Per piacere e l’amore: caffe sospreso, per favore!

‘This Satan’s drink is delicious…it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it. We shall fool Satan by baptizing it’. This is how Pope Clement VIII was talking about coffee, urging the monks to use this drink like a divine ally, protecting them from sleep during the night prayers. Even if nowadays most of the people have access to coffee, we mustn’t forget that it still remains a luxurious product in at least three ways: the effort and the poorly paid work of the people who grow the plant, the many types of coffee from around the world, with hundreds of ways brew it, and the passion. The passion of smelling, feeling, tasting this drink, which therefore becomes one dedicated to connoisseurs.

Flavoured stories from the U.K.

Cosmin Mihailov, the well-known barista from Coftale, came back to Romania after 4 years of studying in the U.K. about what coffee means and why the story behind it goes beyond words, exciting the taste buds: ‘I always prepare the coffee in front of the client, to create a lasting experience, a story that they won’t forget until they leave the café.’ He’s young, some would say too young for the knowledge and experience he has, but he strongly believes in his generation and the advantages of our time. ‘People are not educated, they don’t know much about coffee and the probably never really cared. We are the generation which can cultivate the public, we have been abroad, we’ve seen how things are done there and we came back with fresh ideas about change’, says Cosmin.

Caffe sospeso per favore/amore?

There is a beautiful tradition in Napoli, which confirms the lust for life and the open hearts of Italians. A client lets a cup of coffee waiting for another person, who drinks it without paying. In Romania, Coftale is one of the cafes where the same thing happens. ‘Caffe sospeso’ is a recent project, which enjoys the public attention, but Cosmin thinks that: ‘we ought to wait a little more until it becomes a trend. Things are not happening overnight and there are indeed clients who buy coffee for others, but I don’t think they’re doing it out of their own desire or compassion, but rather for fun, because they like the idea of doing so.’

Bittersweet prices

No matter how great coffee or the pleasure of letting one on the bar for the next client might be, we think twice about the price we have to pay for it. It’s good to know that in the best cafes, the price doesn’t surpass the limits of our imagination and money buy quality and not the brand of the shop. That’s because a luxurious coffee ensures a special atmosphere in a specialized location, but a premium location doesn’t ensure the quality of o coffee, but most of the time, only the decency of the taste. ‘It’s not normal to have extremely high prices because it drives people away. Yes, you can make lots of money, but you don’t educate your customers and the same people who don’t know to appreciate your coffee will keep drinking it’, confesses Cosmin Mihailov, whose tattoos prove his passion for coffee.

He started with the Latte Art, then it took him two years to learn how to make a perfect espresso. Now, he can recognize with just one sip the type and area of origin of the coffee. Cosmin is aware that, besides the taste, ‘the appearance is extremely important, it’s the marketing part. I promise the client an experience and I keep my word, from the appearance to taste’.

In 1683, in Piazza san Marco, a botegga di caffe was opening. Enjoying the taste, but fearful, Italians were seing coffee like a ‘germ’, spreading the oriental vices among men. After ‘ Dominanta’ and ‘Serenissima’ stop characterizing Venice, the tradition of trade remains and people prefer to found it on coffee. 1.440.963 pounds were imported in 1789.

Un caffè? Due!