Caffine Covid

The one constant companion during The Great Pause was coffee. I think there are three things that define Melbourne: Its Football code, Its Arts and its Coffee. During the pandemic two of these vital cultural pillars were effectively denied us. Coffee alone was to be our mooring to reality. Without it, all seemed lost. Whole days were centered around the search for the sustaining beverage. You can point to many things that helped get Melbourne through the 263 days of lockdown, but I suspect if you asked most people they would say it was coffee.

In the 17th century some people regarded coffee as the: “bitter invention of Satan.” The local clergy condemned coffee when it came to Venice in 1615. Soon the controversy over it was so great that Pope Clement VIII was asked to intervene. He decided to taste the beverage for himself before making a decision. He found the drink so satisfying that he instead gave it papal approval. From Satan to saviour then.