My Coffee Ritual

One only has to mention the topic of coffee to get the full gamut of responses from coffee is an addictive drug that saps your energy to coffee is the elixir of life.

Whether coffee is beneficial or detrimental to our health is not what I want to talk about today. Obviously, I believe in its benefits, but suffice to say that like most products and foods, there is good coffee and bad. Choose organic, sustainably grown, locally roasted, fresh coffee beans if possible. Also, remember that like many other things in life, and particularly in the case of coffee, you can most definitely have too much of a good thing.

What I wanted to focus on today is the wonderful ritual of coffee making. Like the elaborate tea ceremonies of Japan, my morning coffee involves certain steps that enhance the coffee-drinking experience.

I am blessed to have a beautiful Breville Barista Express machine. It has a grinder, which means that every cup of coffee is freshly ground and bursting with flavour and aroma. Once the machine is turned on, 85 ml of milk is poured into a jug (I use Bonsoy organic, non GMO soy, no oils). My next step is to warm one of my favourite mugs with hot water, heat and froth the milk with the steam wand by holding the jug at an angle, insert the portafilter in the grinding cradle, grind, tamp down the mound of ground fragrant deliciousness, place it in the group head, empty the now warmed cup, put it on the drip tray, press the button and watch the black gold stream into it, creating its delectable crema. Finally, I add the frothed milk and sometimes sprinkle a little cacao or cinnamon on it.

To the uninitiated this may seem complex, to me the 2-3 minutes that this ritual takes in the morning are moments of sheer delight and anticipation. Every action is deliberate, each done with attention to detail, from frothing and heating the milk to the perfect temperature, to the tamping of the ground coffee and emptying of the basket. They are all steps leading up to that first burst of perfectly balanced bittersweet sensation on my tongue. I have never had the same degree of satisfaction from a bought coffee, because in those moments of mindfulness and dedication to the task, my imagination has had time to create the taste sensation in my mind.

This is the beauty of ritual. Do you have one? I would love to hear from you if you do.