March 26, 2007

• *takes a swig of 7-Up* I quit soda cold turkey five years ago. Never felt better. Sadly, I succumb to the urge every now and then. I blame the kids.
• Hmm, only 150 mg so far today... off to make a double-espresso. Lovely, lovely espresso, and with a nice crema thanks to a Bialetti Brikka.
• Many people are often surprised to learn that a typical shot of espresso has less caffeine than a standard cup 'o brewed Joe. *froths some whole milk*
• Not only does espresso have less caffeine than drip coffee, dark roasts generally have less than lighter roasts, presumably due to the heat destroying some of it.
• I quit all caffeine intake seven years ago, but have recently reverted back due to a demon known as Tim Hortons French Vanilla Cappucino.
• Quit caffiene? Now why would I want to do that? Espresso when I wake up, coffee when I get to work, 4 or 5 cups of tea (King Cole, best bag tea by far) following that, maybe another espresso when I get home and some tea to wind down in the evening. And I'm fine. Fine I tell ya. Nothing wrong with that at all. Back off, buddy, and keep yer filthy paws off of my mug, I tell ya! off to brew another cuppa
• Normally I would have a lot more caffeine to count by now, but the office soda machine is broken. We are impatiently awaiting repairs. And yawning. A lot.
• What's next? If these fuckos had their way, we'd all be a bunch of sleepy wheatgrass and yogurt eating pantywaist bolsheviks living in a vaguely-poop-smelling commune somewhere in the People's Republic of the Pacific Northwest. Gimme mine black, two ice cubes, hold the snivelling
• No TV and no coffee make Homer something something.
• MonkeyFilter: a bunch of sleepy wheatgrass and yogurt eating ah...you know the drill. I'm off to the nap thread...
• From that "how to quit site": Write down your reasons for quitting, such as: - tooth decay - weakened bones - addiction/dependence - causes anxiety - a cycle of hyperactivity and/or inability to focus, followed by a subsequent "crash" - disrupted sleep habits - may interfere with weight loss - financial costs to support caffeine purchases - a desire for a healthier pregnancy Financial costs to suppor caffeine purchases?!?!? What the heck are these people drinking? Kopi Luwak?
• vaguely-poop-smelling commune somewhere in the People's Republic of the Pacific Northwest Exsqueeeze me?? I resemble that remark. 2-3 cups, black drip, every morning. "Climbing the walls" my ass, and I'll rip the fucking head off of anybody who dares suggest otherwise. *takes another drink, bites through cup*
• I stunned the ladies in the kitchenette this morning when I said that I was down to four cups of tea a day. Much better than at school, when I was at four pots of tea a day. Anything to avoid that damn thesis. Tea, washroom, tea, washroom...
• I'm not sure about some of the reasons for quitting. Is the tooth decay from caffeine? Or is it from sugary drinks? Similarly the weakened bones; is this caffeine-related?
• There are lots of good reasons for quitting, and now that my son's hockey season is over I'll probably quit again. That tired/groggy feeling you get before your first cup? That's the addiction. That headache you get on Satudays if you only drink coffee on workdays? That's the addiction. I generally felt 200% healthier when I was clean.
• Q: What do heroin addicts who receive a daily dose of methadone have in common with people who feel they cannot function without that morning cup of caffeine? A: They are tending to their addiction, keeping the physical devils of drug withdrawal at bay. via Natl Geographic
• I don't care to feel 200% healthier than I do now. I'd end up putting on a cape and fighting crime or something equally embarassing.
• I never quite understood this, as it doesn't seem to affect me though no doubt it's true for others. I seem to have quite the addictive personality (hello smokes) and drink coffee by the gallon when it's available, but there's been times travelling or working out in the sticks in China when you just can't get it and I never felt any ill effects much beyond thinking how nice a cup would be occasionally. That included months on end with none (hey, leave my sex life out of this).
