Coffee Coffee Coffee!

                When I told my host family that this week’s topic discussed coffee again, they seemed pretty excited because they are all huge coffee consumers. Even Jose, who is only seven years old, drinks a cup of black coffee every single morning. Coffee is extremely important in my house, because it represents family and social gatherings. My Tica mom loves to have friends over, and it is a guarantee that she will serve them coffee. My mom is proud of the coffee she serves, and she would never go out to have coffee. She once told me “why would I go out to have coffee that is more expensive and does not taste as good?”. I believe it is generational though because my Tica sister who is 18, loves to meet up with friends and drink coffee in the small coffee shops. She said it was a social place to talk and catch up with friends. When I asked why coffee was so important to the culture of Costa Rica, both my mom and sister simply responded that is more than a drink; it shows underlying meaning economically and politically. I asked my mom to expand what she meant by “politically” and she said that coffee was once drove the economy. The rich Costa Ricans owned coffee plantations and then went into politics. Everyone else was poor and worked in the fields for the rich coffee owners. I found this statement fascinating because on Saturday, I went on the coffee plantation tour again and our guide said almost the exact same statement. He said that many of the beautiful, colonial hotels in San Jose, were once homes owned by coffee owners. All of the wealth went to coffee, and eventually most coffee owners went into politics. It was interesting that both the tour guide and my Tica mom had the same opinion about coffee. It is obvious how important coffee is to the culture in Costa Rica. It provides jobs, an economy, and an overall national pride throughout the country.

Typically, the older Tican generations have coffee with family and friends in their own homes. The younger generations are beginning to defined the cultural norm, and go out for coffee. It is interesting because Tican teenagers are meeting at coffee houses to socialize and discuss ideas. This is a similar concept to when coffee was first introduced and became popular with the spread of coffee houses. It almost seems that coffee is making a complete circle. The photo I included was a photo of Liv, Caroline, and I drinking a cup of coffee after a meal. Coffee is a beverage option in most Costa Rican restaurant menus. If you look in the corner of the photo, you will see the coffee maker. It is an individual coffee brewer that makes only on cup at a time. You just pour hot water over the ground beans to make a cup. This is popular so every cup is rich with flavor and it summarizes the idea of quality versus quantity.

Coffee!

My tica family does not drink a lot of coffee. My tica mom, the one who would normally offer coffee to people, prefers tea and I think that this influences their views on coffee. Really, my dad is the only one in my family who drinks coffee. That means that my mom doesn't only offer coffee when people come over, but instead offers a wide range of options to her guest (tea, fresco, water, etc.). My family also does not have tons of money, so they do not go out often, and definitely not for coffee when they could make that at home.
This realization really connected, for me, with the idea that the "coffeehouse" has changed. When coffeehouses first started, they were cheap and generally anyone could go. They were big and were a great place for communication across the classes. Now, however, there are people who simply cannot afford to go to a coffeehouse. Coffeehouses now are also smaller and more reserved. Kaldi, for example, plays classical music over the sound system and gives out menus with gold styling on the front. This is very different from the coffeehouses of the past.

Kaldi's fancy coffee (compare this image with a simple mug of coffee you would serve in your house or might have been served at an original coffeehouse)

My dad, however, drinks a lot of coffee. He very rarely makes it himself, though. I have observed that my tica mom usually makes it for him and that this is almost an expression of caring for him. She makes him coffee to show that she loves him and wants him to be happy. In that sense, coffee clearly represents more than just a beverage.
This was very similar to my family back home. My mom always says, "You know you've found a good man when you wake up to him putting a mug of hot coffee on your nightstand." This same gesture of love is used for both of my families. Some of this, I believe, is that coffee is not particularly easy to make; there is more involved than just pouring it in a cup. Taking the time to make the coffee (or even grinding the beans fresh as my dad used to do) represents caring for the person you are serving it to.
Another similarity is that coffee is used as a comfort food in both cultures. I have noticed people in both countries who say, "I just had a bad day and really needed a nice cup of coffee." In Costa Rica, I believe that this is because the coffee is reminiscent of home and family. In the past, although not as much anymore according to my tica family, coffee brought families together and was symbolic of cultural values. For many ticans, this sentiment still holds and reminds them of the ones they love.

Relationship of Coffee

My family was not too eager to discuss this week’s blog; so much of this is my own inference. Their lack of discussion showed me that coffee is so engrained in Costa Rican culture that it was strange that I even questioned their coffee practices.

