Famous Ukrainian barista and founder of the Coffee Care project for Ukrainian soldiers, Vadym Granovsky, was invited by the University of Cambridge in the UK to give a lecture on Ukrainian coffee consumption culture to students of the Ukrainian Studies programme.
He shared this on his Facebook page.
"The lecture and discussion about Ukrainian culture and identity became a spiritual and intellectual experience. The material and physical part was the tasting of the signature flat red drink," Granovsky wrote.
During the lecture, he quoted the London edition of the diary of Pavel Aleppo, "Journey of the Antioch Patriarch Macarius," whose author visited Ukraine in the mid-17th century. He discussed this work of the Syrian traveler, which became a world literary treasure and has survived in four copies stored in London, Paris, Moscow, and Kyiv.
The listeners also learned that the diary was brought to Ukraine by the academician Agatangel Krymsky, who acquired it during his scientific trip to Syria and Lebanon in the late 19th century. Ukrainian historian and political figure Mykhailo Hrushevskyi used Pavel Aleppo's travel notes when working on his main life work, the monograph "History of Ukraine-Rus."
According to Granovsky, the signature Ukrainian coffee Flat Red, which blends coffee and pomegranate, red and black, has become a wonderful way to carry the Ukrainian narrative into the complex world.
"Dozens of university students from all over the world listened, tasted coffee, asked questions, and discussed Ukraine," he added.
