Coffee anyone?

I love coffee shops! It's not just the coffee that I love about them either. You can drink coffee anywhere, but only a proper coffee shop offers an experience. The decor and the music have to be just right. Otherwise, it might as well be a regular old restaurant. But when they get it right, for me its the perfect place to sit for hours to read a book, study, or work.

Back in 2002 to 2003, when I was still travelling all the time, I made it a habit to talk about the coffee shops I discovered in each town. I'll probably do the same thing again during my many travels in 2006, especially as many of these entries will likely be written in those coffee shops. But I've never taken the time to express my appreciation for the coffee houses here in Scotland.

When I first came to Scotland in 2001, I did not really find very many nice coffee houses. The culture was more into hanging out in pubs, and I found it very hard to locate a coffee shop that fit the standards I was looking for. However, in the last few years they have begun to pop up everywhere and are becoming very popular indeed. Some people believe that this is largely a result of the popularity of the American television series, Friends, which featured a group of young people who spent a great deal of time in a coffee shop. Whatever the case, the age of the coffee shop is definitely here in Scotland.

There are now 35 Starbucks in Scotland, though most of them are in the large cities. There are a few of them that I sometimes frequent when I'm in Glasgow, and there's a really nice one in Edinburgh that overlooks the Royal Mile. You can sit upstairs in comfortable chairs and look out over the cobblestone streets and the beautiful old buildings.

We've also got Costa Coffee and loads of other brand name franchises. However, the chain of coffee houses that I really believe to have gotten it right is Beanscene. As their website says: " Inspired by the coffee houses of 60s Soho, Greenwich Village and the Italian quarter of San Francisco, beanscene is a ‘home from home’, somewhere to kick back, relax and take life in on it’s most simple and enjoyable level." There are only ten of them so far, and once again they are just in the cities, but they are great. There is one not far from Glasgow Iranian Church where I have spent many hours preparing sermons and reading books.

Another good chain of shops is Caffè Nero. They currently have 217 shops across Britain, and they are far better than Starbucks in my opinion. Their coffee is better, and the ambience is also nicer. The only problem at the moment is that they allow smoking, whereas Starbucks doesn't, and I am allergic to cigarrette smoke so I can't stay there too long.

However, as good as all these chains may be in their own right, I don't think anything will ever take the place of a well-done locally owned coffee shop. Unfortunately, I haven't seen very many in Scotland that are well done, but we are fortunate enough to have one right here in Kirkintilloch that is well done indeed.

D'inisi is a local coffee shop that only opened here within the last few months, and it has been a wonderful blessing for me! Now I no longer have to travel half an hour's drive into the city to get a good coffee shop experience. It's owned by a local businessman who is very kind and interesting, and it has a great staff who all know me by name already. It's a great place to meet people, to read, to work, or just to sit and watch the world go by.

I suppose if my life wasn't devoted to planting churches I would be planting coffee shops. Barring that idea, though, maybe I'll just have to make sure all the churches I plant in the future are close to good ones. Rather than spending the money for an office the next church I work with could just plan cappuccinos into the budget and I could do all my work at the coffee house on the corner.

But my ramblings are getting crazy now. I've probably had too much caffeine today. I think I'll go to bed. Maybe I can write more tomorrow when I get back to the coffee shop!