Your alarm clock isn't the villain in your Monday morning story.
Neither is your boss, your commute, or that meeting that definitely could have been an email. The real culprit is sitting right there in your trembling hands while you're speed-walking to your desk like you're training for the panic Olympics.
It's your coffee. And more specifically, it's the way you're drinking it.
See, there's this weird thing that happens between Friday at 5pm and Monday at 8am. Your taste buds forget how to actually taste things. Your brain goes into survival mode. And suddenly that coffee you're chugging isn't giving you life anymore. It's just hot brown anxiety fuel that you're pouring down your throat between checking emails and wondering why you feel like a malfunctioning robot.
Here's the conspiracy nobody talks about: coffee tastes completely different when you drink it in a state of low-grade terror.
Weekend coffee hits different because you're actually present for it. You're sitting down. You're not multitasking. You're not rehearsing conversations in your head or mentally preparing for battle. You're just drinking coffee like a normal human being who deserves nice things.
But Monday coffee? That's war rations. That's fuel. That's the liquid equivalent of screaming into a pillow.
The shops that get this right understand something simple. They know that Monday morning coffee drinkers need weekend-quality coffee even more than weekend coffee drinkers do. Maybe especially more. They slow down the chaos just enough to remind you that coffee is supposed to be enjoyed, not endured.
Find your ‘happy Monday place’.
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Roaster/Cafe notes:
Wild Oat Bakery & Cafe (https://wildoat.ca/)
Ottawa, Ontario
If you are in Ottawa’s ‘the Glebe’ drop by this lovely spot for amazing nosh and great coffee. I highly recommend the Rosemary Goat Cheese Croissant.
They’ve been in business under this name since 1998 and are always busy. In their own words: “By growing our own ingredients we are able to convert sunlight energy into the final nourishing recipes for your enjoyment and health. Through this exchange we come full circle again.”
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Give your Mondays a fighting chance.