When we like to consume a product, wherever we go or visit we look for it to enjoy and comment on its variations. In the case of coffee, it is the same. I've been a fan of this drink for many years, and I'm always looking forward to trying its variations. So when I pass by a new coffee shop, I go in and experience it. Inevitably and unconsciously, I compare it to other places, the quality of the coffee and the cosiness of the place.

This habit, cultivated over the years, and combined with the fact that I travel very little or never, has resulted in you becoming attached to a place. At first, perhaps you do it out of habit, then you realize that this place has something that you can't find anywhere else.

I think that around Coffee not only encourages the habit of consuming it, as a family inheritance, in my case; but it also recreates habits, routines and rituals that accompany these adventures. My grandfather Andrés worked sewing shoes for a small factory, here in the city of Cumaná. His workplace was a very old house that still exists in the center of the city. He had the habit of drinking coffee, very pure and without sugar, in a nearby bakery, twice during his work day. One at ten in the morning and another at four in the afternoon, always in the same place, the Sucre bakery.

I often had the opportunity to go with him. Although I never asked him why he went to the same place, with so many small coffee shops in the city center, I know that he complemented his taste for coffee with his taste for the place. Although we are creatures of habit, I now really think that what makes you come back to visit a place is definitely its people, the service. So, over time you get to know them and they get to know you. They welcome you with cordiality, they know your favorite places to sit, how you like your coffee, they offer you something new on the menu, they wish you a good morning and they kindly serve you as best they can.

Although it is true that I will not return to a place where the coffee is of dubious quality, I give great importance to the relationships that are woven around people and that They help to have a pleasant time.

So, definitely, to make a coffee shop my favorite place, it has to do with the combination of two key factors: the attention of its people and the quality of the coffee. Maybe I also learned that from my grandfather. Something added, which has only my own is that it has to be an open space, with windows, where you can choose between natural air (especially when I want to read) and air conditioning.

Something additional that has The Panettería is on my way, almost in the center of the city, where the transportation is good for me to go to my house and to my work. My work schedule is complicated so for this reason it is important and good for me that my coffee shop is accessible, so I can go at any time.

Choosing a place says something about you. Your preferences, your habits and your values. I think that when you have something you like and around which to organize other tastes, it is doubly important that you know how to select and stay. This day Andrés, my partner in coffee adventures, we decided on American cappuccino and Lungo; ham and cheese pastry and a chicken farmer. For dessert a Dandy.

Needless to say, everything was excellent, as always…so we had a simple, very pleasant time. So, what more could you ask for on a perfect day at my favorite coffee shop?

All the photos were taken with my Redmi11 phone and edited in PowerPoint.
The translation into English was done with Google.
The gif was made with Giphy.