“It’s just a coffee!” moaned a friend as I tried, unsuccessfully, to explain my new coffee account on Instagram @todaymycoffee…

Only now, after our conversation, am I able to a bit more eloquently explain why anyone might be interested in looking at ‘just a coffee’ – it’s all about the colours, the composition, the location (I love showing people lovely cafes around town!). Obviously he wasn’t that into Instagram which is half the battle. But even for Instagrammers, the overwhelming amount of coffee pictures and crazed caffeine devotion (plus myriad hashtags – #coffeeee #coffeecoffeecoffee #butfirstcoffee to mention but a few) can be a bit much. But for those in the Instagram coffee community who love a coffee and seeing one displayed, usually #fromabove #onthetable, it provides endless viewing pleasure.

Having been caffeine free for over ten years, it’s a bit of a zealous embrace from me. Back in the day when I drank coffee (working in a cafe at Edinburgh uni, good old Negociants anyone?) lattes were a in a tall glass with a simple layer of foamy milk and regular coffee was brewed in a plunger pot. The obsession was there among the drinkers but not the visual delight and such high levels of aesthetic finesse as we now see on Instagram.

Suffice to say, last year’s traumatic house move (what house move isn’t?) and feeling generally overwhelmed by work and motherhood (is there any other mode come having kids?) brought on a need for something that’d give me a little daily boost. Very much not a drinker (alcohol I mean!) these days compared to my 20s and early 30s, and generally pretty healthy eating, chocolate digestives were about as exciting as things got. So I had a coffee last September one morning on the way back from nursery drop off. And so it began.

I’ve always been well aware of how strong caffeine is – the reason I quit it in my 20s was sleeping badly, and I was amazed at how dramatic the difference was – but these days for someone who is quite sensitive to caffeine, one a day, pre 3pm, gives me the buzz I want without impacting on sleep or making me feel strung out.

I’m not a total coffee aficionado, in fact, I like mine pretty milky and only ever a single shot in my latte. Though I have just bought my husband (die-hard black coffee drinker, many a day) and coffee machine for his birthday and am trying to hide my own personal squeals of delight.

But one of the main pleasures is drinking a coffee in a great café, ideally with a good pal. We have some fantastic cafés here in Clapton (which I’ll be detailing soon in my it’s-taking-forever Clapton guide) and for further afield I’ve been using the brilliant Drip app (that you can charge up with coffee credit – get the app here) which has brought together a fantastic selection of independent London, so if I’m in town and unsure where to go I usually check out one of their recommendations. Which brings my onto the competition…

The Giveaway

(with prizes from Plum & Ashby and Drip app)

Joining forces with the fab @stylemycoffee run by blogger and stylist @wildandgrizzly (to celebrate our shared caffeine in photos passion!) we will be running a competition on Instagram under our two hashtags #todaymycoffee and #stylemycoffee.

At the end of May we will each feature our top four favourite pictures and choose a winner each. The prizes will be a beautiful ceramic mug from Plum & Ashby and 5 coffees worth of credit with Drip app. So get tagging your best caffeine shots and come along for the ride! Lori and I are excited to see you pictures and grow this community! 🙂

To take part: Follow @todaymycoffee and @stylemycoffee and hashtag your coffee pics #stylemycoffee and #todaymycoffee – have fun!