Espresso for Royalty
We were out getting coffee for our usual Sunday coffee date, only this time we decided to go some place different. My dear had mentioned an Afghani bakery that he had discovered and had wanted to try with me. He had mentioned it before on a Sunday, but I declined to try something new that Sunday as I was in the mood for my place, my consistency, my MUNDANE. But this Sunday was different. I was more energetic and outgoing and thus way more excited to try something new. So we went.
First of all, high-quality pastries are my weakness. Macrons. Croissants. Crème Brûlée. All of it. But I especially love pastries with flavors closer to Asia and the tropics. My mouth craves a mango cookie or a passionfruit cake. This beautiful bakery was pristine, you would have thought you were a high-end Parisian patisserie. When you walked up to the window each treat lay in perfect lines, on display as if each were walking the red carpet for pastries. Better still, they had dragonfruit cookies, passionfruit tarts, and pistachio baklava. Mouthwatering goodness.
Of course I ordered many different treats to try, and I ordered turkish coffee to go with them. Turkish coffee is espresso, but with all the coffee grains left in and sweetened with sugar. I have had espresso before and it is a great compliment to sweets. But I had not had turkish coffee before and I was anxious to try it.
While I sat there picturing espresso, what was brought out to my table was entirely different. It was espresso placed in an ornate espresso holder, capped, and with a stirring spoon to match. What?!? This beautiful bakery found a way to make even their coffee beautiful to drink? I sat there and marveled. Wow.
It was one shot of espresso, not enough quantity of liquid to even warrant a designed mug. But this place saw it as so much more. Coffee that made them feel connected to their heritage, to their story. But they didn't stop there. Every detail of this tiny cup of coffee was a link to their family, to what and who they LOVE. The care they put in to select these beautiful pieces, the precision it took to brew perfect turkish coffee, all of it to connect with little things they LOVE. Family. Heritage. Home. What a sweeter treat to taste just a little part of their story!
LOVE is in the little, the little MUNDANE things that connect you to the greater story that is all of ours and the unique story that is only yours.
What are your little MUNDANE things?
