The first cup of coffee I bought.

I remember the first cup of coffee I ever bought.

That’s mad right. I can’t remember the first cup of tea I bought or the first pair of shoes, but I can remember the first cup of coffee. 

I was 16 and was going for a job interview… yes it was 28 years ago! 

I know that nowadays 12 and 13yo’s are drinking coffee, I see them in Starbuck ordering an extra shot and cinnamon syrup, but when I was 16 coffee was not the retail force it is now.  

I drank tea or fizzy pop and everyone I knew did. My dad drank coffee, it was instant and he drank it strong, really strong (4 heaped spoons) and it stank! 

Anyway, back to my first cup of coffee, right?

The job interview was a group interview for a stockbroker in Glasgow, they held group interviews and met you in the lobby of a posh hotel in the west end of Glasgow and took you up to a room, I was suitably dressed in my best (only) suit, with polished shoes and a folder with my CV…I was terrified. 

It was the start of the summer holidays and I wanted to make money over summer before going back to school in the Autumn, this was the best paying option and I was totally up for it... I was going to get the job, I decided, and wanted to make a good impression. 

How fo you make a good impression, be early, so I was 40 mins! 

As I sat in the lobby in my suit, full of excitement and nerves a member of staff came over and asked if I wanted a cup of tea or coffee and in an instant, I said, yes please a coffee. Looking back I know why, somewhere in the back of my head I’d decided that coffee was more sophisticated, more grown-up and I was trying to impress. 

I drank it white with loads of sugar and to be honest it was nothing special, but it was the start of a life long association in my mind between coffee and business, it’s the drink we use to indicate a meeting with some gravitas, pop in for a cup of tea is a different thing from “let’s have a coffee and discuss it” 

Today, The Monthly Coffee Club is a big part of my business and coffee can definitely be described as a real passion of mine, I roast, blend, grind and enjoy it more than any other beverage. 

I know what you want to know though, did I get the job... No, I didn’t. The feedback was that I'd interviewed well but was just a little too young for them, but never mind it’s all worked out in the end.