• Yeah I get some of those symptoms and would like to feel 200% healthier, but in my own time. Right now I'm doing good with the 288mg/day. Someday I hope to get that down to <40mg. Probably by drinking 80 cups of decaf. I don't care to feel 200% healthier than I do now. I'd end up putting on a cape and fighting crime or something equally embarassing. C'mon Fes the world needs a dapper crusader! Think of all those poorly attired criminal masterminds out there just getting away with it! The first step is cutting down on the java! Which, if you're not gonna finish that do you mind if . . oh, oh sure, no yeah go ahead, finish it up there . . .
• I don't buy the whole "CLIMBING THE WALLS" and "WATCH THE BLOOD PRESSURE" alerts on it. I mean, I'd be climbing the walls if I drank 4 cups of coffee ALL AT ONCE, but I don't do that--they're spaced out over the day. Similarly with tea and such. It seems to draw its alarmist conclusions as if you were digesting all this caffein in one big lump. Sure, if you quit coffee and beer and fatty foods, you're likely to live longer...but would you want to?
• Probably one of those time-sensitive questions.
• Hey, where's the Venti sizes? Addiction, yes. There's no other word for it. The first slurp after a morning of stress, and looking forward to it, tastes like heaven. And yes, it's pathetic when, on weekends, one finds an excuse to indulge again. I'm down to one big drink from the Scaly Tramp, and tea at night. Mate-falvored (hard to find), or something else strong. People keep singing the praises of green tea, but never got to taste of it.
• As Clement Freud once said: if you give up coffee and alcohol and cigarettes, you don't actually live any longer, it just seems that way. And does that cocaine drink actually have any cocaine in it?
• I gotta say, despite the large quantities of caffinated drinks I have during the workweek, on my weekends and vacations I often have very little or none, and never feel any withdrawl.
• I generally felt 200% healthier when I was clean. Oh, puleeez. It's not like you're mainlining heroin. I like a cup of coffee in the morning. Some mornings I like several cups. I'll sometimes have a caffine drink at lunch. But if I can't find caffine, I can certainly live without it. (dropped my diet Coke this noon and popped the top--no caffine drink for me with my sammich--wahhhha!)
• Sigh. I am so boring. I went off caffeine a few years ago because of anxiety; I can't drink alcohol any more because of antidepressants; I'm pretty much off soda (except an occasional elderflower cordial or ginger beer.) I do get pretty creative with fruit smoothies, though. /eats wheatgrass-flavoured yogurt; adjusts panties; rereads Communist Manifesto, salutes flag of Vaguely Poop-Smelling People's Republic of My Flat
• Your ideas intrigue me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
• well I can't do caffeine due to a tendancy for even the smallest quantity making me feel like I've smoked some bad crack, but I love the taste of coffee. therefore, I will reveal to you all my humiliating secret: I drink decaf... *cringes in shame*
• *pities medusa* I can drink huge amounts of coffee with no ill-effect, and I love love love the taste. In my 20s, I drank 2 or 3 pots a day. Now I'm down to 1 or 1.5, with 2 or 3 espressos during breaks. So long as I stop by 17:00, I'm okay to sleep. If necessary, I can switch from coffee to tea, but it takes a few days to adjust.
• I wonder if one of the reasons that people who drink a lot of caffeinated drinks generally aren't as healthy as they could be is that they don't drink enough water.
• Silence! . . . *shhllppp*
• *aaaaaahhhhh*
• *extends cup for another refill of joe
• Instant Laser Coffee, made with 100% SCIENCE! U2ube.
• Cold Brewed Coffee A shot o' that in yer Diet Cola and you're ready for action!
• Cold Brewed Coffee $35 for a glorified plastic jug? Seems to me you could use any old bottle to mix grounds and water, then pour it through a filter to get out the grounds. Better yet, if you already have a French Press, use that instead. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the reason cold brewed coffee hasn't caught on is because it takes 12 hours and a pound of coffee for 6 cups of coffee (18 if you dilute it). I'd go through a couple pounds of coffee a week at that rate.
• yeah 12 hours and 12oz. of coffee makes enough for - well it depends on your taste. It lasts me about a week. the great thing about it is you can make hot, iced, mixed drinks or coffee-cola things with the same mix instantly and it's real (and real good) coffee. But yeah, if you wanna find a filter for a gallon jug or something, sure. The $35 gets you the jug the water reservoir (dunno why but apparently dumping in all the water at once is discouraged), a plastic ring to keep the grounds from floating, the cotton filter the stopper and the tippy-bottle thing for measuring out single dosages of ultra-uber-smooth-coffee-heaven. And a convenient cardboard storage box for putting it away during the week.
