Coffee inspires...

Coffee not only awakens body but senses as well. And not one or two but all of them. 

I was waiting for the London Coffee Festival since I saw their poster in the tube. I and my husband are coffee fans, not typical ones though. We don’t drink a lot of coffee but once we do, we really enjoy and indulge ourselves into that special cup. We also like everything around coffee – cafes, the atmosphere, latte art, and my husband comes from Ethiopia, so he experienced all that first hand. We spotted an opportunity in the festival – we could go and get to know techniques, people etc. And it’s not that I didn’t know before that that coffee inspires but the festival made me to realise even more how many opportunities are out there. Three hours of inhaling smell of coffee made me alert and wanting for more. So what coffee inspires to? 

… to go out
Coffee is always a good reason to go out. You can go on your own for a tour around coffee houses or just pick up one at a time. You will get to know new flavours, meet people and discover areas. Coffee is also a good reason to invite someone out – tea sounds too simple, drink is for those who like alcohol and coffee is something in between. Thanks to decaf version you can drink it anytime.

… art
Coffee Art is a competition for artists inspired by coffee and is part of UK Coffee Week. Artists have been asked to produce a unique piece of art linked to the theme of coffee and coffee houses. Some of the works, in different forms of art, were presented at the festival. My favourite was a tiger/leopard jumping out of coffee cup – isn’t it a great metaphor of energy and inspiration hidden in the black liquid? The initiative reflects people’s approach to coffee and what they get out of it. It’s something more than a morning drink.
 

...learning new skills

I have a rough idea how to make a real coffee and how all the processes behind that work but I still have a way to go and I want to learn how to make a great coffee. At the festival I did, together with guys from Volcano Coffee, small-batch roaster from London. I’ve learnt that coffee should be grinded to a size of fine sand, that I should press it from shoulder not from wrist to make a perfect surface for water to go through. Isn’t it amazing what you need to know to prepare only one cup of coffee? There is also latte art and so many other things that you could be learning for the rest of your life. 

… entrepreneurial spirit and dreams
I and my husband have been dreaming about opening a coffee house for awhile. And I am talking a real coffee house, where people love to come and spend hours with friends, family, books, laptop, talking to us and enjoying life. London Coffee Festival showed us that it is all out there, that there were people dreaming like us before who and now their dreams come true. And there are others who based their business around coffee, like Cupcuddler, a couple who handmade sleeves for coffee cups, Goodbeans, a start up that came up with the idea of cold brewed coffee and sells it as a concentrate, Liquid Design, a team behind many coffee shops design. 

Do you need more encouragement? Even if you are not a devoted fan of coffee but only a moderate one, go and try. Sit in one of those cosy coffee houses, even if you don’t get that one great thought, you can observe rain falling down on the window and you will finally have a moment or two to sit, think and enjoy being with yourself.