In class and within our group, we have talked about the importance of coffee in relation to Latin America, so the first question I probably could have answered on my own. Coffee is important because it represents culture, the majority of Latinas drink coffee, and it represents tradition. Just like many of the questions about food, my mother related tradition to coffee as well.

Relating coffee to tradition made sense, but at the same time was slightly ironic to me. In the coffee book reading, we learned that coffee originated in the Muslim society. Clearly, Costa Rica is not an Islamic country. Instead, it is a country tied to the Catholic Church. The fact that coffee was a non-Catholic drink at its roots was swept under the rug in order to enjoy it without guilt. Therefore, there are two parts to the coffee tradition. First, there is the involuntary tradition of ignoring and not knowing the origins of coffee. Second is the tradition of drinking coffee, which became increasingly popular as priests sang its praise as a drink of G-d.

The second part of the representation of coffee was not my mother’s spoken words, but her actions instead. I have mentioned before that many times, my tica mom will say one thing, but is at times hypocritical with her actions. For example most of the ticas I have met, with exception to my tica mom, will offer a guest coffee like someone in the U.S. would offer “a glass of water or something to drink.” It is second nature. In my tica mom’s case, though coffee does represent tradition, it also represents a much stronger bond of friendship built on years of time and trust. I think this is a unique view on coffee, but in our house it is held as sacred. I have yet to be served coffee in my house, or even hot chocolate, though my mom knows that I like both. Instead, if I am present when my mom has a “coffee friend” over, I am served a glass of juice. As silly as it sounds, if am ever served coffee or hot chocolate in my house, it will be an extremely monumental day.

Because my mom places such a strong bond on coffee, she did not connect it at all to politics in Costa Rica. It was my brother, a banker who stated that coffee has quite a large role in Costa Rican politics. He discussed coffee as being a very strong part of the economy of Costa Rica that has always been supported. We see its support of coffee and the growers as coffee cultivators historically made a higher wage and were ticos instead of foreigners. Similar to coffee and politics in the U.S., the coffee relationship offers a friendly hand to whomever you are speaking. Though in Costa Rican business, coffee is the norm, excellent quality coffee only extends its hand to the more exclusive.

Excellent quality in Costa Rica could not be more different than in the U.S. Here excellent quality is 100% Costa Rican grown, cultivated, roasted, and brewed. In the U.S. excellent coffee is a Starbucks specialty custom drink. However the meaning of specialty is defined, both are geared towards an “exclusive” crowd. Here the exclusive audience may be powerful businessmen, but in the United States, everyone wants to be exclusive. So regardless of class or affordability, many Americans will drink specialty coffee to be part of the “in crowd.” I think this idea of being in the “in crowd” is becoming more and more prevalent as American labels and restaurants push their way into Costa Rica.

In the past 10 years (according to a cab driver), the existence of McDonalds has greatly influenced the Costa Rican youth. When I ate lunch with my class at McDonalds, it was the “cool” thing to do. They were excited to eat a hamburger and Coca-Cola. It is their hang out place, and even though one boy told me that he didn’t like McDonalds, he ate in anyways just to be in the “in-crowd."

The interesting thing about McDonalds is that I have yet to see someone drinking coffee there. I have not been there in the morning, but I would assume that buying coffee to go here would be rare, given its importance in society. Additionally the hours of McDonalds indicate that people do not get coffee to go. McDonalds here opens at 7:30, something that would be absolutely unheard of in the U.S. By 7:30 most adults will have already arrived at work and students at school, thus making McDonalds irrelevant. In addition, I think that McDonalds coffee is not held in high regard. Recently Costa Rican coffee has become more pure, instead of coffee roasted with corn as filler. Costa Ricans have become more aware of this and begun to place a higher personal value with their own Costa Rican coffee. Places like Kaldi tend to be a higher-class coffee place, although ironically Kaldi is a Muslim word. (I guess this is one place where tradition of ignoring coffee’s roots was broken) At Kaldi, I have seen business men as well as moms taking their “tweenage” daughter out for a cup of coffee. Kaldi seems to be a place that may foster an actual relationship, where McDonalds is just a place to hang out, be cool, and waste time. In conclusion, the “public” coffee culture is dependent on the public place of drink. A fast food place will be more of a teenage hang out, but a coffee shop will be more business men, and University students just catching up. 

