There will always be coffee

Black magic. Liquid crack. Java. Or simply: the great motivator. All around the globe, people look to beat back the nature of the dreaded AM. The ad agency is no different. In fact, it’s safe to say that our shop runs on coffee.

Most mornings begin around the coffee pot. Like wild animals gathering around the watering hole, we line up and wait our turn to get that first sip of morning elixir. Unlike our wild counterparts, we patiently bide our time by catching up with our colleagues and talking about the day ahead. The signal that the coffee has completed its cycle is a vicious beeping, oddly representative of the alarm the coffee is battling. I like to think of it as a starters pistol, only better for the digestive system.

Now, the love for coffee is rather ubiquitous, but the specific personalities and views surrounding coffee are as fragmented as ever. We have snobs, purists, hipsters, and of course, good ol’ caffeine fiends. Some of us are in it for the taste; for that perfect blend of beans, ground just right; for that organic, fair trade milk imported from Bulgaria that adds just the right touch of dairy to the near-perfect brew. Some are in it, simply, because it is cool. You can find them with their Blue Bottle, praising demeanor, wearing their imitation Ray Bans. Then there are the fiends—the real coffee lovers. The ones who drink it hot or cold, fair trade or not. These are not fair-weather fans. These men and women have never heard of a bandwagon. They live for the comfort of coffee, and thrive on the spark it induces, every time they hit the mug.

And don’t think that our coffee consumption ends at lunchtime. At GQP, we are as passionate about our lunch as we are about our caffeine, and as a result, most of us experience a phenomenon referred to as the itis. The itis is that feeling you get when you sit down at your desk after lunch and realize you’re more tired now than you were in the morning. Don’t let your mind fool you; it’s the work of that two-pound burrito you just ate, and there is only one remedy for this: more coffee.

With our minds sharp, our breath awful, and our desires sated, we are set to show the rest of the day who’s boss. What a calm and tranquil place the agency could be without coffee. How boring is that?!

Top 5 Places We Get Our Fix

1. Blue Bottle


2. Sight Glass


3. Four Barrel


4. Peet’s


5. Dunkin’ Donuts

Written by: Bryan Dempler and Tobi Whaley