America, it's just a different cup of coffee

When I wrote last time about the expected and unexpected pitfalls awaiting a "Fulbrightist" coming to the US, I mentioned mainly difficulties of the administrative sort. Fortunately, after acclimatizing and overcoming a mountain of paperwork, there is finally a quieter period when you begin to settle into your temporary home. And as you unconsciously ride the imaginary rails brought from home, you find that in many ways you still have to adjust your habits.

One such thing is coffee. In modern society, coffee plays an absolutely irreplaceable role. It is not only a necessary shot in the arm but also an excuse for getting together with people. The social role of coffee is unquestionable in the United States. Even non-coffee drinkers arrange to meet "over a cup of coffee". While conversations about a favorite beverage are often just a figure of speech or a cultural reference, the coffee pot in kitchenettes virtually never cools off.

A paradise for coffee lovers? It depends. If like me, you are spoiled by Brno's coffee culture and have become accustomed to the availability of a perfect espresso on every other corner, you have to brace yourself a bit. The frequent meetings over coffee and sipping from the obligatory giant cup purchased on the way to work long after sitting down at my desk hints at the problem I'm referring to. Quantity dominates quality. Maybe it's because the market has responded to the popularity of "meetings over coffee" and usually offers the quantity that will last through a long conversation (and I really do mean long). In any case, though, even if you order a small brewed coffee, you get a cup more akin in size to a child's sandbox bucket. And given that normally strong coffee in that quantity would probably knock over a medium-sized pony, most coffee served in the US is as weak as...tea (with my apologies to tea drinkers - yes, I know that this saying about tea is pretty unfair). What can one do about it? You can experiment with different alternatives or make coffee yourself. However, if you do decide to make strong coffee in the communal kitchen for your colleagues, make sure there isn't a anyone with a heart condition among them. Then you can turn your little coffee revolt into a fun topic for conversation. During a meeting over coffee naturally.

America has one characteristic that it has benefited from over time. It is a melting pot of cultures and influences. The coffee scene is often saved by establishments preparing coffee according to recipes from different parts of the world. And these, fortunately, do not serve coffee "troughs". That said, I'd like to thank one amazing Armenian café whose drinks are definitely worth a trip to one of the multicultural neighborhoods north of the city center. They serve strong coffee that will definitely please taste buds disappointed by the experience of the various popular coffeeshop chains. It's just that the coffee won't last for the entirety of a long working meeting.

Martin Jirušek
Department of International Relations and European Studies, FSS MU
Currently a Fulbright Scholar at George Washington University, Washington, D.C.