Coffee for the Young

By Hilda Monica C. Naval

Believe it or not: Centuries ago, if any middle-aged man wants to know the latest political news, business strategies, or even scientific researches, then he would most likely go to a coffee house (instead of searching the virtual world of internet for obvious reasons). There at the company of his peers, he meets his intellectual needs as he savors the aroma his warm cup of coffee. No wonder why such places have once been considered as “exclusively meant for the older members of the society.”

But those days were gone. Nowadays, even the teenagers have found comfort in an air-conditioned establishment offering them a flavorsome brewed beverage usually served with ice. Starbucks is one of the many reasons why this thing happened.

The story of the Starbucks Coffee Company started when they opened their first store in Seattle in 1971. From then on, they’ve been providing their customers quality hot and cold drinks, pastries, and pretty much everything that goes with it. Several years after, they were able to globally promote their appreciation for coffee by establishing shops in more than 8000 locations (worldwide). Blame it, perhaps, on their marketing. They continue to come up with a lot of new things, from original coffee flavors and other coffee-related items, to music and the distinctive ambiance of the location itself. In addition to that, they were among the few coffee chains to include and consider one of the unheard sectors of the coffee business then—the youth.

A typical Starbucks place would have comfy couches and relatively-larger tables, ideal for a barkada of five (or more) to sit down, relax and talk about the happenings of a very long day. And there’s more than that. To cater to the needs of those who prefer to be in more-intimate groups, they’ve added smaller tables with wooden chairs; thus defying the usual setting of a classic coffee house, one with uniformly-sized fixtures positioned around the entire space in a very regular manner. In some branches, there’s an array of high-rise chairs matched with a side table—a haven for those who want to spend time with books and their laptops. The appropriate lighting of the place (one that's not too dim but not too bright) and the upbeat music of today’s hits suit the comfy atmosphere of the area as a whole, thus making it more attractive in the eyes of the young people.

Generally speaking, coffee houses could provide you more than just something to eat or drink for they actually serve as centers of social interaction. From a cultural perspective, it is a place that gives you a chance to intermingle with your friends, meet or get to know strangers, and observe how a portion of the society behaves. It is truly a worthwhile thing to do for it could give you the chance to discover things you won’t learn elsewhere. Also, it could give you a time to entertain yourself by reading or writing as you enjoy the comfortable room temperature and the pleasing sound of music.

In any case you have the yearning for the above mentioned things, you can always consider a place like Starbucks. It might give you the coffee experience you’ve been longing for—or so much more.