asked me where the Starbucks was, I had to ask, "Which one?" Hell, our LIBRARIES have Starbucks in them.
I speak as an outsider of this phenomena, myself. I never picked up the habit, but it's a basic component of modern working life- if you need stimulants to make it through the day, coffee is a satisfying, socially acceptable way to get them, as opposed to, say, snorting coke. I don't draw the parallel lightly- they're both dangerous, highly addictive drugs.
A coffee shop is also a convenient, socially acceptable place to meet and socialize without having to imbibe alcohol. They're also a lot easier to carry on a conversation in, as opposed to bars, which can often be noisy.
Aside from the high blood pressure, heart problems and other medical conditions over-consumption of coffee can cause, "coffee culture" seems relatively harmless.
Thanks for referencing the negative health effects of coffee. As an avid NPR listener, through the years I had never heard any research that found conclusive negative health effects. I'm beginning to think that's not the case, and we should also be looking at short term effects as opposed to narrow long term effects.
I found this article online just googling. I'm not vouch for any medical conclusions of this article, but it's makes an important case:
7 Negative Effects of Coffee
http://www.healthambition.com/negative-effects-of-coffee/
totem
05-15-2014, 05:16 AM
I think it's understood that too much of anything is bad (I mean drinking too much water will lead to hyponatremia).
Caffeine is a stimulant & stimulants come with effects that need to be acknowledged. But if there was something truly bad to drinking coffee, say the way smoking cigarettes is truly bad, we would have heard about it long before now.
Mark Twain said: "Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint."
neverending
05-15-2014, 07:19 AM
We have heard of it before. There may not be a ton of studies online to point to, but I've had a number of friends who've been told by doctors to cut down or completely quit drinking coffee for a number of reasons. Coffee is big business. Money tends to silence dissenting opinions.
totem
05-15-2014, 07:57 AM
If an article is bad for a segment of a population and not the whole population, then the problem resides in the segment and not the article. That's my only point: since coffee is bad for some but not all, coffee is not the problem.
Now a universal detriment such as tar in lungs. No matter what your physiology is: cigarettes are guaranteed to impair it. There is no chart which shows the "pro's" of smoking weighed against the "con's".
Money was a big factor for cigarette companies but the truth eventually surfaced. Coffee has been around far longer. As I've already said, the first English Coffee shop opened in 1653.
So, I maintain we would have heard about it by now if something were truly bad about coffee.
[As a side note I mean to say coffee today is basically the same as coffee from hundreds of years ago. Whereas, smoking from centuries past is much different than what it's become over the past, say, hundred years.
Didn't want to imply coffee had been around longer than smoking tobacco.]
sfear
05-15-2014, 09:34 PM
I've been taking my book out for coffee for over forty years. Of course back then it was mostly the local drive-in and Denny's as the comfy chair coffee shop hadn't come to town yet. I'd sit for about an hour or an hour and a half and while I did see people read the newspaper fairly often and browse a magazine once in a while rarely did anyone sit with an actual book in their hands, at least while I was there. The first Starbucks in town didn't have cushy chairs but when I walked into a Seattle Starbucks for the first time I was afraid to sit figuring they were off limits like plinking a piano in a public place usually is. I've since adjusted.
The Bloofer Lady
05-16-2014, 03:10 AM
I love the smell of freshly brewed coffee and in Canada we have (besides Starbucks) Tim Hortons and their coffee is to die for. When I gave up smoking 25 years ago, I lost the tolerance for coffee and get a " car sick" feeling when I drink it. Just a tea girl now. ::sad::
hammerfan
05-16-2014, 03:57 AM
I love the smell of freshly brewed coffee and in Canada we have (besides Starbucks) Tim Hortons and their coffee is to die for. When I gave up smoking 25 years ago, I lost the tolerance for coffee and get a " car sick" feeling when I drink it. Just a tea girl now. ::sad::
It seems like tea is developing a "culture", too. Do you have Teavana in Canada? I like their teas.
cheebacheeba
05-16-2014, 05:47 AM
I don't consider it a problem, but then I'm not a coffee freak that has to be forever drinking one.
Apparently here in Australia we're considered too snobby about coffee for starbucks, they came and tried to saturate the market with their "coffee" (which IMO was piss poor, though their cold drink creations were sometimes interesting) and their stores, and well, they've all but left now, even acknowledging that they didn't meet our discerning tastes ::big grin::
As for those that go out for coffee and/or sit with their work in coffee shops and cafes, yeah I don't really understand it myself - noise is all that would be, to me.
I'd much prefer to grab mine in a takeaway and just walk with it or go sit someplace on my own.
I actually prefer coffee at home, be it from a drip pot, or some of the excellent cold drip my friend makes from beans he sources, roasts, and blends himself...having coffee like that, really puts other coffee in perspective, and yes, the markup is astronomical when you buy it out.
I don't know if I had much of a point here, but yeah there it is. Hi.
Oh, and sometimes I'll shoot an espresso before gym in the belief it'll facilitate cardio. Probably a bad thing.
totem
05-16-2014, 06:22 AM
starbucks... which IMO was piss poor
Pretty much.
As for those that go out for coffee and/or sit with their work in coffee shops and cafes, yeah I don't really understand it myself - noise is all that would be, to me.
Beautifully stated.
I actually prefer coffee at home
We are kindred spirits. ::cool::
...yes, the markup is astronomical when you buy it out.
I've often felt Starbucks should change their name to Sixbucks. ::big grin::
Once at Target & dying of thirst, I went to their Starbucks. For the money I shelled out, I expected gourmet but got nothing better than gas station coffee - except I paid about six times as much for the same ounces of coffee.
I live in a college town & I have yet to visit a B&N and not see darkly clothed "authors" in the coffee shop talking about their work & never typing it out.
Their laptops are always positioned so everyone can see they're working on something but the font is always too small to read what's actually written there.
The Bloofer Lady
05-16-2014, 09:20 AM
It seems like tea is developing a "culture", too. Do you have Teavana in Canada? I like their teas.
We do have them here, Hammer, but I don't often get to go to the malls. Its funny, when I used to smoke and drink coffee (seems they went hand in hand), tea tasted like dirty dish water to me! Now its all I can tolerate, but I've grown to love my cuppa'.
hammerfan
05-16-2014, 09:36 AM
We do have them here, Hammer, but I don't often get to go to the malls. Its funny, when I used to smoke and drink coffee (seems they went hand in hand), tea tasted like dirty dish water to me! Now its all I can tolerate, but I've grown to love my cuppa'.
It DID seem like they went hand-in-hand!! I don't get to the mall very often, either. That's why my Teavana teas usually last a while. LOL I was there last night to get a birthday gift for someone, and got a free ounce of tea. Haven't tried it yet, probably will on Sunday.
ferretchucker
05-16-2014, 04:07 PM
Speaking of tea, what do people think of Bubble Tea? I cannot stand the stuff! I'm not much of a tea drinker anyway, but really the sheer volume of fruity flavours available now mean I've been able to find a few ones I enjoy. I just don't understand the purpose of the vile, gloopy, snot-like tapioca balls which either shoot to the back of ones throat like bullets or sit in the mouth, flavourless, waiting to be chewed. I think that's really what does it for me - the lack of flavour. As far as I can tell it serves no purpose other than to take more time consuming an otherwise pleasant drink.
ChronoGrl
05-20-2014, 05:47 PM
Heehee - I actually like bubble tea... It's milky and bizarre and reminds me of my year in China... Oddly refreshing and comforting.
cheebacheeba
05-21-2014, 04:41 AM
I make the kombucha tea now.
Timely process.