Coffee, a Power Drink

Asking my family why coffee was important in Costa Rica opened a Pandora’s box of answers, at least in terms of condensing it to a blog post. The first thing they said was that it was the bas of the economy, in the past and still in some respects today, combined with the banana. They said that it was a huge part of the Costa Rican culture, from the past and to the present. In the past, my Tico dad said that nearly everyone worked on the coffee plantations during vacations for some extra money. Everyone talked about it, where they were to work, what they did exactly, etc. It was normal; it was all-pervasive throughout the culture. Today this is less so, as education has increased, but the effects linger, according to my Tico dad.

As for coffee in politics, I got an even more vigorous response, but one that I can more easily elaborate on. My Tico dad (mom left to help my sister study), said that coffee has always been tied in politics, even if it was to a lesser direct degree now. In the past, those who had the coffee had the money. Whoever had the money had the power politically. This connection to coffee and politics led to the creation of the train system that allowed them to maintain both their power and money. The families that had this money diversified it into other things, allowing them to stay in power. So now, coffee’s impact is that it established an elite group who are currently in power. This is at least according to my Tico dad.

I find this to be interesting. Coffee is the darling product of Costa Rica, across almost all socioeconomic classes (far as I can tell anyway, it would be interesting to look at this further). This comes into some sort of conflict with the fact that many of the people who are in charge of Costa Rica have strongly benefitted from coffee where others have not. How can a product that is in reality controlled by a few, however it is seen as a product of the common man? My Tico dad loves coffee, sees it as a vital part of Costa Rica, but he also sees it as something that is synonymous with power, a power that is established through coffee, even if it does not exist in it any more.

This is a picture of my favorite coffee shop. I would have gone it, but I always end up talking to the owner and tonight I had too much homework go through the inevitable 45 (at a minimum) experience that is coffee in a Costa Rican coffee shop. It is not quick, it is personal. It is not served fancifully, but generously. It is similar but oh so different than those in the United States. To be fair, right now all I am thinking about is drive-thru Starbucks and Dunkin’ Doughnuts.

more coffee!

     Coffee represents Costa Rican culture, a lifestyle, a history. It has been so important, that it has almost become second nature to many people and families here. It is something that this culture is proud of.

     In talking to my family, they revealed the cultural ideal that coffee is an important staple, drank from a young age.  It often serves a function of bringing people together at social gathers or just within the family before or during a meal.  When I asked about coffee’s connection to politics in Costa Rica they didn’t really give a direct answer, except mentioning that coffee has been important throughout Costa Rica’s history, for better or worse. I took this idea to mean that coffee’s presence throughout time here has both helped and hindered their society. The coffee as an export helped Costa Rica gain some control in the international market, yet at the same time also fostered this dependency on the demand of the consumer countries. Because Costa Rica found a niche market and based their success on the quality of their coffee, they were exporting their best coffee, leaving the lower quality beans for themselves. This seems somewhat paradoxical or contradictory to me- coffee is so tied to their culture, but despite its significance and their pride, Costa Rican’s are not the one’s consuming their best quality coffee.

     This idea led me to reflect upon a conversation I had with a man over spring break. In San Isidro, this man said that they are now trying to push this movement in which Costa Rica’s save some of the better quality coffee for themselves. His reasoning was more about health than correcting this injustice or paradox within Costa Rican society.  He explained that the coffee that people drink here has often been mixed with corn or other substances, which is not as healthy, or rewarding, as drinking coffee in its pure form.

     From my experiences here, I feel that in coffee houses or restaurants, while the coffee is so delicious, it that not really the purpose or function of the place or of the coffee.  Similar to the purposes of coffeehouses in the past, as meeting places for an exchange of information, I feel that the coffee is still secondary in these places to the social aspect. It is a place and a time to be social and catch up with one another.  I also find that in restaurants here, the idea of a delicious cup coffee serves a function of getting people in the door.  It is either the experience of the delicious iced coffee drink or the experience of having your coffee brewed in front of you as at the restaurant we all went to.  Either way, I feel that restaurants use this idea of coffee to their advantage, to get people out of their homes and into these public places, and once people are there, they will probably also buy a meal and stay a while. 

