Nostalgic Ritual: Love in a Coffee Cup

Today I woke up early to a surprisingly beautiful August day in New England. The weather is not muggy as usual, and the breeze is soft and refreshing. I went for a breather on my balcony, and the breeze whiffed a pleasant scent. I looked around to see my gardenia and hibiscus blooming! So, I decided to have my coffee outside. In a moment, the combination of coffee and gardenia's smell nostalgically transported me back in time to Aleppo's daily slow-paced mornings and evoked a chain of memories.

The Syrian coffee ritual starts while making the coffee itself and preparing the presentation tray. The smell of coffee boiling wakes every single cell in our bodies. Pouring the coffee into the mini cups and sitting outside surrounded by Damascus Jasmine and Gardenia. The comforting mixture of Jasmine and gardenia's fragrances with a splash of ambrosial cardamom smell of our coffee make us go through our days. A ritual that our ancestors began and passed through generations. All significant events and conversations were built upon this ritual. Making coffee, pouring coffee, and enjoying coffee with the aromatic fragrance of conventional flowers.

In Syria, the universal play date for young girls' images preparing and making coffee for a coffee date with their friends. Growing up, I had my own play-set of coffee cups and pots, and I used to play coffee dates with my cousin and brother. Even though we are only drinking water from our cups, we mimic the exact ritual as a preparation for the moment that we get to have our actual coffee dates. Years passed by, and I started to develop a taste of coffee! And I began to have coffee dates with my mum and some friends at home. The chemistry combination of smells calms your brain and boosts your energy while leaving a pleasant taste for some time.

Since I moved from Syria after the devastating war, I continuously miss the coffee dates with my mum and aunts. Growing up, I thought of myself getting married and move with my husband to our marital house, and I pictured the morning coffee with the exact same ritual when my mum visits me at my place. Unfortunately, this has never happened. I moved out to a different country, and my mum never got the chance to visit me and have a coffee date.

Syrian coffee is not just a flavor and caffeine. It is an authentic social legacy that takes you back to the dearest events of your life. I always make sure to bring a jar or two of our authentic coffee with me back from home. It even became a habit to request friends to bring me some from my mother's favorite blend if they visited Aleppo for vacation.

Everyone has a particular way of making coffee that makes a slight difference in the overall taste. I would recognize a coffee made by my mother from the first sip without seeing her preparing it. We always joked about it at home and called it mum's secret coffee recipe. Now, after tasting coffees from all over the world, I know it is not a secret recipe. My mother's love and care make her coffee tastes deliciously different from any other coffee cup that I have ever tasted.

Until I can share a coffee date with my mum at my place, I will document this moment and enjoy my coffee for today!