The people who say they need 3 cups of black coffee to start their day are just addicts with a high tolerance that experience mild withdrawal symptoms each morning.

If you feel like that, it’s your body crying for you to take a break.

If you like an occasional cup of coffee or energy drink to get through something, then that’s fine. But if you ever feel like one isn’t working like it used to, you should take a break from caffeine to reset your tolerance, not up the dosage like an addict.

  • @[email protected]
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    691 year ago

    Nah see…

    I’m a coffee person and an addict.

    I don’t resent my addiction like you seem to, there is no animosity in my relationship with coffee. I embrace my addiction and love it, and it loves me back by giving me just what I need. The high, the robust flavor, the aftertaste, the smell, the experience, everything. And 3 cups of black coffee? Bruh, more like a pot or two to get started (8 cup pots) before 7AM, then maybe a french press or an espresso , followed by perhaps a cup of instant or maybe I’ll put some coffee sprinkles in my protein shake. All of that before 11AM. Then if I’m going out in the evening, at least a double espresso and or if I’m out and about maybe an Americano or just a latte. Maybe hit a vending machine or grocery store and get an can of iced Mr Brown or a double shot.

    When I was a smoker, there was nothing I loved more in the world than a nice cup of black coffee, something thick like motor oil, and a nice cigarette. I stopped smoking for the health impacts which are material, but I didn’t resent it when I was smoking. I enjoyed every minute of it. Its the same with coffee. This puritanical approach to self-hating anything that brings you joy. Its a bit silly and not for me. I have no shame in the things that bring me pleasure. Its a far deeper shame to avoid pleasure because of some intrinsic guilt about it.

    • metaStatic
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      71 year ago

      I would contend that if you’re making American style drip coffee you don’t like coffee that much.

      • @[email protected]
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        291 year ago

        If your drip comes out tasting not amazing, that’s on you. Drip is a perfectly acceptable way to make coffee. Its just a matter of grind, roast, and filter parameters. Its not like I don’t also have about 15 other ways to make coffee. The biggest factor in drip (imo) is actually the hot-plate most american coffee makers come with. This absolutely ruins the coffee very quickly. Turn that off and just accept that you’ll need to finish the whole pot in about 40 minutes (longer if you use a vacuum urn). I have no problem finishing a pot of coffee in 30-50 minutes.

        • @[email protected]
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          51 year ago

          The cooler coffee is, the longer it stays tasting good. Making an extra cup or two and letting it sit at room temp for an hour or two and then heating it up in the microwave works for me. Too large a quantity may not cool down fast enough, and if you heat it back up to scalding that can have an negative effect.

          • @[email protected]
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            21 year ago

            Not only that, but coffee made well will taste fine cold/room temp.

            Yeah, I prefer it hot, but my cold coffee is perfectly drinkable.

            • @[email protected]
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              41 year ago

              Sorry if I was unclear. I’m in agreement with you that hot plates degrade coffee. I was recommending the let it cool down and heat it back up later approach.

        • Alto
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          1 year ago

          The amount of people that think all drip coffee is the same is wild. Yeah what you get out of a keurig cup is probably going to be shit, because they use shit coffee. Some people are perfectly fine with that, and that’s just as valid as those of us that put way the fuck too much effort into it.

          Sometimes I take the time to use my mocha pot. Sometimes I’ll make cold brew. Sometimes I just want a good cup of coffee with minimal effort. With the right settings and coffee, drip coffee is going to come out a helluva lot better than anything you’re gonna get at a chain place.

      • BigFig
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        531 year ago

        I would contend that there’s 501 ways to make coffee and telling others their way is “wrong” is a douche move.

      • @[email protected]
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        121 year ago

        How is drip coffee differently scientifically from your snob version ? Espresso machine? Temp, water ratio? Please explain?

    • @[email protected]OP
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      31 year ago

      That’s a lot of words to say “I’m addicted to a stimulant and spend a lot of time making how I take said stimulant taste good”

    • @[email protected]
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      61 year ago

      When I was a smoker, there was nothing I loved more in the world than a nice cup of black coffee, something thick like motor oil, and a nice cigarette.>

      Fuuuck yeah, talk dirty to me, Daddy. God, I miss that, and I haven’t touched a cigarette in 13 years. Still drink coffee every day though.

  • Blackout
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    101 year ago

    If you take it as an enema you can handle twice the lethal dose.

  • @[email protected]
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    71 year ago

    Most likely? No, that’s wrong. I am definitely addicted to caffeine.

    Source: about 5 years ago I randomly skipped coffee for about a week. Felt like shit.

    It’s not worth it to me to spend the week or so of misery it would take to start a caffeine -free life, so I keep up a near-daily coffee regimen.

    • @[email protected]
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      1 year ago

      Think of how much money you’ve spent on coffee over the last 5 years. Addictions are expensive. One week of discomfort could save you so much money in the long run.

      • ivanafterall
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        31 year ago

        Really depends on how you drink it. I buy bulk beans and grind them myself, which runs me like $7-$10 a month, maybe?

      • @[email protected]
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        31 year ago

        Hey, I didn’t ask you for advice.

        You’re right about the money, but I didn’t ask for advice.

  • @[email protected]
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    21 year ago

    Oh I’m definitely an addict. Sometimes the first sip is way too good to just be about the taste. Its a bit annoying during the summer, coffee makes me sweat too much, but if I haven’t had a cup by 1pm or so, then I get a bad headache.

