Coffee is an affective drink, a ‘soul drink’ – 02/29/2024 – Café na Prensa

Drinking coffee can just be a habit, something necessary to wake up or give a momentary boost. Maybe an addiction, like smoking cigarettes.

But in most of Brazil there is something about coffee that goes further. It’s not like the cup that North Americans carry on their shoulders to give them extra energy at work, nor the capsule hastily inserted into the machine in a room in a building with a mirrored facade in Faria Lima.

I’m referring to filtered coffee, without rushing, for yourself, for the grandchild that’s about to arrive, for a lover or a friend on a Sunday morning.

And that smell that comforts, reminds you of home, calms the mind.

The incomparable Nina Horta (1939-2019), former columnist for this Sheet, said that soul food is “that which comforts, that flows down the throat almost without needing to be chewed, in times of pain, depression, small sadness”. “It gives security, fills the stomach, comforts the soul, reminds us of childhood and customs,” wrote Nina.

Coffee can have this comforting, almost healing function. Basílio de Magalhães reports these uses of the drink in “O Café na História, no Folclore e nas Belas-Artes” (1930).

“Strong coffee is a home remedy against poisoning of all varieties, whether pure or mixed with alcohol. Pure and without sugar, it is how it is used to cure camoécas. With burnt brandy, it serves as a beneficial sweat for defluxers. With good brandy, It is the first antidote in the case of poisoning of unknown origin”, he writes.

It is, therefore, a soul drink, with the license of Nina Horta.

A soulful drink like the coffee served by your grandmother, with plenty of milk, sugar and biscuits dipped in – an improvised delicacy.

Or as the first thing to prepare to receive a visitor who has just arrived. Offer of affection, the refusal of which constitutes cancellation.

And there is also leniency towards yourself. Grab a cup of coffee and read a book to start the day calmly. Or just to reflect and dwell on the evils of the soul. Coffee against the cold and dry throat — from dry weather or suppressed crying.

Maybe even to sleep better — stimulating the mind, calming the spirit.

The act, the aroma, the memory and the heat. It’s not always, but coffee can be soul food.

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