Drink your coffee like the French
Credit: Erin Deborah
By Erin Deborah
It’s funny how something so minor, so seemingly inconsequential, can be the marker of difference between cultures. Of course, there are bigger things – language, politics, identity, food – that distinguish one country from another, one people from their neighbours. It seems so unlikely that the way in which we drink our coffee is the best indicator of our national affiliation.
Living in France for the third time in my life has taught me that. The first time I was here, I was barely old enough to talk, let alone be permitted entry to the grown-up world of caffeine and substance abuse. The second time, I was so taken by the romanticism of Parisian life and French je ne sais quoi that I failed to notice the powerful significance of French coffee consumption. Now, though, caught in a phase of my life that has thrown me into a state of constant flux, my innocent naivete has gone, leaving me impressionable to the sexy allure of an espresso. Gone are my oat milk latte days, my cappuccinos laced with various flavours and scents.
That is not to say that the French way is the right way. When I move back to London next week, I am almost certain that I will, once again, replace my black coffee for the variety of aesthetic winter drinks placed on offer by clever marketing teams working for chain retailers. Capitalism, albeit violently Western (read: American), does have its perks. I will probably never stop loving Gail's oat milk cappuccino. That stuff must be illegal, it is so good.
I am yet to seek the Italian take on the matter, arguably the most important one. I long for the days where I can sit on a balcony in Bologna, having overcome the lactose intolerance and veganism that prevents me from enjoying a proper cappuccino as it should be. I would like to adopt their rules as to what coffee is drunk and when – espresso for the afternoon, coupled with gelato, coffee after every meal. The life.
What I will contribute to global coffee culture is purely my own thoughts, free from any national identity. It is the pursuit of coffee, the pursuit of good coffee, that brings friends together, and provides unity between cultures. Walk into a meeting in any country in the world, any hairdresser, any café, and you will be able to source some of the stuff. It is inevitable. Coffee unites the world.
