Have you guys ever heard of suspended coffee? I didn’t until I read about it on Tumblr the other day. Apparently it’s a tradition that has been started in Naples (Italy) to help people-in-need to a cup of hot coffee.
Let’s face it: Lots of pleasures and necessities we enjoy every day are not affordable for many people. One of these pleasures is a hot cup of coffee. This is why some people started the initiative for suspended coffee.
At some coffeshops you can pay for one or two (or more) coffees in advance. You pay and leave with your own beverage. Then, when someone who can’t afford their own coffee comes in, they can ask for a suspended coffee and have the one you paid for in advance. Isn’t that a beautiful system?
You yourself probably don’t even realise that the money for the coffee is missing from your pocket. And somebody else gets to enjoy a steaming coffee shop coffee. It’s the simple things. What’s even better in my opinion, is that people don’t have to prove that they are in need of the coffee and can’t pay for it themselves. That’s risky of course, but it also shows that coffee shops trust the people coming in. And who knows, maybe you just had a bad month financially and that cup of coffee can give back some of your piece of mind?
I don’t know how many coffeeshops are already participating in the initiative (as I said, I never heard of it before), but I really hope the idea will pick up soon.
Next time I buy a coffee, I want to ask at the coffee shop is ask if they have “suspended coffee” as well. Maybe I will get to buy one for somebody else, maybe I just spread the word. Either way, it will do something for the idea of suspended coffee.
Wouldn’t it be great if cafés all over the world offered this? After all, they don’t lose anything since the coffees are paid for.
Will you help and spread the word? More information here.
hi Hanna, your new blog is reaaally pretty! :)
As for suspended coffee, it’s a really cute idea! I’ve heard of people doing that in drive throughs before, paying for the next person’s order. Although that may get expensive for that person haha. I like the idea of doing it with a single cup of coffee, easy way to pay it forward!
Hanna’s Places is a green lifestyle magazine written by Hanna Ulatowski. It’s all about slowing down in a fast-paced society and finding ways to live a more sustainable, simple lifestyle.
July 16, 2013
Oh, wow. What a great idea!!
As a barista, I haven’t heard of this particular method… however, I’ve had quite a few customers buy a $5 giftcard for me to keep and give to whomever I want (a customer who can’t afford their own, etc) — it’s like a “Pay it forward” type of thing.
I just love that! And I have people come up and buy the person behind them coffee all the time. Complete strangers! It just makes my heart happy. :)