     While these ideas are also prevalent in the US, I feel that at home, the other extreme is also very much existent, in which coffee serves more of a function of helping people stay busy and on the go.  For example, on one hand we have the Starbucks seating area, often with a bookstore, where people come for their decadent coffee drink and catch up with a friend.  On the flip-side, you have the Dunkin-Donuts drive through with the motto “America Runs on Dunkin” furthering the ideal in the U.S. that coffee is a means to keep up with the “necessary busyness”. 

     While the functions may differ, I find interesting realizing that no matter where you go, coffee is not just coffee. There is deeper significance for the people that drink it, and an underlying motivation for the public places that serve it. These deeper meanings have affected societies throughout history-as in Costa Rica-concerning workers rights, the development of national banks, etc. or in the U.S. as a means to instill the American value of multitasking and constantly being on-the-go.

Semana 7!!!! MORE coffee!!!! :)

Blog #7

            According to my tica mom, coffee is so important to Costa Rica because it is the number one export. She said that it represents more than just a drink; it is part of the culture and essential to the economy. It was interesting that in her opinion, it is not considered something social, but cultural. She explained to me that for many years Costa Rica was really poor and didn’t export anything, she said it was really isolated. She the explained to me that students went abroad (from Costa Rica) to places like Europe and came back inspired to make Costa Rica successful. She told me that their plan was to send coffee abroad and that is how it all began. She also told me that the successes and wealth gained from coffee are the reason that Costa Rica has a National Theatre, The University, and many other historical buildings. Thanks to the exportation of coffee, the entire country became significantly wealthier. She said that even with bananas and other exports today, coffee is still essential to the economy. She did not really say anything about the politics of Costa Rica except that it was about the economy and wealth that had changed because of coffee.

            This was a fascinating response! I always consider coffee a part of the culture AND social aspects of Costa Rica since it’s so intermingled in most social gatherings and events. It’s really interesting that my tica mom said that it’s not social, just cultural. I have to wonder if there’s some overlap in the words for her, a side effect of my translations perhaps? It’s also interesting to see how my tica mom thinks that the coffee is still the most successful export, but this has changed according to what I’ve heard.

            The public places that coffee are abundant in Costa Rica. Although most Costa Ricans drink coffee socially at home, it seems that these traditions are starting to change. I haven’t been to a hotel, restaurant, Soda, or bakery that hasn’t had a coffee option. This is important for many reasons; the most important are economic, social, and status. Depending on where you are, such as a classy café or coffee shop (such as Kaldi, an Elon student favorite J) the coffee drinks that you can but are fancy, more like desserts, and cost significantly more. The atmosphere is designed for conversations and social gatherings; the focus is more on the classy environment and ability to have classy drinks, not specifically the drinks themselves. Personally, I love the drinks there because they’re SO sweet and delicious and I can afford them every once and awhile, but it’s more that that. It’s the social environment, free wifi, central location, and safe environment. Although this is popular for our group, there are certainly more affordable restaurants like Sodas that have coffee. This is different because it is just café con leche, not a fancy drink, and it’s included as the drink with the meal. Although this is more affordable, most Costa Ricans still drink coffee at home. It’s still a cultural respectful tradition to invite people over and offer them coffee.

            To me, this means that coffee is much more than a drink. It’s impossible to ignore the significance of the economic prosperity, cultural values/traditions, and the sign of status and wealth. It seems that the commonality of having coffee offered at home is still significant and valuable, but it’s a new sign of wealth to be able to afford the Starbucks priced coffee drinks in a classy coffee shop like Kaldi. As we have learned in class, coffee has moved throughout the social classes. It has been both a unifier in the coffee shops of the past and a divider of those who can afford and who cannot. It seems that it plays both roles in present day Costa Rica through the expensive shops outside of the home and the traditions that are still respected inside of the home.

This is a coffee shop in MonteVerde that reminded me a lot of Kaldi, the drink was essentially the same, along with the enviroment. It had a stigma of having to be able to afford it, upper class or a splurge for middle class. This is a version of a divided social structure. The coffee drink was DELICIOUS though! :)

This is one way that coffee can be made at home, but this was in a public restaraunt outside of Cartago. This is a way that people can socially enjoy a GOOD CUP of coffee... in this case, it is a little but more focused on the coffee... not just the social event, since it's SO good and takes SO much longer to make and just a little bit! There's that quality over quantity theme again! :O

This is a social plantation, the Britt Coffee plantation (tour) which the Barrista was showing us how to make different drinks. This is another setting that is "open to the public" technically, but to truly go, it required being able to pay a substantial amount. This is more of a tourist or coffee lover's environment. But OH BOY those coffee drinks were INCREDIBLE!!!! Here, it was TRULY about the coffee, not the social environment... but we made some GOOD friends drinking some DELICIOUS coffee!!! :) (We should probably go as a field trip, they talked about the history, it was FASCINATING and alligned really well with our coffee discussions in class! YAY! :D Sarah and I loved it!!)

