The Culture of Coffee Drinkers咖啡文化

克麗絲特爾?德科斯塔 陳嘉儀 吳棋

Coffees offer us a way to look at our relationship to the larger world and see that sometimes our choices are not really our own， to think about how brands and larger market forces can help create what appear to be stable icons in our lives.咖啡為我們提供了一個(gè)視角，讓我們觀察自身與廣闊世界的關(guān)系，明白選擇并非總是由我們自己做主，并思考品牌和更大的市場(chǎng)力量如何能幫助我們創(chuàng)造出生活中那些看上去經(jīng)久不衰的文化符號(hào)。

The idea of the morning person aside， morning commuters seem to fall into one of two categories： the Caffeinated and the Un-caffeinated—the latter category being those who intend to consume coffee， but haven’t quite gotten their morning java1 yet. And they’re easily recognizable as such. The Caffeinated are bright-eyed and engaged with the day’s events already—they’re reading their morning papers， or checking email， or reading for pleasure. They’re sometimes armed with travel mugs2 or Ventis3 from their coffee shop of choice. They rattle4 the ice in the clear plastic beverage cups from mobile vendors5 on summer days. They walk a little faster in the early hours having long left last night behind.

This is not the case for the Un-caffeinated. This group sleeps through the AM commute both on the commuter trains and the subway. They’re bleary eyed. Materials they intended to review lie unattended in their laps while they linger in the previous night. They walk more slowly up the stairs and are more irritable when you hurry them along—or hurry by them. They stroll， they trudge6， they linger.

Only grown ups drink coffee

Anthropologist William Roseberry reports that coffee drinkers would have been hard pressed to find specialty coffee in the United States in the 1970s—most of the coffee in the groceries came in cans， “the roasts were light and bland，” and the decaf7 versions were terrible. Coffee drinking had been on a decline.

Waning8 consumer interest was compounded by frost in Brazil in 1975， which drove the price of the beans higher. Consumer groups called for a boycott—they would not pay more for bland coffee. The market grew even smaller at the onset of the 1980s when coffee growers and retailers realized that the current 20-29 year old generation had little interest in coffee， which they associated with their parents and grandparents. This group preferred “soft drinks”. So-called “coffeemen” didn’t know what to make of them.

The “me” generation

For the coffee industry to survive， it needed a new marketing strategy. Kenneth Roman， Jr.， the president of Ogilvy and Mather9， one of the PR firms? that supported Maxwell House10， made a suggestion： emphasize quality， value， and image by creating segmented products11 to increase appeal. The consumer was changing， and coffee-players needed to pay attention：

We are entering the “me” generation. The crucial questions “me” oriented customers will ask， of all types of products， are： “What’s in it for me？ Is the product ‘me’？ Is it consistent with my lifestyle？ Does it fill a need？ Do I like how it tastes？ What will it cost me？ Is it necessary？ Can I afford it？ Is it convenient to prepare？ How will it affect my health？”

Coffees are a naturally diverse product; their value is derived from where they are grown， size and texture of the bean， and how they are processed and roasted. Once traded， they can be blended with coffees from other places to produce complex aromas and tastes that mark each brand as distinctive.

To emphasize value， quality， the consumer needed to be made more aware about what made coffee worth the price. And so the specialty coffee was born. The vision was a type of coffee to appeal to every person， including flavored coffees for the “soft drink generation.” Coffee for the aficionados12， the penny-counters， those on-the-go13， and certainly the senior community who were already strong supporters.

The office brew

People drink coffee because it means something to them： a flavor for everyone， a style for every lifestyle—we have methodically been taught to socialize over coffee， to look for a boost in productivity from this drink.

If you live in a large urban center like New York City， there is a demand for productivity at all hours. The office coffee machine serves two purposes： it’s a convenience for you， the coffee drinker， but it’s also a productivity booster for employers who want employees to get down to work when they arrive. We consume coffee as a means of performing the tasks we need to complete in the setting of the workplace. We use it to ward off14 boredom and fatigue. Perhaps there is a sense that carrying coffee or having it nearby confers15 the idea of productivity also. So not only are we drinking it to get us through the day’s activities， but we have it with us to seem like we’re busy and productive during times when we’re not actually working—it could almost be classified as a status symbol16.

