11 ms·

No More Coffee

97 points by riverlong 6y ago

FlyingBears 6y ago
And here I am, trying everything from diet to exercise so that I can get back on coffee asap.
_hardwaregeek 6y ago
Key point here is that you probably fixed your sleep schedule sometime after high school. Coffee dependency is a pretty common hotfix for a poor sleep schedule. Once you take away the poor sleep schedule, coffee becomes less necessary and more a nice to have. It'd be interesting seeing the long term effects high school sleep schedules have on people. I wouldn't be surprised if poor sleep patterns in adolescence lead to insomnia and other issues later in life. I definitely felt like my high school sleeping patterns were damaging to my mental and physical health.
raspasov 6y ago
Wonder how much of the crash is from coffee vs the sugar (the post mentions hazelnut lattes which should be called hazelnut-flavored coffee/sugar drinks).
- riverlong 6y ago
  Sugar definitely induces crashes, but caffeine by itself does as well. My flirtations with coffee/sugar monstrosities were temporary; I mostly drank espresso-based drinks without sugar or sweeteners.
- proverbialbunny 6y ago
  A sugar crash happens two to 2.5 hours after the last sugar consumed. So, it's not a sugar crash the author is talking about.
  - snoopen 6y ago
    Perhaps, but at 10 beverages a day caffeine is only part of the problem since they were no longer drinking black coffee. Even plain cow's milk on its own has some sugar.
- collyw 6y ago
  I went very strictly non-sugar for a month or two a year or two back. I noticed that I had no desire for caffiene in the morning (not that I am a huge drinker, but maybe a couple of mugs of green tea to get me going).
chrisjs96 6y ago
So you stopped drinking coffee because you didn't want to order a $25 coffee maker off Amazon?
LilBytes 6y ago
For anyone that tries this, don't naively go cold turkey and expect just a headache. It generally takes 12 days before your body resets it's relevant receptors for caffeine consumption. E.g if you drink three coffees a day and barely feel a hit, you need to go cold turkey for 12 days. After that the impact of coffee should be more significant. (1) (edit: sources state 2 weeks to 2 months in fact!) I decided to give it a go a few years ago and fuck me. The come down sucked. The first few days were okish. Slight headache. But from the 3rd day for about 4-5 days. I had a headache that'd compete with my past migraines. I was nauseated and was throwing up several times a day. These stopped at roughly day 8 or day 9. I didn't consider myself a heavy coffee drinker either. Perhaps 2-3 coffees a day, these were double shot espresso's. My colleagues hilariously wrote a medical blog to document my descent into madness. I'll try and dig it up. (1) - https://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-tolerance https://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-tolerance
- chrisjs96 6y ago
  I did it a couple months ago. I've been drinking 3 - 5 cups a day(sometimes more) for years. I just slowly went from drinking it throughout the whole day eliminating cups until I had 1 cup in the morning. This was over 2 weeks. Then I slowly reduced that 1 cup until nothing. Then I switched to a single cup of green tea in the morning just for the ritual. The lack of caffeine hasn't really had any effect on my psoriasis or stress levels, so maybe it was all for nothing.
  - LilBytes 6y ago
    In hind sight this is how I should have done in. But I was morbidly curious to see how bad the cold turkey would be. It was quite a while a go now, I might think about doing it again. But do it without the masochistic torture I put myself through last time. 'psoriasis or stress levels' - is there a link to psoriasis and coffee?
  - thisisnico 6y ago
    1-2 cups of coffee are medically fine. It won't likely have much of a significant effect on your health.
bootcampwhere 6y ago
Love this quote from the end, ...as COVID wraps up and things go back to normal... People really think covid is like any other story in the news cycle and it can just go away as people get bored of it.
YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago
>> I realized that coffee was useful in technical, creative work not because it increases wakefulness, but because it increases focus. You know what else increases focus and also wakefulness, concentration, creativity, productivity, etc, etc? A good night's sleep. Then you wake up early in the morning with your mind razor sharp and you have a good five to six hours of uninterrupted work at the top of your game. Then lunch, a little 15 minute nap and off you go, for another five or six hours. That's how you get through 12-hour working days without dosing yourself with anything that ultimately destroys your ability to think straight, even as it makes you think you're awake (when you're actually half asleep).
- moltar 6y ago
  Some people don’t have luxury of good sleep. Health issues, babies.
  - YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago
    Health issues will affect your ability to concentrate and focus anyway. Babies grow up eventually. The trick is to not accept sleepingg for three or four hours each night as normal.
fiblye 6y ago
For a couple years, I had strange heart palpitations. It became increasingly frequent and bad to the point that it'd feel like my heart stopped for 10 seconds, or it was trying to burst out of my chest for a minute, or the arteries in my neck throbbed so hard it hurt. I quit drinking coffee, and two weeks later, these issues stopped entirely. I haven't felt them in about 3 years. I was usually only drinking two cups a day (albeit very large and very strong cups), but it seems to have been enough to really wear out my body. On the other hand, since giving up coffee, I've basically lost my ability to focus on difficult things. Coffee never really helped me stay awake, but damn did it help me work. Sometimes I'll have a cup, but then I think that I kind of feel something in my chest and decide to quit drinking for a few more months.
- notJim 6y ago
