The first whiff of coffee; an awakening of the senses.
The first sip; the ability to form sentences.
A leisurely sipping experience — things are as per plan.
Then, a series of hurried gulps — perhaps it’s time to scram?
And finally, the mandatorily measured last taste;
A slow burn that spells out the day’s fate.
Coffee — it’s the liquid that feeds creativity, the elixir that revives a dying day, and it comes with the ability to get all the tasks on your list ticked. So how exactly did a tiny seed with enormous superpowers become so popular and accessible?
When humankind was gifted coffee, it came wrapped in content strategy.
Legend has it that in the 9th century, a goat herder in the mountains of Ethiopia noticed his goats behaving unusually energetic, dancing and frollicking about. This man, named Kaldi, observed that his goats were eating tiny red berries, and decided to sample the fruit for himself. Invigorated and excited, he wanted to tell everyone about his discovery.
There was no social media in 850 CE, so Kaldi decided to tell the OG influencer of his time; his neighbourhood religious leader! Unfortunately, the monks had no faith in the berries, deemed them an abomination of the devil, and commanded that the coffee be burnt. It was when the powerful aroma of deliciously soft burning coffee enveloped the room that the monks decided to try some for themselves. They poured some hot water onto the freshly roasted beans, and enjoyed the very first cups of Americano.
Now converts, these monks gave coffee the influencer stamp of approval, and disseminated information to their other influencer friends in nearby villages. Soon, news of this magical berry spread around the world, and coffee made its way to Yemen, then to Egypt, Turkey, Persia, India, Indonesia, and Europe. Wherever coffee went, it took with it a culture of coffee houses. In Arabia, these places were known as Schools of the Wise, and in England, they were called Penny Universities. Precursors to modern day cafés, these coffee houses were social hubs of conversation: political, social, and intellectual. They stimulated community-building and bonding over one shared passion: a steaming hot pot of coffee.
Today, revenue from the coffee industry stands at nearly USD 90 billion; and this gigantic industry is powered by a content strategy that has withstood the test of several hundreds of years. This content strategy included a strong story, powerful information dissemination, influencer support, and community building that resulted in extreme brand faith and repeat clientele.
At Single Origin, we don’t have dancing goats, but we do have pots and pots of strong coffee, and we believe it helps us tell stories.