I am the same as many of the populace, as I near 40 years of age my old habits are falling away one by one. No more can I enjoy 2 nights consecutively in the local pub, I even battle with one now that I think about it, I take care about what I eat and if I succumb to a comfort food craving my body slows down.

Why is everything that I am partial to so much so unhealthy for me, I think that is why they are known as 'vices'. Well then surely I can have a vice that is in some way acceptable?

Stop a second, I believe maybe I do! It's espresso, I am starting to admit it is one of my rare vices that is probably ok for me after all. In temperance naturally. Not like the just gone past of 10 plus coffees a day, a time when the Starbucks used to be a short pit stop in my busy day, a fast caffeine fill up from a plastic cup between appointments, precisely enough of a fix to bear me up to the subsequent dose. I used to throw back a double espresso quicker than you could enunciate double tall no whip skinny caramel mochaccino with wings!

Nowadays, after a short and failed experiment with natural teas (why are there so many flavors that all taste very similar?) I'm no longer an addict, and I am a brand new person, the coffee shop has become a day out in itself, somewhere to go with a bag full of books or a laptop full of pending instant messages and just relax and be able to savor in a pleasant coffee and a piece of chocolate cake. I have it appears replaced quantity with quality, coffee is no more just for an energy boost or to temporarily stop the shakes! It is a small payoff, it is me being kind to myself.

I love the cafe but can't spend all my time there, my day job gets in the way. By method of a compromise I have made a point to set up prominent and very soft rug covered couch with an ottoman in my home study, I don't allow inferior coffee at the desk anymore I just relax during a few of short(ish) breaks during the day when I am working, I take a latte from my recently installed machine and settle down for the well deserved break.

The greatest things I have bought in the past 12 months have been that large couch and my beloved Saeco Aroma Espresso Machine. It is just a little step in terms of personal progression but I can't help having a sense of achievement when I recognize that I have turned my phrenetic coffee fixation into pleasant and guilt free me time.