Coffee： It’s personal

Over the years， coffee drinking seems to have moved farther away from the social activity that it initially appears to be. While people still frequent coffee houses for leisure activities， it’s far more likely to see a variety of folks working on laptops or reading， or doing some other form of productive work at coffee houses. The number who are there solely for social purposes seems very small.

We’re identified by the brand that we drink， by the coffee houses we frequent， and by the process by which the beans are grown and harvested. We tout17 words such as “Free-Trade” and organic. It is all about “me.” But as Roseberry concludes， these connections have been carefully structured by the market：

That is to say， my newfound freedom to choose and the taste and discrimination I cultivate， have been shaped by traders and marketers responding to a long-term decline in sales with a move toward market segmentation along class and generational lines ... we exercise those choices in a world of structured relationships， and part of what those relationships structure （or shape） is both the arena18 and the process of choice itself.

Coffees offer us a way to look at our relationship to the larger world and see that sometimes our choices are not really our own. The “me” that we have come to emphasize may be less personal than we realize.

你是個(gè)愛(ài)早起的人嗎？

暫且撇開(kāi)“晨型人”這一觀念不談，早晨上班族似乎分為兩種類型：喝了咖啡的和沒(méi)喝咖啡的——后者是指那些本想喝尚未喝上的人，很容易辨識(shí)。那些喝了咖啡的人精神煥發(fā)，已經(jīng)開(kāi)始一天的活動(dòng)——讀晨報(bào)、查閱電子郵件，或是看閑書。他們有時(shí)帶著旅行杯或是從各自青睞的咖啡店中買的大杯咖啡。夏季，他們端著流動(dòng)小攤上買的透明塑料杯飲品，把里面的冰塊搖得咔噠作響。他們?cè)谇宄勘葎e人都走得更快一點(diǎn)，早已擺脫了前一晚的睡夢(mèng)。

但那些沒(méi)喝咖啡的人就不是這樣了。在通勤火車和地鐵上，這群人能睡上一路。他們睡眼惺忪，本想拿來(lái)瀏覽的材料放在膝頭，動(dòng)都沒(méi)動(dòng)過(guò)，他們還待在昨夜的睡夢(mèng)中。他們爬樓梯時(shí)總是比別人慢，當(dāng)你催促他們或從他們旁邊匆匆走過(guò)，他們都愈加焦躁。他們慢慢溜達(dá)，步履沉重，徘徊不前。

只有成年人才喝咖啡

人類學(xué)家威廉·羅斯伯里報(bào)告稱：在20世紀(jì)70年代的美國(guó)，喝咖啡的人要找到特制咖啡相當(dāng)困難——食品雜貨店賣的咖啡大多是罐裝，“烘焙咖啡都淡而無(wú)味”，并且脫咖啡因咖啡也很難喝。喝咖啡的風(fēng)尚正日益衰退。

1975年巴西霜災(zāi)推高咖啡豆的價(jià)格，這使本就逐漸消退的咖啡消費(fèi)興趣進(jìn)一步減退。消費(fèi)者群體呼吁抵制咖啡，他們不會(huì)再為乏淡寡味的咖啡掏腰包。20世紀(jì)80年代肇始，咖啡市場(chǎng)變得更小。這時(shí)咖啡種植者和零售商意識(shí)到，20多歲的年輕人對(duì)咖啡毫無(wú)興趣，只有他們的父母、祖父母那一輩人才會(huì)喜歡。這個(gè)群體更喜歡“軟飲料”。而那些所謂的“咖啡人”并不能理解這些人。

“自我”時(shí)代

咖啡產(chǎn)業(yè)若想繼續(xù)存活下去，就需要制定新的市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷策略。奧美集團(tuán)是為麥斯威爾咖啡出謀劃策的公關(guān)公司之一，其總裁小肯尼恩·羅曼提出了如下建議：通過(guò)生產(chǎn)針對(duì)特定消費(fèi)群體的產(chǎn)品，突出產(chǎn)品的質(zhì)量、價(jià)值與形象，從而提升產(chǎn)品的吸引力。消費(fèi)者在變，咖啡從業(yè)者需要注意到這一點(diǎn)：

