The Coffee Before the Coffee

The best things don’t start when they start. They start before that.

A great meeting starts when you’re walking to the room, thinking. A great workout starts when you tie your shoes. A great song starts when the musician sits down, hands hovering over the keys.

Coffee is the same. The first sip isn’t the beginning. The beginning is when you fill the kettle. When you tap the grinder lid twice, like always. When you rinse the filter even though you’re not sure it does anything (it does).

These little things—your hand on the kettle handle, the sound of beans hitting the hopper—they set the tone. You don’t need to think about them. You just do them. And that’s the point.

No one talks about this part. People focus on the pour-over technique, the espresso ratio, the right bloom time (why that matters). But the real ritual? It happens before the coffee. And that part is just as important.

Because by the time you take that first sip, the coffee is already good.

The same thing happens with ideas. You don’t get your best ones when you sit down and try. They come when you’re rinsing the filter. When you’re standing there, waiting for the kettle to hit 205°F, doing nothing, but doing something. (This is why).

Maybe the best part of coffee isn’t the coffee. It’s the excuse to stop for a second. To do something small and specific with your hands. To let your brain wander while your body goes through the motions.

It’s not wasted time. It’s not extra. It’s the coffee before the coffee. And that part might matter even more.

Y.