Let’s face it — most of our coffee breaks involve catching up with friends, a caffeine boost or a simple time out. We can’t expect each cup to involve some iconic moment, as the enticing aroma of a quality roast is usually enough.
Still, there’s nothing like an iconic movie scene involving coffee to fuel our imagination, and we’ve selected five of our favourites from cinema history.
Let’s call it an introduction to our new Coffee Perfection blog The Filter, where we’ll brew up regular musings on coffee culture, industry developments, news and Coffee Perfection insider stories.
Holly Golightly’s first coffee of the day – Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
In the opening scene, an impossibly elegant Miss Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) enjoys a takeaway coffee and pastry at dawn while gazing into the windows of the iconic department store, to the sweeping orchestral strings of Moon River. If only all early morning caffeine fixes were this exquisite.
Keyser Söze penny-drop moment — The Usual Suspects (1995)
Even though it’s 25 years later, we still won’t spoil one of the most iconic twists in movie history, as US Customs agent Dave Kujo finally works out the real identity of feared crime boss Keyser Söze, and drops his coffee to the floor with an almighty smash. So, who was Keyser Söze all along?
De Niro and Pacino on screen together at last — Heat (1995)
As the two most iconic actors of a generation, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino shared a screen for the first time in Michael Mann’s classic heist movie Heat. It’s initiated by Lieutenant Vincent Hanna (Pacino) who asks career robber Neil McCauley: “What do you say I buy you a cup of coffee?” The pair then hit a diner and forget the cat-and-mouse chase, focusing instead on their similarities, and a reluctant mutual respect.
Mugatu’s foamy latte horror — Zoolander (2001)
Fashion mogul Jacobim Mugatu recoils in disgust as his long-suffering assistant Todd brings him the wrong brew. Spitting coffee all over poor Todd’s face, he wails: “Todd! Are you not aware that I get farty and bloated with a foamy latte?!” An infinitely quotable scene was born.
Serious delirium with Wu-Tang Clan and Bill Murray – Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)
Wu-Tang’s GZA and RZA meet up in a New York diner for a herbal tea, saying they’ve given up coffee as it causes “serious delirium”. To seemingly prove their point, Bill Murray is moonlighting as a waiter and sits down to have a chat, drinking coffee straight from the pot, and sparking up his cig with a gas lighter flame. The rappers can’t believe “Bill-Groundhog-Day-Ghostbustin’-ass-Murray” is serving them, and GZA starts feeling nostalgic for his coffee days, when he would drink it all day until he went to sleep, “just to make me dream faster”.
