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I think you could make a very, very compelling case that the process of making coffee is, for many people (especially those really into it), an important ritual
by lanternfish 3y ago
I think you could make a very, very compelling case that the process of making coffee is, for many people (especially those really into it), an important ritual which has a lot of significance beyond the specific output. Look at the discourse around the James Hoffman AeroPress saga and tell me that shit isn't insanely ritualized.
Nothing religious or spiritual (usually), but you get a lot of time/structure/cycle/morning/sleep/work semiology out of the coffee ritual. In fact, this is so true that coffee as a beverage has adopted significant phenomenological value external to its utility due to cultural osmosis - we have very strong associations between coffee and a variety of abstract qualities: work, awakeness, sleep deprivation, productivity, etc. And, these qualities are quite different between cultures even if the actual raw output/process of production are pretty much the same for many.
- carlosjobim 3y agoBy your reasoning, would it be possible for a person to make herself a cup of coffee and drink it without you considering it to be ritually?
- lanternfish 3y agoYeah - there are a lot of tasks that we frequently do that don't have this kind of associated trappings (on a cultural level): opening a car door handle, tying shoes, etc. Making coffee is much more susceptible to this kind of ritualmaking because of the implicit repetition, sequence and waiting qualities of the process. That said, there are people who engage with the process without any ritual - the patient in the dentist's waiting room who pops in a K-cup, the McDonalds worker who fills the McCafe order off a ticket, the spouse who runs out of tea and puts on a cup of their partner's coffee.