Caffeine -- It may be the love of your life, but is it also the bane of your sleepless nights? Even those of us who love, love, love caffeine may have a tinge of love-hate in our relationships with caffeine. For some, caffeine is the perfect drug, but others are not so lucky. Perhaps it picks you up so high only to drop you so very low, or maybe it has some undesirable side effects, but for each person the impact is different and (I think) worthy of a little examination.For me, caffeine is a muse, a necessity, a joy, a comfort, a motivator, a mood enhancer and more. It leaves me feeling inspired and excited, ready to take on any task and (when it's ingested in the form of tea) focused enough to pick one and stick with it until completion. Obviously, I adore caffeine, but find I tend to feel better when I limit my use of it. I can drink a huge pot of tea and be fine (albeit maybe a little "tea drunk"). However, coffee has a much stronger impact on my mood/energy levels and is something I consume in moderation. Here's a little ASCII illustration of how I feel about caffeine from coffee and tea. A snapshot of how I feel after drinking coffee:
/\/W\/\/W\/\/W
A snapshot of how I feel after drinking tea:
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I find that, in large doses, coffee leaves me feeling amped up and even jittery, while tea is more of an intense (but calm) focus. While this is not an uncommon sentiment, there are lots of other opinions on the matter! From the ancient scholar/poet Lu Yu to the Starbucks Via video homage that's popular now, people have held strong opinions about caffeine (and its role in their lives) for centuries. What do you love about caffeine? What do you hate about it? How does it make you feel? Do you prefer the rush of espresso drinks, the mellow high of matcha or the jitter-free no-caf options, like tisanes ("herbal teas") or apple cider?
Photo (c) Lindsey Goodwin
Comments
I just found this comic on the five phases of caffeine intake and though it relevant enough to share. Enjoy!
I quite agree with Lyndsey’s statement and I quote,”– it’ll suffice in a caffeine-craving pinch, but it’s not exactly something I drink for the taste as well” as with Mike’s comment.
Personally, I do not dislike the taste of the instant coffee and also I found it much quicker to prepare it.
As I do not like the taste of fresh milk, I use I use instant coffee with cold fresh milk because using normal coffee, I will be watering the milk.
Do U know of an unhealthy effect when U compare instant coffee with normal coffee?This is an argument with my wife I would like to clear
Thanks for your thoughts, José! I like the idea of flavoring milk with instant coffee to meet your desired level of dairy intake. I think it would also work well with soymilk for people who want to add soy to their diets.
Re: Instant coffee and health, my understanding is that coffee is brewed and sprayed into a very hot chamber where it forms crystals. Unless it has dangerous artificial flavors or preservatives added (and those would need to be listed in the ingredients), it should not be any more of a risk than regular coffee. In fact, it’s generally somewhat lower in caffeine, so if caffeine has any side effects for you, they may be lessened with instant coffee. Hope that helps!