我們正在進(jìn)入“自我”時(shí)代。對(duì)于所有類型的咖啡產(chǎn)品，以自我為中心的顧客總是會(huì)問(wèn)：“我能從中得到什么？它適合我嗎？它符合我的生活方式嗎？它能滿足我的需求嗎？我會(huì)喜歡它的口味嗎？它會(huì)花我多少錢？買下它對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)有必要嗎？我買得起嗎？它沖煮是否方便？它會(huì)對(duì)我的健康產(chǎn)生怎樣的影響？”這些問(wèn)題在他們看來(lái)至關(guān)重要。

咖啡是天然的多元產(chǎn)品。原產(chǎn)地、咖啡豆的大小質(zhì)地及加工炒制都會(huì)影響咖啡的價(jià)值。一經(jīng)交易，不同產(chǎn)地的咖啡可被混合在一起以產(chǎn)生混合芳香與口味，從而使每一種咖啡品牌各具特色。

為了突顯咖啡的價(jià)值與質(zhì)量，需要讓顧客進(jìn)一步了解是什么讓咖啡值這個(gè)價(jià)錢。特制咖啡由此應(yīng)運(yùn)而生。他們的理想是為每一個(gè)人提供適合其飲用的咖啡，包括適合“軟飲料一代”的調(diào)味咖啡。無(wú)論是咖啡控、節(jié)儉者、忙碌者還是本就酷愛(ài)喝咖啡的老年人，都能找到適合自己的咖啡。

辦公室飲品

人們之所以喝咖啡是因?yàn)檫@對(duì)他們而言有某種意義：一種適合每個(gè)人的風(fēng)味，一種適合每種生活方式的風(fēng)尚——我們一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)學(xué)會(huì)了通過(guò)咖啡來(lái)社交，并希望通過(guò)咖啡這種飲料來(lái)迅速提高生產(chǎn)效率。

如果生活在像紐約市這樣的大型城市中心區(qū)，就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)那里無(wú)時(shí)無(wú)刻不要求生產(chǎn)效率。辦公室里的咖啡機(jī)有兩個(gè)作用：一是方便愛(ài)喝咖啡的人，二是幫助老板提升到崗員工工作效率的利器。我們?cè)诠ぷ鲌?chǎng)所喝咖啡，是把咖啡當(dāng)作完成必要任務(wù)的工具。我們用咖啡來(lái)驅(qū)除枯燥感與疲勞感。也許拿著一杯咖啡或者把咖啡放在邊上，還顯示出工作頗有效率的意味。因此，我們喝咖啡不僅是為了撐完一天的工作，也是為了讓自己在實(shí)際上并沒(méi)有工作的時(shí)候依舊看起來(lái)很忙、很高效——這幾乎成了一種地位的象征。

咖啡：關(guān)乎個(gè)人

這些年來(lái)，喝咖啡似乎已超越了最初的社交活動(dòng)的界限。雖然人們依舊常去咖啡館休閑娛樂(lè)，不過(guò)在咖啡館里，我們更有可能看到的是形形色色的人在用手提電腦辦公、閱讀，或者在做其他一些富有成效的工作。僅僅為了社交目的而去咖啡館的人現(xiàn)在似乎不多見(jiàn)了。

我們喝的咖啡品牌、常去的咖啡館以及咖啡豆種植與收獲的過(guò)程無(wú)不帶有自我的身份標(biāo)志。我們標(biāo)榜諸如“自由貿(mào)易”“有機(jī)”之類的詞語(yǔ)，這些都關(guān)乎“自我”。但正如羅斯伯里所言，這種聯(lián)系早已被市場(chǎng)精心建構(gòu)：

也就是說(shuō)，我新近獲得的自由選擇權(quán)、我所培養(yǎng)的口味和鑒別力，都是被商人和市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷者塑造出來(lái)的。為了應(yīng)對(duì)銷售額的長(zhǎng)期下降，他們依據(jù)階層與代際差異對(duì)消費(fèi)人群進(jìn)行分類……我們?cè)谝粋€(gè)被建構(gòu)過(guò)的關(guān)系世界中做出那些選擇，而那些關(guān)系所構(gòu)建（或塑造）的部分結(jié)果，就是我們做出選擇的環(huán)境和過(guò)程本身。

咖啡為我們提供了一個(gè)視角，讓我們觀察與廣闊世界的關(guān)系，明白選擇并非總是由我們自己做主。我們所強(qiáng)調(diào)的“自我” ，也許并非我們想象的那樣完全屬于我們自己。

（譯者單位：復(fù)旦大學(xué)奇境譯坊）