We all have a need for a regular spot or safe haven to which we can retreat in those dark moments where nothing but a decent cup of coffee can alleviate the nerves and release the tension of the day. Often stressed and highly sprung, most of us urban dwellers seek refuge at a bar or a cafe in search of a welcoming ambiance that could bring light back to the dreary day.
Since the drinking of coffee is usually done at a table with the express function of relieving tension and soothing the nerves of the consumer; one would suppose that there would be a distinct combination of ingredients that would ultimately lead to the general satisfaction of the consumer.
Let's try mull over the number of ingredients that could contribute to the overall pleasure of the coffee consumer.
Firstly, ambiance, ambiance, ambiance. One is not going to find anything but melancholy and remorse should one choose to engage in solitary silent conversation whilst staring out at bleak railway yards, industrial parks and faceless brick buildings in deplorable colors of hospital green or muddy brown and depressing grey. On the contrary, the coffee consumer once to feel enthused and just as relaxed as plonking down on a sofa cushion and then sinking in slowly with a general level of placidity and comfort whilst surrounded by light and vibrant colors that dually serve to enrich and soothe the mind of the consumer.
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| Elegant French cafe |
Secondly, sounds. Yes, that's it; one cannot sit and sip a decent cup of coffee when there are factory horns bellowing in the background, or the mostly sound of machinery and workmen or even to the contrary; complete and utterly deafening modes of vacuum-sucking, soul-enveloping silence. We need out creature comforts to relax the body but equally we need to coax the mind into that enjoyable state of grace derived from a decent cup of coffee. The average coffee consumer needs his and her creature comforts and must head the delectable sounds of soft music to rhythmically lullaby the nerves into a complementing state of peaceful bliss.
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| Music is the balm of the soul |
Thirdly, things that are alive. This peculiar ingredient could be separated into two distinct classes itself: subsection 'A': things that spread color around the room like potted plants and flowers that grow up the wall and entice the coffee consumer into a feeling of harmony with a natural habitat that is at once man made and yet becomingly alive at the very same time; and subsection 'B': things which are also really alive and I do mean literally alive, like the odd furry creatures we see that have become the rage now in Tokyo where customers are asked to sit down at a table or a sofa and engage a conversation with an odd cat or two; well, sometimes more, and indeed cats do make good listeners if the whole point of the experience is for the coffee consumer to just sit there and spill his or her heart out and feel jolly good about it because after all unlike psychiatrists that we pay to just sit there and doze off, cats do just doze off anyway oblivious to all manners of brightly colored papers and the odd human prattling and so yes, cats and birds make a wonderful addition to the lively theme of a pleasant cafe! show us the way Tokyo!
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| Courtesy Lalaine |
Fourthly, people. Love them or hate them we still need to feel a sense of belonging to our social group and for those that seek to get away from it all subconsciously we still feel the urge to see one or tow other customers in the cafe besides ourselves. A cafe in utter silence is as isolationist and disorientating as being trapped in the Surreal landscape of a Dali painting! One sincerely hopes that a cafe ambiance can be enlivened with a few customers here and there and not just the odd mannequin in the corner or card-board cut out of human figures pretending to drink their cup of coffee. this is a cafe for heaven's sake; not a morgue! a cafe needs some sort of human conversation to blend in with the ambient and soft background music; not too loud but barely perceptible, like a city hum to gently remind the cafe consumer that humanity is only a mere stone throw away.
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| That's Fred |
Fifthly and finally, the coffee table itself and the sort of books we just love to flick through whilst our minds are wondering aimlessly about. Wilds scenes of isolation; clouds rolling across vast natural landscapes and all sorts of photography with images of anywhere but a concrete jungle would do very nicely indeed to relax the consumer whilst he engages his or her cup of coffee. Books loaded with art are definitely a bonus and material concerning the natural habitat and wildlife are very welcome indeed. Of course tables themselves can be very artistic creations as well as entirely functional offering a place to put your cup of coffee; but should space be available in abundance then the large the coffee table the better particularly since the suitability of space can afford a convenient residence for a few inspiring coffee table books.
Find me a decent cafe and find me a new life with refreshed vitality for one more day with a welcome cafe state of mind. The more coffee that people consume the more likely we are able to spot a happy, smiling face set against the urban throng of stressed-out office workers scurrying to and fro in the perennial race against that clock on the wall.
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| The art of cheering up coffee consumers |
Find me a decent cafe and find me a new life with refreshed vitality for one more day with a welcome cafe state of mind. The more coffee that people consume the more likely we are able to spot a happy, smiling face set against the urban throng of stressed-out office workers scurrying to and fro in the perennial race against that clock on the wall.
Reflections on urban cafes by Pieter Bergli, cafe enthusiast!
For those of my readers that have a penchant for art babble then kindly grab a cup of coffee and turn to:
Thank you.
