Coffee experience is well known for its complex sensory characteristics and is often consumed for the sensory experience it provides.

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See the light! Always expose yourself to some good (ideally natural) lighting. The sun is there for a reason.
Find a comfortable position and slow down. Then, inhale and exhale deeply. Once you feel calmer, try to relax your muscles.
Choose your favorite cup. Ideally, it won’t have a handle and its interior color will be light, allowing for a better contrast between the cup and coffee.
Look at your beverage, and try to imagine how long the coffee’s journey was in leading up to your cup. Think of the growing plantation, which will take around five years before yielding its first production. Consider the hardworking picker, who hand-selected only the best cherries. Dwell upon the packing process, the delivery to coffee roasters, the actual roasting, subsequent packaging, and trip to your home. This acknowledgment will alter the way you experience coffee altogether!

Think about the cup as well. How many people drank coffee from that same vessel? Who were they and what were their stories? Bask in memories, real and imagined.
Activating your sense of hearing:
- Listen to the sound of poured coffee.
- Listen to the sound of the cup each time you place it on the table.
- Enjoy the quietness around you after you pour your coffee.
Activating your sense of sight:
- Swirl the coffee in your cup, and try to follow the miniature waves.
- While doing so, follow the trail of steam against surrounding rays of light. Watch it dance from the cup with grace.
- Try to make note of the changing coffee colors. Also, observe your reflection. If it’s good light, you might see yourself inside the cup. If you do, be sure to smile—the positive energy’s sweeter than sugar.
- f you use a glass server, actually look at the world through your coffee. You might see it very differently.
- The color of your cup is important, as brighter colors tend to induce respectively brighter moods.
- If you’re adding milk or sugar to your coffee, observe, how the color changes upon adding these components.

Activating your sense of touch:
- Clasp your cup/mug in two hands, and start to roll it between them slowly.
- While performing this movement, you can relaxingly massage your hands—especially if the cup has an interesting texture.
- Focus on the temperature too. As different materials conduct heat differently, use the right cup for the weather.
Activating your lips’ sense of touch:
- Bring the cup to your mouth, and try to focus on the material, structure, and temperature, slowly—slowly—taking a drink.
Activate your sense of taste:
- Try to pour coffee over your tongue, or dip your tongue into the coffee and try to feel the body and taste completely.
- Try to bring the coffee oils to the top part of your mouth and sense the flavors between them.
- Swirl the coffee in your mouth this time. Appreciate the flavors’ intensity and structure, recognizing that those flavors are changing as they interact with your physiology.

Activate your breath by inhaling deeply through both the nose and mouth. Try to keep your eyes closed, and focus all of your attention on smell. The aroma plays an important role in calming you down, and this can increase your flavor experience.
Focus on the aftertaste. Once a drink of coffee disappears down your throat, the experience isn’t over. Compare the flavor with others in your memory bank. Which ones does the aftertaste remind you of?
Try to feel how the coffee continues on its path to your stomach. Note the warm energy spreading around your body.

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If you feel that the meditation may be too complicated for you, consider this simple alternative:

• Find a comfortable place to sit—at home or in a café.
• Put your legs straight, not crossed (as this can block your energy from spreading through your body).
• Start with one long inhalation of the coffee’s aroma. Then, take a single sip.
• Keep the quaff in your mouth for some time, and let your mind wander.

Once you’ve mastered this little routine, apply your meditation elsewhere. We take too much of our lives for granted, but change is always possible!

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