The Biggest Revolution Of All

Not so long ago in Ireland it was black or white , Then just before the Y2K  something extraordinary happened the beams took over first in Dublin and then spread the movement throughout the country. This was a smooth revolution indeed , Java Republic was set up , O Brien`s suffered from Insomnia , Costa got acquainted with Regatta and Bewleys got roasted.

The society embraced and welcomed the change but expertise was needed for this new era , hundreds of Eastern European baristas came to the rescue and landed on our shores introducing a continental “je ne sais quoi “ and providing a new taste and twist to the morning coffee.

Like any revolution, it had its heroes Bobby Kerr was the sleepless commander in chief  but the new order also introduced a new  language : Black Coffee became Americano the white coffee became Latte if that was not enough it could also be Grande or Tall and most incredibly some insiders told me it could also be served with No caffeine introducing the enigmatic Decaff.

Interestingly enough some observers noted that the coffee also started to travel under the form of a Take away Cups reflecting the dynamic image of the modern Ireland. There was no going back and at that point coffee was everywhere in Ireland, multitude of Coffee shops opened and the black beverage ruled the country. Coffee governors introduced a new bill called Fair-trade outlining the values of the new revolution.

In 2002 Ireland traditionally member of the Tea Commonwealth Established Chart of Countries entered the very select Worldwide cafe club comprising of the 20 biggest Top 20 Coffee drinkers with a consumption of  0. 7 KG / per person ranking the new Republic 18th on the Global Spoon Digest Indicators. That was it !!! The transition was effective , we were no longer amateurs but connoisseurs.

The country went thru a period of stability when suddenly the country was hit by an invasion led by general Starbucks, the first fortress where Starbucks raised their proud flag was May 2008 in the now famous Beacon Quarter , they made an alliance with Borders and everything was going according to plan until 2008.

That year known as the great Arabica Storm saw coffee drinkers , coffee makers and importers alike under very severe pressure but a great republic always resists and adapts.... the Latte became skinny , the foam was under economy drive and the Americano became espresso.

To date not much has changed since except that we are not as selfish as we were once , in 2010 General Starbucks now ruler of the Republic introduced the RED policy a 5p contribution to African NGOs on each coffee being purchased. This was showing in itself the country had changed dramatically in less than 20 years.

Revolutions (from the Latin revolutio, “a turn around”) is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time. Aristotle described two types of political revolution:

• Complete change from one constitution to another
• Modification of an existing constitution.

Revolutions have occurred through human history and vary widely in terms of methods, duration, and motivating

ideology.

Their results include major changes in culture, economy and socio and political institutions

I believe Ireland has gone thru the biggest revolution of all the last 15 years but I have been told there is  even a bigger revolution called Green Tea on the way but this will be for another day

Hasta la vista Caballeros and………….. viva la revolucion !!!

Slan