Before the morning light touches the desk,
I place a spoonful of powder into my cup.
Even this sound dissolves into the silence.
I pour the hot water.
The rising aroma announces
the beginning of something called "today."
Coffee as Ritual, Not Just Awakening
There exists coffee for waking up.
And there exists coffee for centering the soul.
Nescafé "Gold Blend."
AGF "A Little Luxury Coffee Shop."
Both share the convenience of instant preparation,
yet they offer distinctly different "qualities of time."
Gold Blend's "Refined Balance"
Nescafé's flagship "Gold Blend"
embodies balance itself.
Acidity, body, aroma—
nothing overpowering, nothing weak.
Like a quietly supportive companion,
it dissolves seamlessly into my daily routine.
A splash of milk works well.
Black feels gentle.
It possesses what I call "strength without raising its voice."
"A Little Luxury Coffee Shop": Sinking Into Depth
AGF's "A Little Luxury Coffee Shop," on the other hand,
reveals its meaning in a single sip.
Through its freeze-dry process, the authentic bean essence lingers.
The bitterness runs deep, the body thick,
creating "the sensation of falling into a story."
When afternoon light begins to slant,
when I settle beside a book,
this is the coffee I choose.
A Cup Like Prayer
What these two coffees share
is their refusal to demand attention.
This allows me to "drink at my own pace."
It resembles prayer—
not performed for anyone's view,
not for anyone's benefit,
simply an act of quiet communion with oneself.
Not Expensive, Yet "Luxurious"
"Luxury" isn't a matter of price.
It's about how tenderly we can attend to our own time and sensibilities.
Today I brew twenty small moments of "silence"
from five dollars' worth of powder.
Though each cup costs merely twenty-five cents,
this time is never cheap.
In Closing
Coffee is not a beverage.
It is a device for making stillness visible.
The stability that Gold Blend provides.
The contemplation that A Little Luxury Coffee Shop induces.
Both have become my "margins of light."
Today again, only the sound of pouring water
trembles through the room's air.
☕️ Postscript: Coffee Lore to Close
And beyond this single cup
lies an eternal journey.
Coffee began in Ethiopia's distant highlands,
became a drink of Sufi prayer in Yemen,
nurtured a culture of discourse in Turkey,
and eventually crossed into Europe.
In 17th-century London,
coffeehouses called "Penny Universities"
quietly steamed with conversations that birthed
insurance companies, newspapers, stock exchanges—
the prototypes of today's social infrastructure.
Perhaps within this cup we casually brew
dissolves gently the world's "contemplation and commerce."
