Each Standart issue contains...
some new and unique perspectives on some of the topics affecting coffee, and many of them aren't top of mind, which is why I enjoy them so much. The current issue, number 22, focuses mainly on the how animals contribute to our coffee experience. Whether it be the obvious, as they provide milk for our beloved lattes, the company the provide on the walk to get coffee and back, or the obscure and controversial world of kopi luwak. But out of the entire issue there was one editorial that I found most interesting, and that was focused on the question; "Is the cat cafe really a cafe?".
I'm a cat person, I always have been. I've spent some time in cat cafes as well, they are often one of those places that I tend to seek out when I visit a new city. I guess what I found most interesting though is that main question. It seems like an odd question really, but I guess that depends on what your definition of a cafe is. Is serving coffee enough? Does that mean a gas station is a cafe? Is it the seating, or the quality of the coffee served? Who's to say?
In the end I found myself thinking about the semantic debates we as coffee people seem to constantly be having. Whether it be what a cafe is, or the depth of foam in a flat white: we're always splitting hairs. A cafe seems to be culturally defined, and even the dictionary definition doesn't say anything about coffee. So I guess I don't have an answer to that main question, but what I'd like to know is; Did we as coffee people co-opt, and lay claim to the term cafe?
If you'd like to join me in my Standart thoughts, help keep the site ad free, and support both me and an independent coffee publication head on over to their site and treat yourself to a year subscription of articles from some of the brightest minds in the industry, as well as a samples of coffee from some of the worlds best roasters! Use code SPROMETHEUS at checkout.