Lost thoughts: a love letter to coffee shops

Echoing the spirit of Dolly Alderton, a thank you is owed to the sentiment which coffee shops have so far played in my twenties. A place of little judgement and a whole lot of chill, one can blend into a coffee shop and merge with the background like camouflage in a jungle.

Often I will not buy a coffee. I am not a lover of caffeine in frothed form, owing to a vast amount of burnt milk as a barista in a past life, nor do smoothies float my boat. A can of ice cold coke or a chocolate is enough to suffice. In student life you cannot spend excess to go sit elsewhere, so therefore one buys just enough to make a qualifying purchase, but not enough to break the student budget. Top picks for a treat include Pret's dark chocolate and almond cookie, their olive and pistachio chicken salad or a Coke Zero. Cafe Nero do a what I would call exotic fruit selection for a coffee shop and I highly rate Starbucks chocolate coins. It’s a random diet in a coffee shop one must admit.

I like the power I feel sat there working. It dictates I have made the effort to get up for the day, somewhat put myself together in a random fashion (it’ll either be an oversized jumper and leggings or a full on polo neck and skirt combo). Laptop in front on could be working or doing uni work, the solitary peace is delightful for an hour. Calm and stillness as you get to be nosy at other people’s conversations. I like the environment.

At the grand age of 20 I have spent the best part of the year in coffee shops, different towns and different cities. I like the idea of having a remote job and chance to work in clothes of my choice and at my leisure. I’d like to venture to more shops abroad, this I have not mastered yet. Perhaps because when abroad last summer I lacked significant work to do. This year might be different who knows. An ode to coffee shops, a love that is likely never to waiver.