Over second and third cups flow matters of high finance, high state, common gossip and low comedy. Coffee is a social binder, a warmer of tongues, a soberer of minds, a stimulant of wit, a foiler of sleep if you want it so. From roadside mugs to the classic demi-tasse, it is the perfect democrat.
Flight of the Coffee Bean
New York Times, Editorial, November 14, 1949
Sources: Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How it Transformed the World
by Mark Pendergrast (c) 1999 Basic Books, p. 235
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