It is a timely coincidence that today’s Daily Grind falls on New Year’s eve; a perfect opportunity to reflect on how the year has been and to think about the future.
The first thing to reflect upon is the fact that, since starting Bean Thinking in autumn 2014, I have had a great excuse to get out and try many interesting independent coffee shops and tea houses. Obviously there are many more to try and so something to continue with in 2015, but what matters to me is that they are independent. It is an interesting question, at what point does a cafe with multiple branches turn into a chain? Perhaps this is something to worry about another time, for the moment there are still a great many to try (both old and new) that I don’t need to worry about it for a while.
Then there has been the opportunity to encounter some very interesting people who, it is fair to say, are quite obsessed with coffee. Some of them are interested in different ways to make the coffee taste good. Some are interested in areas where coffee meets art (3-D latte art anyone?). There are those who are interested in the science of coffee and then those who try to ensure that everyone, from grower to consumer inclusive, gets a good deal for the coffee. In short, science, art, philosophy and coffee. In many ways it reinforces my opinion that a good education is far more than a mere qualification in a narrow specialisation. In the book “History and Philosophy of Science”, LWH Hull suggests an analogy to help us to understand our contemporary tendency to specialisation. Hull suggests that those who specialise are like people exploring different trees. We cannot understand another’s tree by stopping our work (of climbing our tree), and instead climbing “a few feet” up the tree of another. Hull instead suggests that by understanding the history and the roots of our own field of specialisation we can understand that others have similar roots, similar motivations and are seeking similar ends by different means. Understanding our own tree and appreciating how it has come to be, allows us to appreciate the trees of others and thereby allows us to see the wood instead of the trees.
So Happy New Year to all, feel free to leave any comments about art, social justice, science, in fact, anything that you think coffee related and vaguely relevant to this start of the year. I look forward to ‘meeting’ more of you and hearing what you have to say in 2015.