• A big two-day windstorm took out the phone lines, and I've had no dial-up. We finally got re-connected. MonkeyFilter and a cuppa joe should help the jitters.
• Hmmm. Still not convinced on spending $35, but I'm cheap. Sounds like an ideal way to make iced coffee for summertime, though. I always cold-brew my iced tea (bottle + tea bags + cold water + squeeze of lemon, refrigerate for 6-12 hours), so why not coffee?
• Agreed, $35 is the damn-you're-lazy price, and I'd like to see one of those "make your own" things so if I can find the pieces parts elsewhere - how hard could it be?
• OK. I'm going for it. No caffeine until after Easter. Had my morning espresso when I woke up, since then nothing but decaf. So far, so good. This may be a long coupla weeks . . .
• Hey good for you! Hang in there.
• So it looks like you can use a paper-towel-lined-collander, a sock, or a cup-within-a-cup method for making your own cold-brew coffee. I should also note it works as well for decaf, however there's no point to doing it. Unless you're just making coffee taste for something. Like, i dunno, candy or something.
• Excellent links. I have an old aluminum manual drip pot (similar to this) which should do the trick for cold brewing. It amazes me how many different ways there are of making coffee.
• homemade kahlua is quite easy to make. mmmm kahlua!
• Oh really!?!?!? Do tell, Medusa!
• DIY booze
• Hope you didn't get too much damage otherwise, Bluehorse.
• Toddy claims to brew up two-thirds less caffeine than regular coffee; in a side-by side test using Starbucks' regular blend, the Toddy version had a pH of 6.31 and 40 mg of caffeine per 100 grams of coffee, while Starbucks store-brewed clocked in at a pH of 5.48 and 61 mg of caffeine. (Lower numbers on the pH scale, which is measured logarithmically, denote more acid.) This is not a very good result for Toddy's claims, as Starbucks coffee is frequently cited as (1) containing above average amounts of caffeine and (2) being of above average acidity.
• OK. 24 hours now without caffeine, and I'm still surviving. Vague headachy feeling in the front of my head, but whether that is withdrawl or a side effect of having a newborn in the house is up to debate. No more tired than usual for a Friday morning. We'll see how I survive the 2 hour meeting coming up. Also, I would like to go on record saying decaf espresso Does Not taste like the real thing, I don't care what anyone says.
• As a ridiculously unqualified MonkeyDoctor, I recommend some pain relieving pills and a soothing non-caffeinated beverage such as herbal tea. And a nap. Tonight: popcorn and a movie.
• fim, drink a lot of water too. re the taste of decaf (I dont generally do espresso) I find it REALLY depends of the particular bean. for instance Peets has a great one Sierra Dorada, which is a really delicious coffeee, with very interesting woodsy floral notes. It is fantastic decaf, full-bodied and flavorful, and fully capable of delivering that deeply satisfing "ahhhhhh" on the first sip.
• So to summarize, Peets best?
• I like the German decafs -- they tend to taste the closest to the real stuff, so I've been drinking Jacobs Night & Day, Eduscho, and Tchibo Decaf. Mrs. Fimbulvetr swears by Jacobs, and drank that the whole time she was pregnant. No Peets up here in the Great White North though, so I guess I'm out of luck there. I've never had a good decaf espresso. I don't think it is possible. But I'm a bit of an espresso perfectionist snob.
• but really decaf espresso is a pretty ridiculous concept. I can't tolerate caffeine, but if I have espresso it's not a fooking decaf!
• Peets best? Bwahh hahahaha!! Sustained winds of 45mph with gusts up to 65mph get old after 36 hours straight. Actually, Plegs, being used to major winds, we only have problems with the phone lines and the garbage cans blowing away when the garbagemen take the weight out. The problem is being on dial-up and not having internet access. One needs a shot of the Filter along with the perk in the morning, or this one gets twitchy.
• Milk Meets Coffee (Flash).