Coffee and Prosperity in Costa Rica

According to my Mama-Tica, coffee is important to Costa Rica because it is a major industry. Many people grow it, sell it, and it is exported to many countries throughout the world--not to mention how frequently Ticans themselves enjoy a nice cup of coffee. In short, coffee represents the hard work of Ticans, the importance of Costa Rica in our globalized world, and more generally prosperity--both in production and consumption.

While coffee is a symbol of prosperity for Costa Rica, I have noticed a kind of disconnect between the patriotism of coffee and the people who actually grow the coffee. Kind of like there is a connotation that comes along with working in that industry. To put it more simply--coffee has sentimental value for Ticans as a patriotic unifier, however, the people who actually work in that industry are viewed as below the white collar workers that for example work in the HP factory.

This is also comparable to industries in the US. For example: Ford Motors. Ford Motor Co. is a classic United States-ian corporation. The sole concept of American-produced cars--at least before the recession--was something to be proud of and celebrated. However, the workers who actually help to build those cars are not viewed very highly in US society. Similar to Costa Rica, we are proud of the industry, but aren't willing to actually work in it ourselves--even it is a symbol of United States-ian prosperity.

As far as the connection between coffee and Tican politics, my Mama-Tica had some interesting things to say. She says that politics work slowly, but coffee is always being produced and exported. In some ways coffee serves as a form of economic stability in an environment of constantly changing politics. Therefore coffee represents both stability and prosperity to Ticans and is an essential part to society.

When visiting places where coffee was being consumed, I couldn't help but notice the formality of the meetings that were taking place. As far as I could see, people drinking coffee publicly are more formal about it. It is a different entity than when you invite someone over for an afternoon cup and exercise your hospitality. Even the way that coffee is served in public places--at least in cafes. Often times, you get your own little pot, or an iced coffee will come in a fancy glass with the straw wrapper curled and whipped cream. Coffee in public allows for an atmosphere of respect and even some form of etiquette. It reminds me almost of what would be comprable to meeting for tea in Great Britain. There is an upper class conotation that goes along with meeting for coffee in Costa Rica. Below is a picture from a cafe where we ordered coffee (I'm not sure if the class comment applies to this photo at all---"gringa spectacle").

Food Journal Week 7

Once upon a time in Costa Rica, coffee could be compared politically to the position of the banking industry in the U.S. today. Lest many politicians preferred to lose the financial support they’ve gained for reelection purposes, they would best consult with captains of the industry of finance, who seem to strive to be one of the most obvious of special interest groups, before deciding on their legislative stances. From our recent reading, The Latin American Coffee Commodity Chain: Brazil and Costa Rica, it is clear that the influence of producers, exactly how repressed they are by the government or how manipulated the government is by them, cannot by written off. In Costa Rica, the idea of an industry and its leaders manipulating the course of political events is not new. José María Castro Madriz, mid-nineteenth century president of Costa Rica, is just one example of a leader who was pressured to leave office in a time of coffee commodity crisis by the industry’s leaders. President Mora Porras who earned much of his wealth from coffee cultivation conveniently replaced Madriz.  This trend is not limited to this time period or coffee alone. In The Ticos, we learned that “it was easier to get a loan for cattle than for a house” in the early 1970s. This cannot be considered politically benign; some with a commodity interest were able to influence those in power with the ability to finance it. My abuelo tico confirms the power of that easy credit over his home culture of Guanacaste when he tells me that cows are just as important as coffee for his country. The Ticos also shows the growing internal change of the Costa Rican labor economy, one moving toward a “service” sector focus. The role of coffee as Costa Rica’s deliverer from the country’s relative economic inexistence near the end of colonial times is perhaps what allowed it to remain as fundamental for as long as it did, still near the top of all exports. Nonetheless, its real economic consequence has been trumped by other export commodities and ever-modernizing societal changes that take the value of family farming further and further from the realm of the realistic. External market pressures from other producing nations and coffee-sponsoring governments fuel these changes. How coffee remains culturally embedded is best observed in the home. As different pressures change its structural economic position, such changes can never erase the structural role of coffee in the formation of Costa Rica itself. The embrace of coffee as a symbol of national history, as what’s called a “common project” in Costa Rica: A Global Studies Handbook, remains even with urban sprawl and domineering producers like Brazil.

