€4 for a coffee is not expensive when you consider it’s a small miracle in a cup

That seemingly modest drink represents one of the most complex and morally tangled supply chains on Earth, writes Colin Sheridan

When you buy good coffee, you are not just buying caffeine. You are buying the labour of people you will never meet. You are buying fuel, shipping, skill, risk and time. You are buying a small daily luxury whose apparent simplicity disguises a remarkable chain of human effort.

We’ve all done it.

You step into a handsome little cafe in Galway, Cork, or Dublin, order your regular Americano, tap your card… and then mentally recoil.