After the Last Drops
After leaving the public bath, there came the kind of idle time that felt almost unbearably long. I lay on my back with my hands folded behind my head, my hair still faintly damp, and found myself thinking. It was just after I had handed my son a few coins because he wanted something to drink. Watching him run off toward his destination, I had a fairly good idea which drink he was heading for. It was the same one he always chose. Meanwhile, something else occupied my mind. Lately, wherever I ...
After the Last Drops
After leaving the public bath, there came the kind of idle time that felt almost unbearably long. I lay on my back with my hands folded behind my head, my hair still faintly damp, and found myself thinking. It was just after I had handed my son a few coins because he wanted something to drink. Watching him run off toward his destination, I had a fairly good idea which drink he was heading for. It was the same one he always chose. Meanwhile, something else occupied my mind. Lately, wherever I ...
The Color of Quakers
Some time ago, while reading a book on the history of chocolate, I found myself lingering over an unexpected question. The book happened to discuss the relationship between Rowntree and Nestlé. That one of Britain’s great chocolate manufacturers, after more than a century of history, was eventually acquired by the Swiss company that would become one of the world’s largest food corporations was, in itself, hardly unusual. History is full of such stories. Established companies are absorbed into...
The Color of Quakers
Some time ago, while reading a book on the history of chocolate, I found myself lingering over an unexpected question. The book happened to discuss the relationship between Rowntree and Nestlé. That one of Britain’s great chocolate manufacturers, after more than a century of history, was eventually acquired by the Swiss company that would become one of the world’s largest food corporations was, in itself, hardly unusual. History is full of such stories. Established companies are absorbed into...
Before Sweet Coffee
One afternoon on a day off, I made my way to a library some distance from home. There is a peculiar emptiness in the silence that follows the moment you request a book you have long been waiting to read. Between handing the slip to the librarian and finally receiving the volume, time seems strangely suspended. It is perhaps matched only by the weightless feeling of leaving the library afterwards, having received what you came for and yet somehow leaving no trace of yourself behind. The book I...
Before Sweet Coffee
One afternoon on a day off, I made my way to a library some distance from home. There is a peculiar emptiness in the silence that follows the moment you request a book you have long been waiting to read. Between handing the slip to the librarian and finally receiving the volume, time seems strangely suspended. It is perhaps matched only by the weightless feeling of leaving the library afterwards, having received what you came for and yet somehow leaving no trace of yourself behind. The book I...
Finding Myself in Coffee
I first met Torimechiru Kisanjin not long after I had begun working professionally with coffee. After attending the training center at Café Bach, I somehow found myself meeting all kinds of people connected with coffee, as naturally as if I had simply been carried along by a current of air. Almost all of this was thanks to Cocu Coffee, an independent roastery in a neighboring city. It was the owner there who first advised me to go to Café Bach, and later, when I showed very little interest in...
Finding Myself in Coffee
I first met Torimechiru Kisanjin not long after I had begun working professionally with coffee. After attending the training center at Café Bach, I somehow found myself meeting all kinds of people connected with coffee, as naturally as if I had simply been carried along by a current of air. Almost all of this was thanks to Cocu Coffee, an independent roastery in a neighboring city. It was the owner there who first advised me to go to Café Bach, and later, when I showed very little interest in...
Far from Coffee
For the past few days, I had been feeling slightly unsettled. I think it was because I had been away from my ordinary life. I visited a wholesale customer in a distant town, and, for the first time in a while, traveled to see coffee shops and people who had been in the business much longer than I had. During those days, I felt that I was meeting again with people connected, in one way or another, to the origins of my own work in coffee. I also met people who seemed to possess a depth, or to h...
Far from Coffee
For the past few days, I had been feeling slightly unsettled. I think it was because I had been away from my ordinary life. I visited a wholesale customer in a distant town, and, for the first time in a while, traveled to see coffee shops and people who had been in the business much longer than I had. During those days, I felt that I was meeting again with people connected, in one way or another, to the origins of my own work in coffee. I also met people who seemed to possess a depth, or to h...
