I like to match my coffee to the weather, to the day, to the place.

I like my coffee first thing in the morning to be strong, dark, and bitter, so it wakes me up.
I like smoother, sweeter coffee on a rainy afternoon, preferably while curled up with a book near a window.
And of course, on a crisp autumn day when the leaves are skittering across the sidewalks, I like cinnamony-pumpkin-spice coffee, preferably with whipped cream.

Coffee provides much-needed bursts of energy in the form of caffeine, a nice edge of warm bitterness on a cold day, something to look forward to in the morning. But coffee is more than even these things- it's also an experience, something to be savored. It's convenient on-the-go when you're rushing to a morning class with sleep still in your eyes, but it's best enjoyed in connection to a setting and in good company.

I love coffee, and I've had many, many, many good cups of coffee in my life. But this is not merely an ode to coffee, or an editorial piece defining just what makes a good cup of coffee (which I do have thoughts on). I bring before you a few of the best cups of coffee of my life- the picture worthy ones, the beautiful ones, the ones in unique settings, and the ones had in good company. May you remember your own best cups of coffee, the lovely times connected to them, and savor the cup of coffee you may be drinking right now.

1. Pure Prettiness

This cup of coffee is undoubtedly, inarguably, genuinely pretty. The mug is just the right shape, just the right size, in cozy-December-afternoon colors (because it was a December afternoon of course). And whipped cream and caramel shavings are classically attractive on coffee. I drank this while studying on a dreary November day and sent a picture to my Dad. And the afternoon was no longer dreary.

2. A shadowy-Budapest coffee

This cup of coffee, slightly blurry and shadowed, perfectly captures that hurried, celebratory stop for coffee in Budapest. It was 10:15 PM; my friends and I had been walking around Budapest for over twelve hours and we resolved to end the day with coffee, only to find that most coffee shops were closed at that time of night. We found one that closed at 10:30 and rushed in for our glorious fifteen minutes of coffee. And it was, of course, very good.

3. Coffee and writing

Often, traveling is taking in more information than you can possibly process, moving from place to place quickly and constantly. I found a cafe on this cloudy day in Vienna to pour out all I had seen and thought into my journal. I sat at my own tiny table and sipped the strongest, smoothest espresso I had ever had out of a lovely, tiny cup. (Note the even tinier, cuter cup for milk).

4. Coffee along the way

My travels with my honors program through the Balkans were something like a whirlwind. There were days, like the one pictured above, where between towns, museums, and bus rides, our professor called for a coffee stop. So stop we did, finding one of the endless coffee shops, to think and talk over all we had seen.

5. Coffee and friendship

The cinnamon roll in this picture most likely looks more impressive than the coffee. Nevertheless, I include this picture because the cinnamon roll went so well with the coffee, and the coffee went so well with the day. It was the first day of November, lightly snowing, and I went to coffee with a friend at a place that was a lot like Luke's from Gilmore Girls. And coffee, even so-so coffee in an unimpressive mug, is best enjoyed with a friend.