Coffee

Mmmmmm... Swiss coffee. In the company where I work, and specifically in Switzerland, coffee is an event. It's a social gathering. It's where deals get done. It's a time to sip, and discuss. Not so much in the same company in the US.

For me and Swiss coffee, I get wired, incredibly bad breath, and yellow teeth. The teeth situation seems ok for most because most people also have yellow fingers from smoking. Maybe they don't realize that, but I notice my teeth every time I brush them and wonder just how the heck that happens so quickly after visiting a dentist. It's the coffee.

The coffee here is instantaneously grounded. They pour in these awesome roasted beans into the top and walk away. Then, lines of people press buttons, juggle cups or glasses of all sizes, and loud grinding noises with wonderful aromas fill the air. Well, these noises fill the air just underneath the non-stop talking and chatter in the cafe where people rotate in and out every few minutes drinking, discussing, dealing, socializing, gathering.

I have also started drinking far too much espresso. I tried switching to Ristretto, which I finally learned is a smaller shot of espresso, but I guess it's also a little stronger than espresso. Lucky for me I was hitting that button twice to get a reasonable sized blast. Little did I know... until later when I was blasting a gut in the restroom.

My Swiss colleagues enjoy asking me politely "So, do you have espresso machines where you work in the US?" They already know the answer. It's really just an inside joke to them. I play along with American politeness. While our coffee resembles cat urine to them, it also makes them shaky. They switch to tea when they are in the US. An American coffee's taste is just unbearable, but the shakes are also too distracting. Swiss coffee to me doesn't resemble a cat's urine. I quite like it. For me, it does however produce interesting results other than cafe chatter.