Coffee can flood the soul of a city, staining all it touches, putting a little caffeinated twitch into the movements of a day. Doesn’t matter where on this planet you are, really: The storied beverage drips through every human-dense metroscape under the sun.
And what’s it like, coffee culture, in the world’s busiest urban hubs? How did it get there, how does it flourish and spread, what are the customs and innovations, the recombinations of attendant traditions, in each particular city? Who are the people involved in that culture, the communities that form around or are enhanced by coffee’s fragrant perfusion?
Drift magazine knows. Drift magazine tells you.
Drift is published twice yearly, appearing as a thick and perfect-bound volume of impeccable design, heavily photo-illustrated, filled with the research and considerations of writers from across the globe. Bonus: The magazine contains no advertising.
The first issue of Drift focused on New York City. That issue, released last November, is sold out.
The second issue of Drift, released just a few weeks ago, focuses on Tokyo. That issue – with its appraising looks at kissaten culture and the new specialty shops across the city, at the growing presence of the Blue Bottle enterprise, even at the ubiquity and wild diversity of canned coffee, and more – I’m afraid that issue is also sold out.
[Note: I swear I’m not writing this as a tease; the gorgeous Tokyo volume wasn’t sold out when I got a copy for myself last week; but, as with many worthwhile projects in this world, Drift goes fast.]
Here’s the thing: You can get a subscription, to be sure you don’t miss the issues yet to come.
I can’t tell you what cities the magazine will be covering next, but I suspect Drift co-founder Adam Goldberg’s choice will be as impressive as the many photographs he provided for the Tokyo issue, which are damned impressive – information-rich and deeply evocative of time and place and mood … And so, my reasoning runs, we can be certain of readerly, coffee-aficionado satisfaction no matter the metropolis.
As if it weren’t as obvious as an accidental splotch of Tanzanian Peaberry on a stark white blouse: Drift is highly recommended.
This article appears in July 24 • 2015.