A latte my time is spent in cafes; they just seem to perk me up. All of my favorite things nestled into one little bustling shop filled with the irresistible aroma of freshly ground coffee beans. Often times, peculiar knickknacks ranging from tic-tac-toe games to detailed plans of how to take over the world pile up over the years and come to cover every square inch of the used-to-be walls. Planning to take over the world - to some degree - is a common occurrence in a coffee shop. Just a few months back I sat in the very cafe where Lenin sat with Kamenev and Trotsky discussing tactics for what would later become the Bolshevik Revolution. If sitting, sipping history like that doesn't get your heart pumping, than I suspect no amount of caffeine will either.

 

The coffee shop itself is a social setting that continues to evolve. Each cafe draws in a different crowd, but is it the coffee shop that draws them in or is it the coffee? As a devoted coffee-drinker and lover off all things espresso, I would argue that it's a bit of both. 

 

Whatever it is that draws us into coffee shops - and whatever it is that keeps us there for hours discussing paintings, politics, and prose, I hope it never changes.