I remember when I first tried coffee for the first time. I was a kid, no more than 5 years old and for years, I’d always remember my dad passionately stir his morning coffee while I got ready for school, waiting to hear that final tap of the spoon on the edge of the small, white, typical tazza (coffee cup) you would find in most migrant’s home in the late 80’s and early 90’s in Australia. The first time I remember scraping the creamy silk from the top of the espresso was if I had just rediscovered chocolate, candy or any other treat a kid my age would have longed for. It wasn’t until I started to grow older and realise what coffee actually meant in our world that we live in.

Our family comes from Southern Italy, where our coffee is known for being strong, short, full bodied and rich. Every year as I grew older and returned back, the first thing I’d always do (and still do) is march off the aeroplane in Rome and head to the first Bar I could find. Straight away, without any hesitation, winter, summer or late at night, I’d religiously treat myself to one (or two) espresso’s. It was as if that little piece of me I felt missing had finally come back to complete me.

We all long for something, some more than others, some less than others, but I guess its one of the things why coffee means to me what it does. A feeling of nostalgia, an avenue to reflect and think. Every time we step out in our local piazza (town square) the first thing we all do is offer one another a coffee. Its only been in recent times that I was able to relate this type of gesture, type of camaraderie to coffee. Coffee means more than a caffeine hit. I remember when I was in my early teens and I got offered my first coffee, i remember when the barista handed it to me over the counter, where I could barely see over and he goes ‘per te’ (for you). Butterflies were an understatement.

Even now, so many times we can sit down and not even realise what coffee does to us. Over a business meeting, breakfast, a simple catch up with a friend, coffee allows us to explore time in any moment and its for that very reason we can all remember when…