“Within these little packages all the knowledge and ability to grow is tightly wound up, dormant, waiting for the right conditions, the right moment to spring forth. Look at your beans, be in the moment as we transport ourselves to it’s origin.”
As the guide brought us into a meditation of coffee beans, natural origins and magic, my gaze wandered a bit to the ceramic espresso cup in my palm. The narrator’s voice drifted along the void above my mind, which allowed me to catch a few images as it swept by. All the while I was looking down at the bottom of the white cup, where a coffee seed lied and sunlight casted its gentle cape. From the circular rim to the glossy bottom surface, the light swirled slightly as I leisurely turned my wrist.
“Here, bathed in golden light of dawn, is a farm where the first ever Cattura was discovered, a natural dwarf mutation of bourbon…” The pleasant words kept rolling.
At most times I can find it rewarding to indulge in a cup of freshly brewed coffee, and refreshing to contemplate the story-telling in coffee tasting sessions. But when the critic in me sometimes surfaced from my inner thoughts, it would remind me how stories, like histories, were all written from a chosen perspective. In it the footprints of colonialism, slavery and war could be eliminated; whether they have left an impression in today’s world was another question. I looked at the coffee seed, warm-white in color at its unprocessed form. By being in this state it would escape the destiny of being crushed and burnt like any coffee beans. Instead, held between fingertips to be planted in soil, ready to be nurtured and cared for.
It’s amazing to think of how much inspirations this plant can bring to a business or community. A consumable product, an industrial output, an innovation, a goal, a craft, a concept. A controversy, a Genius Loci. ☕️
19.04.24
