For years, Uganda has been trying to solve a national contradiction. We are one of the world’s greatest coffee-producing countries. Our hills grow it. Our economy depends on it. Entire districts wake up thinking about it. Yet when it comes to actually drinking the stuff, Ugandans have traditionally looked at coffee the way children look at vegetables. We understand its importance. We simply do not see why we should be consuming it. This has frustrated coffee evangelists for decades. Every few months, somebody stands at a conference podium and announces that Ugandans need to drink more coffee. Charts are displayed. Statistics are quoted. Domestic consumption targets are set. Serious people in suits nod thoughtfully. Then everyone breaks for tea. No coffee machine or kettle anywhere in sight, except maybe one miserable tin of instant coffee.
Which is why I suspect the people behind the new Baileys and Java House partnership deserve some sort of national innovation award. They seem to have finally identified the flaw in the strategy. Others had been marketing coffee to Ugandans. What they should have been doing was marketing alcohol with the coffee. Genius.
The Coffee and Baileys menu is exactly what it sounds like: Java House’s premium coffee culture meeting Baileys Irish Cream’s smooth, indulgent personality. It is less a partnership and more an arranged marriage. And somehow it works.
The launch of this partnership is slated for June 20, at Java House Naguru. Guests will sample the menu and participate in a hands-on treat-making experience.
The menu itself is surprisingly impressive. The Baileys Espresso Shot is coffee that arrives dressed for a Friday night and winks at you as soon as you enter the pub. It is like Kungfu. The Espresso gives you the kick while the Baileys cream massages you to pleasure in one fell swoop. Then there is the Irish Mocha, a luxurious combination of espresso, chocolate and Baileys finished with steamed milk. This drink is akin to a cup of flavourful, spiced tea that delivers an alcohol buzz. It has one mission; happiness. The Classic Baileys Hot Chocolate is equally unapologetic. Rich, silky, creamy. The kind of beverage that makes you thankful for finally making it to adulthood. It is essentially a warm hug that has gone to international school.
Yet the real brilliance of the partnership lies elsewhere. It understands modern Kampala where coffee shops are no longer places where people simply go to drink coffee. Cafes are now de facto offices where people sit with their laptops and work all day. They are dating venues, meeting spots and networking hubs. Cafes these days are essentially less chaotic pubs.
They are places where people order one cappuccino or iced coffee and remain seated long enough to witness three shift changes. The partnership understands that with this many people spending so much time in coffee shops, a section of the patrons will want something more than coffee. Like that nervous young man on the first coffee date with the most beautiful girl he has ever met. A Dutch courage comes in handy.
The partnership plugs into Uganda’s culture of Friday night drinking with a Friday Happy Hour between 6pm and 7pm, offering a buy-one-get-one-free deal. Ugandans have never needed encouragement when it comes to Baileys or any other form of alcohol for that matter. And yet, even the few Ugandans who drink coffee prefer to keep it safe with instant coffee. So, somebody looked at the problem, looked at the solution, and connected the dots. This partnership will likely make a few people sip an espresso they would otherwise never have ordered. And if that is even a possibility, which it is, then perhaps history will remember this moment kindly. After all, Uganda has spent decades trying to get more people to drink coffee. Maybe all coffee needed was a drinking buddy.