What Is The Meaning Of Coffee In Your Life? (Solved & Explained!)

Coffee has a firm place in most people’s lives, whether it’s just a casual and enjoyable morning drink or an elaborate and scheduled daily ritual. Our cup of coffee is always there, we constantly rely on it, and we only rarely miss it, and then only if we have to.

Coffee is a dynamic and complex drink and as such, is experienced by everyone in a very personal way. This means we all have our own coffee story.

How do we know when coffee has a special meaning to us?

You’ll know when your coffee has taken on a special meaning when you begin to perceive your day as not complete until you’ve had one.  

You’ll also know the name of “your coffee”, an almond milk latte with skim milk and a dash of vanilla please, and you’ll know exactly how it’s made.

And significantly, you’ll know immediately when it hasn’t been made properly!

Of course, you’ll be able to make your own at home, and once you can find a barista who can match yours, you’ll stick to them for life.

What makes our coffee so special anyway?

Coffee does not have just one “flavour”. Rather, it has a flavour profile, which means a complicated array of flavours that are working in combination with each other. This means everyone experiences coffee differently.

Coffee connoisseurs speak of coffee has “holding flavour notes” and producing “overriding taste factors”. They speak of aromas and fragrances, which also influence the intensity of the flavours of coffee.

Coffee lovers discuss coffee beans in terms of where they are sourced, claiming that beans grown in, say, Guatemala, will make a different coffee to those grown in Java.

The four main types of beans used in the world coffee industry all have different flavours and flavour intensities and are utilised precisely because of these characteristics.

Why does coffee become so important to us?

Most of us discover coffee in our late teens, and usually in the form of novelty coffee flavoured drinks such as milkshakes, thickshakes, and iced milks flavoured with coffee syrups.  

As we look for more “coffee” and less “drink”, we might discover the artisan coffee drinks, such as lattes, cappuccinos, mochas, and espresso options.

We may also allow our health interests to direct us, choosing plant milk coffees, for example, and/or low sugar, low fat coffee options.

Eventually, we will find our “brew”, and this can refer to the beans, the roasting process, the brewing process, and/or the style of the coffee, and once we find it, we stick to it.

Our coffee becomes a part of our day; we commit to it, ritualize it, and look forward to it.

What’s in coffee that we love so much?

Coffee contains caffeine (in varying amounts) and caffeine is a natural stimulant that our bodies absorb quickly and easily. The resulting energy buzz is both pleasant and useful – it can energise and revitalize just about any situation that needs it.

A coffee is great in the morning because it tastes wonderful, wakes us up quickly and effectively, and energises us for another day.

The midday coffee is equally as significant. We need them to stay motivated and focussed: the day is not yet done!  Imagine attending a meeting without a coffee or beginning a new project without being able to get one!

The evening coffee is not for everyone, but for those with deadlines to meet, projects to submit, and papers to grade, that final cup of “liquid energy” may be the only thing to get us over the finish line.  

Why is drinking coffee so universal?

The caffeine in coffee is the world’s most consumed drug, and this may be the main clue to the world wide popularity of coffee. Caffeine is legal, safe in moderate quantities, inexpensive, effective, and pleasant.

Coffee is the third most consumed drink in the word (after water and tea), and between us all, we consume more than 2 billion cups per day. That’s a lot of coffee!

Coffee is also a social drink. We gather together daily for a variety of reasons and with different groups of people. Regardless of the objectives of a meeting or get together, coffee is rarely absent from them. Its restorative and inspiring properties are too valuable to miss.

Is coffee a social drink?

Coffee is central to get togethers, gatherings, social dates, and meetings. Coffee is closely linked to food culture and associated with all forms of enjoyment from tourism to the arts.

There is no occasion for when the phrase, “let’s grab a coffee”, is not relevant or effective. Knowing that we will shortly be experiencing that warm rush of inspiration and encouragement (that comes with nearly every cup of coffee) will ease us through the most uncomfortable and compulsory situations.

And completing the final tasks of a difficult project or assignment with that final extra strong cup is immensely satisfying, and it is common to begin associating our coffee with our achievements and accomplishments.

When does coffee begin to signify health problems rather than a simple daily cuppa?

Unfortunately, our consumption of caffeine does need to be monitored because it’s easy to have too much of it. This means that the energy buzz we rely on becomes progressively weaker, and the amount we need to regain it increases.

Yes, caffeine is a safe and legal drug, but it’s important not to exceed the recommended daily dose, which is no more than 400 mg per day, and less that this if you have other underlying health conditions.

If you notice that your normal cup of coffee does not lift your fatigue, or you’re experiencing headaches, irritability, anxiety, insomnia, hand tremors, rapid heat beats, and/or loss of appetite, it may be worth cutting down on the coffee.

If you find yourself in this predicament, try decaffeinated coffee: the beans contain only a trace of caffeine, but when roasted and ground, they completely retain their coffee flavour.