Coffee and Conversation - A Hot Topic to Break the Ice

I was at a dinner/dance last night when the conversation turned to coffee.

I'm not sure how we started talking about it.  Oh, wait.  I brought it up.  I just happened to mention that one of my passions is drinking good coffee and blogging.  Blogging about good coffee.   

A gentleman at the table asked the question, "What's the best coffee?"  And that got the coffee bean rolling.

One thing led to another and before you knew it, you had a wonderful flow of lively dialogue about a beverage that at least all at the table drink either occasionally or every day.  

We discussed whole bean versus ground, the best coffee to buy in the store, micro roasters versus large-scale coffee production companies, brewing methods, single serve cups, the best coffee gear and soon we were in a coffee induced conversation craze.

And, as would only be "PC," we also discussed tea with the tea drinkers at the table.  Tea lovers have feelings too and are also great conversationalists.  

It was wonderful to be able to segue from the topic of coffee (and tea) to family, hobbies, professions and life in general.

Which is one of the things that I enjoy so much about coffee.  It reaches across party lines, color lines, class lines, age and gender.

Years ago, there was an ad campaign which implied that a particular brand of popular cola soft drink could bring the world together in song.  I think the same can be said about coffee.

By the way, the semi-formal dinner was topped off with what turned out to be a very decent cup of java.