  • Boozilla
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    11 year ago

    I am neutral on coffee itself but “coffee culture” can be pretty obnoxious. All the shopworn dad jokes about it, the impervious entitlement about needing coffee in the same way people need air to live. The highly specific prep and snobby opinions on types of drinks and how they’re made. It all gets very old, very fast IMO.

    The Decoder Ring podcast did an interesting episode recently on how all coffee shops are exactly alike, all over the world. It was eye opening for me.

  • Maple Engineer
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    31 year ago

    I quit caffeine in 2001.

    I was addicted.

    My family noticed that I read very angry and difficult to be around in Saturday mornings. I got really bad headaches.

  • @[email protected]
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    101 year ago

    James Hoffman has a great video about this with scientific analysis to prove it. Basically the people that claim they’re “coffee addicts” are often drinking something that isn’t caffeinated like one might expect. A good pour over has close to 80mg of caffeine in it, but a weaker Starbucks/gas station/K-cup/instant coffee has only 25-45~mg of caffeine per cup. You effectively need 3 cups a day to equate what you can get from 1 perfectly good quality cup of coffee. Even a Starbucks “double shot” is like drinking 7/8ths of a proper pour over. I have a lot of friends that are “coffee addicts” and drink 2-3 Starbucks a day.

    Link

    • MxM111
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      21 year ago

      Espresso has less caffeine than large mug of drip coffee especially of morning light or medium roasts. And many coffee makers just make twice more water in double shot, not twice more coffee.

    • Alto
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      91 year ago

      James Hoffman really is the endgame of coffee nerds. I love his stuff.

      • @[email protected]
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        91 year ago

        He does the thing I enjoy seeing most. It’s not just enough to drink coffee. We have to know about it from top-to-bottom. How to pull from it everything we can. His science the shit out of it is one of my favorite things. If you like his sort of “honed” approach to something and you like details like him I’d recommend AmmoNYC for car detailing. He’s like the James Hoffman of car cleaning. It’s not just enough to do something, but to tear it down and figure out how to do the process better with science and perfect it.

        • Alto
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          21 year ago

          I’ve had a few of Ammo’s kids pop up in my recommendations, they’ve been great too.

          And yeah, that’s the main reason I love coffee as much as I do. There’s so much to learn about it, so many ways you can tweak things. It’s fun.

          • @[email protected]
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            11 year ago

            Careful of the car detailing path. It starts with things like learning to not swirl your paint and occasionally decontaminating it. Suddenly you have a $1500 steam extractor and $800 polishers. I’m not sure if drugs are better, but sometimes I feel like they’d be cheaper. The high I get from cleaning my cars, or cleaning others cars though is totally worth it. My biggest hurdle was just getting a polisher and putting polish to paint. I was scared as hell about messing it up, but sometimes you gotta stumble to run.

    • @[email protected]OP
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      21 year ago

      That is a whole other problem with the medical care that I’m not ready to cope with.

      Do your best not to build a tolerance if you can! Your poor kidneys will thank you.

      (But if it’s working it’s probably super hard to take tolerance breaks)

      • Semi-Hemi-Demigod
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        41 year ago

        I make sure not to overdo it because too much coffee gives me major heartburn, so I guess I have a built-in dosage limit. And luckily I don’t have terrible withdrawal symptoms if I miss a dose.

        But it’s definitely better than the 2 liters of Coke I drank every day in high school.

          • @[email protected]
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            41 year ago

            Completely unnecessary, and you shouldn’t blame the other person because you didn’t understand their point.

            Two cups of coffee is a significantly healthier choice than 2L of coca cola. That was obviously the point they were making. There’s no need to jump down their throat about it, and it’s telling that you jump to that over something relatively innocuous.

          • Alto
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            71 year ago

            I’m pretty sure you wildly misinterpreted their point.

    • @[email protected]
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      71 year ago

      It’s a double whammy too because occasionally I’ll just get bored of coffee and drop it, then a few days later I’m wondering why I have a gnarly headache.

  • @[email protected]
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    31 year ago

    Maybe, but it really isn’t like other substances. It’s much. Much easier to quit. I don’t know if you have ever smoked nicotine or tried to quit that. But it was the hardest thing I believe I’ve ever done in my life. Id rather roll around in broken glass for 4-5 months. 2 years later and I still get cravings. I do not feel the same way after quiting caffeine. I was a little tired. Maybe a little irritable for a couple days. But it was nothing like the physical, all body encompassing cravings for nicotine.

  • @[email protected]
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    191 year ago

    I’m a coffee person because I enjoy coffee. I love the taste, I love making it, steaming milk, taking my time with espresso, and trying different brewing methods.

    It’s not about the caffeine. That’s just a useful side effect.

    • @[email protected]
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      21 year ago

      At the same time, you’re probably not drinking 3+ cups a day. There’s a reason you have a spit cup when cupping coffee.

      The struggle of loving coffee and being a very caffeine sensitive insomniac is real.

      • @[email protected]
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        1 year ago

        I cut down to one cup a day, and so now I treat that one cup like a fine wine; I do all the fancy prep, have good beans, and take my sweet ass tiiiiimmmme drinking it. I savour the hell out of it haha

      • @[email protected]
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        21 year ago

        I love coffee and recently had to go to one cup when I wake up and then no other caffeine for the day as part of working through a sleep disorder.

        It’s been really, really beneficial for my mental health. I am sleeping better, interrupting less, and generally have more appropriate appetite for food (I have issues with late night eating that are essentially gone).

        I didn’t want to do this but it’s been pretty good.

        I still enjoy a decaf Americano every so often in the afternoon.