Your relationship with caffeine

Curious is all. It seems like a large part of almost every culture

Being both an amateur writer and in a STEM vocation (though not the genius part, trust me), caffeine is a large part of my life.

It is an addictive stimulant, and I'm well aware of my dependency. I force myself to have useless groggy detox days so that the first-cup euphoria hits right again. Black coffee all the way, though I can't say no to honey-sweetened black tea, which is criminally good.


Some people I talk to say they have never experienced any kind of euphoria when drinking caffeine. A surprising amount of people abstain completely, while some have a third or fourth cup right before bed. Others go as far as to take caffeine pills. They frankly seem more like headache pills but I've never had the courage to try.

What's your relationship with caffeine?

 

I started off hating the vile brownish fluid, because when my mom took my sister and I to a restaurant not only did we have to wait like an hour for the food to arrive, but when we were all done mom would flag down a waiter (which would take an hour) and ask for a cup of coffee. Which took an hour to arrive.

But when I first became a manager at a fast food place and had to stay until I had the paperwork all done each night, I would be really tired and the numbers would be laughing at me and dancing before my half-closed eyes. So I decided one night to hop across the street to Mister Donut and get a half dozen plus a cup of coffee with plenty of sugar. It became a habit, and I felt like I needed it (both sugar and caffeine) to do the paperwork.

Then there came a point where I would get to work right before dinner rush hit (not as a manager, working back line making sandwiches). So I'd brew up a pot of coffee and put one large soft-drink cup inside another (for insulation), fill it and chug it down several times. I probably polished off the entire pot at times. Definitely got euphoria from that.

Eventually I was having problems with sleeping, and I switched to decaf. I do keep a canister of regular coffee and when necessary I'll make a half-and-half, or fully caffeinated. I don't do it often, so when I do it really hits hard. That canister is probably a few years out of date, I should replace it with a nice small one. Or just toss it, I haven't used it in over a year I'd say.

I still struggle with the sugar addiction though, and unfortunately a little donut and ice-cream shop just opened up the street within easy walking distance. Ironically I'm about to head up there now.

 

The half-life screws me over. I'm okay consuming it up until around midday. I don't drink coffee, I take tea (my dear).

 

As soon as I wake up, I go to the bathroom, wash my face and my hands, and brush my teeth (I was surprised recently to find out some people don't brush their teeth when they wake up). The very next thing is coffee. Gotta have it. I like mine with just a little milk. Absolutely no sugar. Put sugar in the coffee and all you can taste is the sugar. I like the full-bodied flavour of the coffee. I was buying McCafe from Costco, but I have switched to the Kirkland (Costco) brand and find it's very good. I usually have 3-4 cups in the morning. On mornings I go swimming, I always stop on the way home at the McDonald's drive-through to get myself a large takeout coffee. I consider it a treat. Then, I never drink any coffee after noon.

 

I often find I have too much blood in my caffeine system.

 

I'm the same now, the spoonfull of sugar was just needed when I was a noob. Just milk now. Occasionally a couple shots of Ezra Brooks Bourbon Creme Liqueur (poor man's Bailey's).

 

The caffeine in coffee makes me jittery and anxious; my heart pounds. Decaf coffee in the morning, made strong, with a tip of sugar on the end of the spoon and half & half. I will have a Coca-Cola once in a while in the afternoon, but there's not much caffeine in that and it's refreshing.

 

I like coffee sweet as hell and hot as love. I drink a couple of cups each morning, especially if I wake up with a headache, then I'm done for the day. I like iced tea very much, but don't want it nearly as sweet as I like my coffee. Instant tea and instant coffee are abominations unto the Goddess of Caffeine and should be sought out and condemned to the lowest circle of hell.

 

Double-down on that thought!

 

I started drinking coffee in my mid 20's due to an early work schedule. I am something of an obsessive person with an addictive tendency, so I don't just do something...I DO something.

2-3 pots a day for years...then I discovered the coffee-cocoa matrix and from then on I couldn't drink it any other way. That went on for about 15 years...

Then I quit smoking cigs a few years ago. Drinking coffee made it very difficult, not having that smoke with a good ol' cup a joe.

Then I had some major dental work done over the course of several weeks and coffee just did not jive with the stitches

So I quit coffee too. It's been 4-5 years now I guess.

Later, health-wise, I discovered that quitting coffee is right up there with quitting smoking as far as toxicity levels go...I smoked like I drank coffee.

I love my new relation ship with coffee...like alcohol, and cigarettes...sometimes I do miss it. Sometimes the smell is alluring.

Most of the time it is not and I don't even think about it anymore.

 

I like it. I can live without it.

 

I detest coffee. It's too bitter and gives me indigestion.

I drink vast amounts of tea.

 

I can't drink it unless it's cut one-to-one with milk or cream and has a lot of sugar mixed in, so I can pretend its cocoa. I've drunk black or nearly black coffee, but it reams my stomach out.

Plain black tea (the color of a cello) for me.

 

Fun fact for you all: Tobacco reduces the effects of caffeine. So when someone quits smoking and gets really jittery or struggling to sleep, most of that is they're now struggling to cope with the exact same amount of caffeine as they previously were fine with.

Caffeine fiend who's about to quitting smoking? Remember to halve your tea/coffee intake, for a while at least.

 

Maybe this is why so many people want to have a coffee and a smoke at the same time?

 

I dislike coffee. Never got the taste for it, but not to where I can't accept a cup to be polite.

But every morning I have a can of energy drink. Started on Jolt, way back in the day, then there was something in between, then Red Bull came out. After a while I switched to Monster although I despise their advertising; my students presented papers and speeches showing that Monster had more sugar and caffeine per 100ml and was cheaper to boot. Now I drink something called "Reviver" which is a dollar-store brand but about half the price.

I don't get cranky without my caffeine in the morning. Being cranky implies that I'm awake enough to notice and be annoyed by you. I just don't function.

Of course, remember when I said that I used to drink Jolt? I'd crush up two or three Vivarin or No-Doz into them when I was feeling particularly in need of a boost.

This is why I don't consume illicit pharmaceuticals. One off-prescription 0exwhyconteen and I'm pretty sure I'd be mainlining Daisy Ridley or Sigourney Weaver within a week.

 

My daughter is a fan of energy drinks. She got the habit as a cop working graveyard shifts and continued the habit when she had a daughter who still wakes multiple times a night. If I drank anything with that much caffeine, I'd need to be peeled off the ceiling and transferred under EMT care to a detox unit.

 

Be careful with the modern energy drinks. A friend of mine was a big fan of them, until he wound up in the hospital with kidney failure because of them.

 

Four cups of coffee, only in the mornings. Black, very strong. Insomniacs need something to fire the motors.

 

You'd have a drink a LOT of them for that to happen - how much was he drinking?