Episode 7 – The worst invention of all times
The traditional coffee made in an urn is facing extinction. Coffee is supposed to be consumed hot. The best coffee remains as the fresh brewed coffee. Then the experts say the flavour and taste of coffee will react reversely with time. It will be excellent condition if coffee can be brewed fresh every single time. This is difficult to monitor. It becomes a rivalry between convenience and taste. So there is machine which can brew different varieties of coffee in single portion on demand.
The morning call was at 6. The coach departs at 7:30. I and the other 200 people rushed down to the hotel dining room for breakfast. I need my morning coffee to kick-start the motor. The good old reliable huge coffee urn which could feed hundreds of people could not be found. There was a box with buttons resembling a desktop computer surrounded by cups and saucers. It took at least 30 seconds to brew a single cup of coffee.
The line was long. When it came to my turn, I discover all the functions on the coffee machine were all written in Spanish. Most of the people in the line could not understand what was going on and they resolved to try their luck. They pushed the buttons and it did not result in their favourable choices. Some wanted cappuccino but ended with Americana, some tried expresso but only got half portion, some just wanted plain hot water but could not find the button, (water in Spanish is Aqua), and the service people were trying to fix the coffee machine, answer questions of how to use the machine, and replenishing the condiments at the same time.
A group of real Japanese tourist showed up. The little old ladies in the group were polite and prudent. They bowed in gratitude when they asked questions, but they also kept pushing the wrong buttons on the coffee machine. Then they smiled and showed the empty coffee cups to the attendants.
This whole morning coffee affair displays the worst invention of all times – the individual freshly brewed variety coffee by a single cup.