A Mere Excuse

Preserving cultural practices

“Souls are neither after coffee, nor coffeehouses; they are after close companionship. Coffee is merely and excuse. “ – Turkish Proverb. Globalisation facilitates the rapid spread of cultural reference frames. As some cultures are expanding, it leaves less and less space for others. This issue arises in many practices of everyday life, including coffee practices. Almost everyone knows espresso, but how many people have heard of a Jebena, Dallah, or Cezve? Even some professionals in the field don’t know much about non-western originating coffee practices. Can we give some space back to these coffee cultures? ‘A Mere Excuse’ is a coffee set designed for the preservation and exposure of Turkish coffee practices to the Western coffee culture. It aims to set a precedent of creating space in global coffee culture for more culturally diverse coffee practices and rituals. The features of the set are designed to stimulate the surfacing of cultural values of Turkish coffee, enabling the practicer to experience the coffee through a different lens.