This is a gratitude post for coffee — yes the beverage. Hot or cold, with milk or without, with cream or chocolate or caramel or nuts, or even with a splash of whiskey or rum — whichever way you like it.
This one’s for the brew.
If you’re a regular here, you’re probably wondering: What’s a loyal tea-lover doing, writing a thank-you post for coffee?
Fair question.
And I do have reasons. Let me explain.
First and foremost — the fragrance. That rich earthy aroma that fills the room even before the first sip is poured. It smells like comfort and long conversations and hearty laughter (even if one isn’t a coffee drinker). For that, dear coffee, thank you.
Second, the cafes. Coffee has always been the drink of conversation. Remember the famous coffee houses of yore? Those smoky, crowded, affordable havens for intellectuals and artists? Well, now we have cafes – one every few yards welcoming everyone, philosopher or not.
Like my good friend Harshita once wrote on Instagram — I may not be a coffee person, but I most certainly am a café person. I love the ‘vibe’, to borrow a Gen Z term. I love sitting there with a friend, with my laptop, or with a book, watching life unfold around me in that gentle café hum. There’s such joy in people-watching, a sense of relaxed ease. So thank you, coffee, for ushering in café culture.
And finally, what coffee did for tea. Sometimes even the best of us need that little bit of competition to push us out of our comfort zones, to explore new possibilities, to reinvent ourselves, to become more visible.
Sometimes it just isn’t enough to sit back waiting to be discovered and loved, no matter how wonderful you are.
Left alone, tea might have remained content in its dhabas and tapris. Thanks to coffee, it gave itself a makeover.
I might not care for the matchas and the turmeric lattes but I do appreciate the comfortable sofas, the gentle clink of teacups and the hum of conversation that makes my adrak chai that much sweeter.
When I step into Chaayos and I see a customised order with my name on it, I know tea has arrived.
Dear coffee, you did for tea what no one else did. You gave it a place in the limelight and most importantly — respect.
So, thank you from this lifelong tea-drinker.
On a personal note — I really am too old to balance on a narrow roadside benches for my tea fix. So yes, thank you again, for the upgrade.
Before I sign off, let me add, it’s for all these reasons that I return, time and again, to ‘If we were having coffee’ posts when I need a heart-to-heart conversation with friends.
You might like to check out this post here where I talk about tea or this one where I talk about George Orwell’s rules for the perfect cup of tea.
This post is a part of Blogchatter Blog Hop.
