Addiction

How do you classify an addiction? Is it when you need coffee to wake up in the
morning? Or when you need it multiple times a day? Or maybe, like this clip, when you have an espresso machine hidden under your bed.

I knew I was addicted when I started setting my coffee pot every night to automatically begin brewing in the morning. So that while I was getting ready I could sip on my fresh pot of hot coffee. Without those few cups in the morning, my attention span in classes would be shorter, I would feel drowsy quicker and I would suffer from headaches. According to a study done at John Hopkins University (in a Seattle Times Article), as little as one cup of coffee a day can cause a caffeine addiction. However, the study also states the average caffeine drinker consumers approximately 3.4 cups of coffee a day.

New fact: A cup(8oz) of coffee contains 60-120 mg of caffeine while a 12 oz Pepsi has 38mg. So technically a person who has 2 Pepsi's a day can suffer from the same caffeine addiction that coffee drinkers do. Well then why do we not see warnings about Pepsi addictions? Well I think the answer is fairly obvious...coffee drinkers on AVERAGE DRINK 3.4 CUPS OF COFFEE A DAY which equals between 204-408 mg a day. WAY WAY WAY above the 38 or even 76 mg of caffeine you would find in 2 Pepsi's. (About.com)

So to recap...one cup of coffee can create a caffeine addiction. However, average coffee drinkers consumer more than 3 times that amount.

CONCLUSION: I do not see an end in sight for coffee drinkers weening off coffee if all it takes to have an addiction is about 8oz of that amazing hot black liquid, which removes my headaches and keeps me alert. After all, I would rather believe the MD's advice that a few cups of coffee have long term health benefits. That will ease my pain of knowing that I may have an addiction...

Art in a Cup

Check this out...



...and I thought coffee was just for drinking. Turns out that coffee gives you more than energy, it gives you inspiration. I know we do not see who is making these creative drawings in the cups of coffee, but I can picture this cafe.

I see a very artsy cafe with couches and comfy chairs all around, dim lighting and I can even see a poetry reading going on in a corner. This may be stereotyping cafes or may even be stereotyping the person creating these "coffee arts" but I love these types of coffee shops! I wish every cup of coffee I bought had a little bunny or flower made with chocolate sauce in it.

I wish coffee would stop going from a transaction, to more of a production. Years ago I loved going into Starbucks because the employees and customers were extremely friendly and there were always tons of people sitting around reading and socializing. Now I see less people actually sitting in Starbucks, and more Starbucks drive-throughs being built.

Howard Schultz said in an e-mail earlier this year to his CEO, Jim Donald that he realized "it's time to get back to the core and make the changes necessary to evoke the heritage, the tradition, and the passion that we all have for the true Starbucks experience." He claims that removing the old espresso machines (which removed the theatrical part of coffee making), adding new flavor locked coffee bags (loss of whole bean barrels which created a true coffee aroma when ground fresh by the baristas), and recreating Starbucks with a new cookie-cutter image has changed the way consumers view Starbucks. (for full e-mail)

Well of course it has Howard! Oh course I only speak for myself but I would rather have the experience which I can get at a local coffee shop, compared to the transaction I receive at a chain store. Now I am not saying that people shouldn't go to Starbucks (because I do!), I am just saying that Howard is right and Starbucks does need to get back to their old image. Maybe the baristas could be trained in the way of Coffee Art? Because who doesn't want a bunny in their coffee?

Java Time

Each morning I wake up to the amazing aroma of freshly brewed coffee just as the sun is beginning to reach through my window. hah...this isn't a commercial. It's more like I pull myself out of bed, start the coffee pot, and wait until it brews before I can even contemplate my tasks for the day. And God forbid I wake up late, and do not have time to brew my coffee then you might just want to stay away from me that day.

Some would say that this little description would prove I have an addiction, but I would like to think of it as more of a very close friendship with caffeine. I am not the only person who loves coffee, according to top100espresso.com, coffee is the most popular beverage worldwide, being grown commercially in over 45 countries. But why are people so hooked?

Could it be the taste? the caffeine? the health benefits? Yes, you heard me correctly on the last one. Old rumors are now being proved wrong (coffee stunts your growth) and health benefits are now being discovered of coffee.

According to the Archives of Internal Medicine, coffee can lower your risk of Type 2 Diabetes and reduces risk of suicide. If that is not motivation enough to drink coffee, just 2 cups daily can cut post-workout pain by nearly 50% (Journal of Pain, March 2007).

This site is filled with articles explaining the benefits of coffee in more detail...

Coffee in the morning and a pick me up in the late afternoon, with these benefits and many more, how could anyone say no to coffee?