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Writer's pictureMarshall Sherrell

Mindful Sipping and the Long-lost Tradition of After-Dinner Coffee:

I take my coffee the way most of us in the west do; strong, and often. First thing in the morning to kickstart the day, and at least another cup to follow when I need to fend off afternoon yawns. Since my daily caffeine intake and OCD do well enough keeping me awake at night, I give myself the break of not imbibing caffeine after a certain hour; usually 5 PM. Many people follow similar routines in their day, such that today's coffee shops open early and sometimes close by 5 PM. Such is the rhythm of work and life in America. But peel back the pages of history, and we can find that our ancestors used to approach coffee with white gloves as an evening digestif.




Yes, not so long ago, coffee was held not to be the working man's daily drug, but the family's evening ritual. Check out this article for a bit more on the history of after-dinner coffee.







It may seem ridiculous that families used to give coffee to everyone shortly before bedtime - sometimes even the kids.




But our stigma toward coffee is colored (flavored?) by the way we have adapted it to modern use. If we concede that, yes, caffeine is a drug but that doesn't make it something to be afraid of, our approach toward it might also be different.


To be sure, caffeine overdoses really happen, and caffeine dependence is very real - I am proof of that. But any substance we ingest can be used to excess, and more people suffer from health ailments related to too much sugar intake than caffeine overdoses in the US, yet we typically don't get as scared of kids eating a cookie as sipping coffee. What if caffeine is just misunderstood?

Sure, it gives us a boost of energy and mental alertness. But it also temporarily increases our metabolism, which is likely the reason it used to be taken as an after dinner drink. Also, how much more could we enjoy the effects of coffee if we drank it more in the company of friends than in the grind of work? By using it merely to stay awake, we are depriving ourselves of some of the other benefits coffee offers, such as increased mental activity which could be the catalyst for new ideas in art or science (as coffee likely was during the Renaissance), or for deep conversations after dinner.

Like most of you, I am addicted to coffee. But I also love coffee. And the thought of treating it with the obeisance it deserves alongside dainty deserts and brandies, is a pleasant one. Unfortunately I find that I can't be both an addict and a connoisseur, taking coffee to midnight masquerade balls while also losing my patience with the countless seconds I have to wait near the Nespresso machine to get it in my veins the next morning. There is some happy equilibrium I am still looking for in all of this; but at the end of the tunnel I hope to find and join a few congenial gentlemen engaging in rousing conversation by the fireside, accompanied of course by a cup of after-dinner coffee.




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