THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBLIC
X MOONSTRUCK
COFFEE
1 COFFEEISM
Caro strikes a match, cups the flame and lights a candle. She places the candle inside a lantern, and pauses to admire the flickering flame.
Caro takes a deep breath in. The scent of matches reminds her of childhood; of visiting her grandparents who preferred not to use electricity.
Caro takes her grandmother’s old metal coffee grinder off the shelf and fills it with beans that she bought from the man across the road. The beans are fragrant, and the fragrance intensifies as she grinds. Sometimes Caro smells the same fragrance on the air when the coffee man roasts beans. She loves these moments.
Caro pours the ground coffee into an elaborate contraption and puts the kettle on. She takes her favourite cup out of the cupboard and places it on a matching saucer.
Her flatmate, Ruben walks into the kitchen. He’s tousle-haired and grumpy and he says: “This is getting a bit out of hand isn’t it? Making coffee by candlelight?”
He flicks on the kitchen light.
“How long does it take you to make your morning coffee anyway? That grinder is so loud.”
Caro replies: “Oh sorry, I didn’t realise you could hear it. I can go on the balcony next time. I love the ritual. It makes the rest of the day better.”
Ruben: “But that’s just because you’re addicted to caffeine, isn’t it? It would be mad to go outside to make coffee. What if it’s raining? Just have some instant. You’ll still feel good.”
Caro: “It’s not about the caffeine. My ritual is about the pause. The chance to appreciate the present moment and appreciate being alive.”
Ruben: “Can’t you just do that at any moment? Why does it involve coffee? It must be because you’re addicted. There’s no shame in that, I am too.”
Ruben spoons instant coffee into a mug.
Caro picks up her coffee and walks towards the bookcase by the door.
Caro: “Well I’m not going to try and convince you, but I will share an idea from The Book of Coffee before I go. Julian Baggini says that in the Western world, religion has taught us that life is suffering and happiness and paradise come only in the afterlife. He says we can learn from Okakura Kakuzo, the author of ‘The Book of Tea’, and the philosophy that the meaning, joy, and wonder of life can be experienced while we are alive, in small mindful moments, like drinking a cup of tea…or a cup of coffee. Baggini has coined the term “Coffeeism” to describe this new philosophy.
Ruben: “Bloody Hell, this is worse than I thought. Can’t a coffee just be a coffee rather than a philosophy?”
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
Ritual
What do you think of Caro’s coffee ritual?
Do you have any important daily rituals? What makes them important?
What is the role of ritual in human lives?
Coffee is often at the heart of daily rituals. Why?
Why Coffee?
If you drink coffee, why do you drink it? If you don’t drink coffee, why not?
Why do you think so many people drink coffee?
James Hoffmann says “Caffeine is readily available in pill form, but we’d much rather have the inconvenience of the drink because of how it makes us feel” (Hoffmann, 2026, 13). What do you think?
Coffeeism
What do you think about Julian Baggini’s description of “Coffeeism”?
How might elevating everyday moments change a person’s life? Any advantages? Any disadvantages?
How important is it to be present while drinking coffee? Or doing anything else?
Caro drinks coffee by herself, but many people drink coffee socially. Why do you think coffee is such an important part of socialising? Is it for the same reasons as solitary coffee rituals or different ones?
By Bonny Astor, founder of TEiP (THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBLIC). Read more of her writing here.
Additional Sources:
Baggini, J. (2026). The book of coffee: A philosophy. Mitchell Beazley.
Hoffmann, J. (2026). Foreword. In J. Baggini, The book of coffee: A philosophy. Mitchell Beazley.
2 Quotes from The Book of Coffee that you might find interesting:
QUOTE 1: “From childhood, Westerners are taught that what matters lies either beyond or in the grand life projects that take the place of transcendental religious values, such as family, career and material success. In such a culture, the mundane is not revered but reviled. To enjoy an everyday pleasure in passing is just about acceptable, but to elevate it to the meaning of life is decadent. It turns the cosmic order on its head. Yet such an inversion is exactly what the Western world needs, although it does not yet understand it.” (Baggini, 2026, 31)
QUOTE 2: “Coffeeism [a philosophy built around coffee] offers not salvation but something that could etymologically have carried the same name. 'Salvation' derives from the Latin salvare, to save. In another possible world, it could have derived from the Old English sealf, 'healing ointment, the root of the modern word 'salve. Coffeeism salves, it does not save, and in so doing it is superior to traditions that promise a salvation that is illusory and impossible. In its mundanity, Coffeeism offers something that is relatively simple, cheap and available, rather than complex, costly and rare. ” (Baggini, 2026, 35)
2 TASTE TEST
It’s an odd challenge: coffee tasting under duress.
Frank can’t believe he’s in this situation. It's like something out of a movie.
He imagines that if his life was a film, this would be a slow-mo moment. The camera would zoom in on a single bead of sweat on Frank’s brow. Then cut to his white knuckles gripping the chair. Then to the two small coffee cups on the table in front of him.
For over a year, Frank has been undercover, infiltrating a drug cartel by pretending to be a coffee trader. He’s become valuable to the cartel because of his ‘expert knowledge of import/export routes’ (information supplied by the secret services).
But recently, the cartel bosses have realised that there’s a spy amongst them. And Frank has been caught.
Well, kind of.
