The Coffee Effect

Happy New Year Everyone! What was your new years resolution? I decided I would deal with my caffeine dependance. Now, I didnt want to give up coffee altogether, I just wanted to get rid of the three times a day, give-me-one-or-I-turn-into-the-grinch, blind rage inducing caffeine need! And I did really well, for the first 36 hours. Then the headache kicked in.

So here's the fact I am coming to terms with: My Name is Clare H. And I am an addict. The pull of a good coffee is a force of gravity all of its own! I swear it! But its more than a drink. Its a cultural phenomenon!

I spent three years living in Melbourne, returned home to the beautiful rural township of Sale and purchased a cafe with my childhood friend and business partner, Joanne.(She makes the most amazing coffee in town, and yet she doesnt drink the stuff. How does that happen huh?) And what I have observed since falling into the caffeine addiction category in my final year of Uni is a thing I like to call "The Coffee Effect."

The Nescafe advertisements in the late 1990's first advertised that 'it gets you together.' It showed people sitting in silence until their brew was poured then conversation started to flow a lot easier. They say alcohol is the great social lubricant. I beg to differ. I think its coffee. I stumble into my cafe every morning and Joanne makes me my "Personality Transplant." Its a double shot skinny latte with a half shot of caramel syrup. I consume it, my IQ jumps by about 30 points. I arrived at the cafe as a badly coordinated grinch. I leave as a fine upstanding, intelligent and genuinely nice member of society.

And I am not the only one! Several customers come in wearing their "I dont want this day to start" face and leave with a smile. Parents come in with their quiet teenager and a moccachino later, they are talking again. The elderly come in for their chat with Jo and their tea/coffee and scones and leave with a smile. Friends catch up. Girl friends gab about life, love and boy trouble. Couples take time out from life, all over a brew. It really does get you together. Thats what we love about running a cafe!

So maybe I have been roped in by the Coffee Effect but I dont think I will be quitting caffeine this year. But I have also decided that really isnt such a bad thing! Happy New Year Everyone!