I love coffee. And I think all of my friends know that about me. But there are tens, if not hundreds of coffee shops only in Cluj-Napoca. Scientifically speaking, coffee is way more than just a rich, delicious beverage – it’s a complex chemical and biological phenomenon. The science of coffee begins with the chemical composition of coffee beans, how they make us energetic and what effects they have on the body, and continues through the cultural meaning that not only coffee making but also coffee shops have on people.
Coffee beans have extremely complex chemical structures. When you think of coffee though, what comes to your mind? The energy it gives you? The smell? Maybe the taste it has; how bitter it can be? Perhaps you like the aesthetic look of it. Nevertheless, science can explain everything. The four most important compounds are:
- Caffeine: the stimulant that gives coffee its energy-boosting properties.
- Chlorogenic acids: antioxidants that are part of that bitter taste of coffee that some hate
- Maillard reaction products: Maillard, a French chemist, discovered that when you roast coffee beans, they produce these compounds that give coffee its distinct aroma and dark brown color.
- Trigonelline: the compound that makes coffee slightly sweet.
Coffee has a number of physiological effects on the body due to its high caffeine content, including increased alertness and focus, improved cognitive function, increased heart rate and blood pressure, greater metabolism and burning of fat due to the natural efficacy that it has.
So now that we know the substance we are dealing with, let’s dive into the ”laboratory”: the coffee shops. Just in this city, you can see at least two coffee shops within a 100 meter radius. Every single one is different too; some are elegant and bougie, others are relaxed and artsy. What’s clear is that in Cluj you‘ll always find one coffee shop that is to your liking. But what if by making coffee shops so common in Cluj, we now don’t voluntarily choose to go into a coffee shop, but rather do it out of comfort, because we are conditioned to?
Coffee shops have become a medium for conveying lifestyle and social class identity. Entertainment is a huge factor for their success. Just before sitting down to write this article I went to an amazing concert that was held at a coffee shop. Collaborations are on the rise and with the large number of youth organisations that want to make a difference, more and more coffee shops use their audience for good, making sure there is always something fun to do here: from thrift fairs to concerts to book readings, quizzes and so many other events that nobody can truly keep up with them all.
Frequenting coffee shops has become rather symbolic for particular groups to signal their importance, who are now not only men but also women. The fact that you buy overpriced coffee now is not the main focus anymore, but rather how coffee is processed, served, drunk, what it contains, and where it comes from. Changes in individuals’ habits and behaviors are related to the overconsumption of coffee in recent years. Like everything else, consumerism is taking over coffee too.
Another obvious reason for why coffee shops are always on the rise is the fact that it’s the perfect spot for most, since a lot of people are always working. Cluj-Napoca is famous in Romania for being a studious city, due to its many amazing universities it has to offer. Cafés are cozy; they have literal cups filled with caffeine and sugar and big tables where you can practically carve out your mind. Coffee shops, especially those in the city center or around high schools and universities absolutely flourish since the demand is insane.
Don’t get me wrong; I, too, love coffee shops and the culture that they bring. Every coffee shop is so different from the other yet what lures people back to them is the atmosphere of calm and relaxation they have to offer. You know, it’s almost paradoxical, it’s a double entendre if you will. You go in to relax and detach yourself for just a bit from your real problems, and at the same time buy a cup of literal energy.
But I am definitely not a genius for observing this phenomenon. In fact, to summarize what I just said, because coffee gives you energy and we now, as a society, are as work obsessed and success driven as ever in recent history, it’s easier to enjoy life inside a coffee shop, where everybody else is, instead of scouting the niche interesting places of Cluj.
Only now, more than ever, I think they are losing their purpose and instead are becoming more and more interested in their own profit, contributing to the horrid inflation in this already relatively poor country. What do I think that the solution is? There is no definitive solution. But as long as people are spending time together and are drinking it responsibly, why not let them drink coffee?