Frank’s captors are still trying to work out whether or not they believe his cover story. They’ve quizzed him about coffee and are satisfied that he knows all the facts, but they know he could have learned those facts. So they’ve set him a challenge: a coffee tasting.
If Frank really is the expert he claims to be, he’ll surely be able to tell them which coffee is specialty coffee and which is ordinary supermarket coffee.
Frank’s hands are clammy.
He has never been very good at telling the difference between coffees. Until now, he has relied upon the coffee packaging and descriptive tasting notes to blag a sophisticated pallet. But he can’t rely on that now; they may have swapped the bags.
One of the captors takes a sip of the coffee with fancier packaging and says “Mmmm this one’s nice…delicious…notes of green apple!”
Frank knows they’re trying to trick him, but is it a bluff or a double bluff?
He also knows that impressions of taste are easily influenced.
Frank’s mind flashes through significant coffees he’s had:
An outstanding espresso on the balcony of a 5 star hotel in early morning sunlight
A shitty Americano in paper cup from a small cafe outside LaGuardia Airport
A surprisingly sour coffee at a place called Betty’s with a totally red and white interior.
A sweet and comforting coffee on a beach in Mexico, served by his smiling mother in law
These coffees were all surely different, but Frank wonders how much his sense of taste was affected by the context of the situation. If all those coffees were poured into identical cups and presented to him now, would he be able to say which was which?
“TASTE!”
Frank snaps back to the present moment. The moment of truth.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
Speciality or Supermarket
How would you feel in Frank’s shoes? Would it be a 50/50 guess? Or do you back your coffee tasting skills?
Would you close your eyes, or keep them open?
Influenced
If you think back over the memorable coffees in your life, how much of your impression of them is down to contextual factors, and how much to the coffee itself (substitute coffee with something else you love if you don’t drink coffee)
What might influence someone’s taste?
Of the following, which factor do you think would be most influential?
What they read before tasting
The kind of cup the coffee is in
The context in which they are drinking it
The price tag
Who they are with
Perception and Reality
Why is taste subject to influence?
Can we ever be sure that the same cup of coffee tastes the same to someone else?
If you answered ‘no’ to the previous question: what ramifications does this have on our perception of shared reality more generally?
By Bonny Astor, founder of TEiP (THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBLIC). Read more of her writing here.
3 CAFE CALAMITY
Johan, Valentina, and Priya are in a band together. They practice after work in a disused church hall. Their gigs are always in the evening. And on the rare occasions they have socialised together, it has always happened at night.
After 3 years, they’re finally ready to record their first album. Their studio is booked for 10AM tomorrow morning.
The night before they exchange messages on Whatsapp.
Priya: We need to fill out some forms before arriving at the studio. And also run through the set list.
Johan: Meet at Starbucks at 8:30?
Valentina: Starbucks?!
Johan: ?
Valentina: We can’t meet in Starbucks.
Johan: Why not?
Valentina: Because it’s a massive chain with no scruples. Because it destroys the fabric of local neighbourhoods. Because the coffee they use comes from monoculture crops, endangering biodiversity and the livelihoods of their farmers. I could go on…
Johan: I love Starbucks. It’s the only place I get coffee.
Valentina: ?!?!?!
Priya: Can we find somewhere else acceptable to both of you? What do you love so much about Starbucks?
Johan: It’s predictable, reliable, not fussy, and inclusive. It has free wifi and toilets and you can stay as long as you like without being hassled. I hate cafés that make you feel awkward if you stay too long.
Valentina: I can’t believe this, how have we known each other this long and never come up against this before? I care so much about my consumption choices. I want to know that the coffee is fairtrade and environmentally friendly, that the business pays their workers well, that they respect the local area.... I never support chains.
@Priya what do you think?
Priya: I sometimes have coffee at Starbucks, but I also like quirky independent cafes. It doesn’t really matter to me. Can we find a middle ground for tomorrow?
Valentina: I think in some ways that’s worse…if you don’t have a reason for doing what you’re doing, you can’t explain or defend it. At least Johan has an argument for going to Starbucks.”
Johan: Oops @Priya… you’re worse than a Starbucks go-er.
Valentina: I’m actually serious about this. You guys respect Vegans and Vegetarians for their ethical choices. My decision to only drink fairtrade, agriculturally thoughtful coffee from independent cafés is an ethical choice.
Priya: Hang on, I do have some rationale behind my choice. I choose the middle path. That’s my life philosophy. I don’t think it’s wise to be extreme about things.
Johan: So have we reached a stumbling block on the eve of our recording? Just because we’ve never had coffee together before? What more don’t we know about each other?
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
Mediation
You are the fourth band mate. How do you resolve this situation?
Three Preferences
What do you think of Johan’s love of Starbucks? Anything you agree with/disagree with?
How about Valentina’s (strong) preference for independent cafés?
And what about Priya’s ‘middle path’ attitude?
Why do you think these three band-mates have such different preferences?
Ethical Choices
How much should people be expected to justify their choices?
Should choices about the source of products like coffee be considered as valid as choices like Veganism and Vegetarianism?
How much does the type of coffee you drink matter? How much do you pay attention to it as the consumer?
How responsible should we feel when choosing?
By Bonny Astor, founder of TEiP (THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBLIC). Read more of her writing here.
STAY IN THE LOOP
Join the mailing list for event updates, stories, reflections and the occasional invitation.