Examining Costa Rican “public” coffee culture was difficult. It differed greatly from the convenience demanding, rushed, more routine-based atmosphere found in the States. It also differed in content; I did not observe groups or individuals ever drinking coffee only. In all of the small shops I visited, coffee (or a perky, decorative drink with coffee hidden somewhere in the bottom) was always accompanied by something substantial to eat. One shop, in Barrio Dent, called Kasasana was unique for its trendy interior design and the number of young people eating lunch there at the time I visited. I asked the waiter, a young guy, whether or not he enjoyed working there and if he thought running a shop like that is easy in Costa Rica because of the coffee culture. He told me it was difficulty to keep customers coming back and that they tried to create the “coolest” environment possible so that people would use the shop as a place to hangout. This suggests a lack of the ordinary to me. In the States, most consumers use coffee shops daily and develop regularity with their visits based on convenience. There is usually nothing special, or “I only do that on Friday’s to treat myself”, involved. Visiting a “coffee shop”, if they may be called that here, appears to be a kind of delicacy. The people visiting these shops probably have a sense of their own privilege; I would feel that way in their shoes considering the relative socioeconomic dynamic here. I cannot decide whether or not the tican youth favors a contradictory coffee culture to that of their grandparents. Relatives of my family, young and old, visit and enjoy coffee and talk in the living room very often. According to my grandparents, they really don’t have a coherent perception of “coffee” houses as a place to go for a cup of good java; they can’t relate with the idea. What this means for younger ticans, I do not know. For me, it’s more important now to realize just how unnecessary a lot of my own coffee culture habits are. I do not need a brand name on my cup to bask in the flavor of my coffee, not to mention the value of my company. I can’t wait to enjoy a cup in my house, with my parents, without strangers sitting all around or the latest pop-music hit shrieking in the background.

Week 7: Coffee Continued!

            First asking my brother about coffee, he asked me, “Isn’t it the golden bean or something?” Well, I don’t exactly know if this is a common description or not, but my Tico brother was definitely aware of coffee’s importance in Costa Rica. My family hit all of the major points, that coffee provided their country with jobs, money, and pride. Although my Tico dad has a different job now, he used to work at a coffee plantation in the factory section. When my family told me this, I realized just how big of a deal coffee is in Costa Rica and how coffee is still a major area of production here. In years past coffee is how Costa Rica "stayed in the game" or remained active in trade and relations with other countries. This my family knew and it seemed common knowledge amongst all of them that coffee was and still is an essential part of their culture. 

Within Sabanilla so far I have noticed three common places where coffee is drunk: Caffe Biscotti, Amanda’s Café, and Kaldi. However, it seems like all three were created with the purpose of selling more than just coffee. Amanda’s café is a place to eat breakfast or lunch, but a wide variety of coffee drinks can be chosen from. Kaldi serves as a coffee house, a restaurant for lunch and dinner, and a bakery. And Caffe Biscotti offers the same types of food as Kaldi but with a smaller variety. This makes it very apparent to me that coffee is definitely not the main focus. These restaurants might not be able to survive solely on selling coffee. While coffee is a very important aspect of the Tican culture, most of it is consumed at home. The restaurants that provide coffee may have been created to give it a “coffee house feel,” creating an environment to socialize and interact with other community members, but also to eat meals and pick up a baguette on the way home from work. I think I still need to keep my eyes open to the attitudes and different ways all restaurants in Costa Rica present coffee. Where is it on their menu? Do they provide many ways to prepare coffee?

While plain, basic coffee is offered at all of these restaurants, they all had different ways to “doctor up” coffee as well. It is an interesting topic because Leslie and I noticed that at Amanda’s caffe, the restaurant had a wide variety of coffee drinks including coffee with liquor flavoring but without the alcohol. This was a new discovery for us because this variety isn’t even very common in the States. Perhaps these drinks were offered to draw in a crowd of higher class. I think social class and coffee could also be something to observe and explore more. 

Outside of Caffe Biscotti

A Macchiato from Caffe Biscotti

It only took me four sips to finish it. This emphasizes how much Ticans savor their coffee, only needing small quantities.