  You ever talk to a doctor about your focus problems? There are all kinds of medical issues from nutrition deficiencies to ADHD to sleep disorders that can cause focus problems.
- YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago
  You should really go see a doctor. That sounds like you have at the very least hypertension and maybe even something worse. Don't wait until it's too late to find out.
  - fiblye 6y ago
    I went a few times and they couldn't find anything wrong. It likely just came down to caffeine consumption. My blood pressure is a little on the low side of normal, so hypertension thankfully isn't the problem.
    - YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago
      That's great :)
- axaxs 6y ago
  Same boat. I -love- coffee. Heart started skipping so erratically that I went to the ER. Followup with a cardiologist who told me 'no more caffeine.'. Never bothered me a day in my life til age 34, apparently. Edit to add - Actually, about a year prior to that, had really bad GERD start out of nowhere. The doctor there also said to stop drinking caffeine. Apparently it's really bad for your stomach muscles. I didn't listen of course, until my heart was involved.
TheArcane 6y ago
So the author was so opposed to preparing coffee at home (or anything in his kitchen, like he admitted) that he managed to kick a lifelong addiction? This compounded by his claimed of being an addict rather than an afficianado (so he could prettiest much consume home made instant or drip coffee) makes me question the severity of his claimed addiction. To be clear, I congratulate the authors for kicking the addiction, but the story seems a bit ludicrous.
- riverlong 6y ago
  If it hadn't been for COVID-19, which was a logistically unbelievably stressful time, I would've probably purchased a coffee maker. (There was a coffee machine in my building that I used frequently, but the building made it inaccessible due to perceived COVID contamination risks.) But dealing with tons of COVID fallout, that just didn't make it to the top of my priority list. I use the word "addict" loosely -- I'm not sure how much real chemical dependency there was, I didn't have much in the way of withdrawal symptoms. I have anecdotally observed that people have radically different biological responses to and dependencies on caffeine. I think my "addiction" was mostly cultural.
- boterock 6y ago
  Reminded me of those stories of war people taking drugs because the environment triggered the desire in them. If being outside was the trigger, staying inside would make it easy to quit. On the other hand, going outside again would trigger again the addiction, so it never went away in the first place.
- qppo 6y ago
  Instant coffee isn't even that bad. And that Korean whipped coffee has been making the social media rounds, it doesn't take much in resources or gadgets to make. I wonder if it's maybe a cultural thing. Where I grew up in the United States it would be almost unheard of not to own a coffee pot. But I've also worked with people (from parts of Asia, in particular) where they didn't know how to operate a drip coffee maker and only kept instant around, despite how much coffee they would drink every day.
  - 6y ago
awillen 6y ago
Good for you! Several years back my team at work used to joke about my caffeine intake... it was just a compulsion that when my cup was empty I'd get more coffee. I found that the beneficial effects plateaued around cup four every day, and beyond that it was pure habit (I'd get the crashes later in the day but more caffeine wouldn't help much). I was down to about 2 cups a day at work, but now that I'm home all the time, I'm back up to four. It's just... comforting to have in my hand.
proverbialbunny 6y ago
I've been drinking decaf for years. It's hard to get a good tasting decaf blend, but if you don't drink much caffeine decaf will wake you up, you can drink more cups a day (if that's your thing) and it's healthier. Frankly, I'm surprised decaf is not more popular. It is possible to make decaf taste so good you'd never know it's decaf.
- andrepd 6y ago
  > and it's healthier I think there is no evidence whatsover that coffee is in any way bad for you. In fact, some studies point to slight benefits in lifelong coffee drinkers.
  - tonyedgecombe 6y ago
    There seems to be quite a lot of anecdotal evidence of side effects in this discussion.
    - ClumsyPilot 6y ago
      Well, there are people who have bad reactions to gluten, but most of us don't need to eliminate it from out diet.
      - proverbialbunny 6y ago
        Everyone has a bad reaction from overdoing anything, even water.
  - slothtrop 6y ago
    In that quote you picked he's referencing the amount of caffeine. With high level consumption the side effects are more pronounced. If you drop the "healthy/unhealthy" monikers when researching, there's a clearer picture of that since "healthy" is such a loaded term.
    - atomi 6y ago
krustyburger 6y ago
>> For me, this triggered careful introspection about whether I really derived pleasure from the things I claimed to like, or whether those claims were really just signaling about the person I would like to be, rather than who I actually am. This resonates with me. But I think sometimes these aspirational affectations, once identified, are better preserved. If there’s any chance that they may one day ring true, they can serve as a worthwhile reminder of what one is striving toward.
- riverlong 6y ago
  Absolutely, I totally agree in general. For coffee culture in particular it's strange, because what's the aspiration? To drink lots of coffee? Great, but I struggle to find a higher purpose in that. In coffee culture, there's some common sense of belonging and easy identification with others -- drinking lots of coffee is like being a fan of a popular sports team. It makes for an easy catchphrase and set of jokes that can go on T-Shirts or Tinder bios. It's an easy way to create a persona, and stereotype yourself a little for others to feel like they get you more easily -- "that's Jay, he's 6 feet tall, loves coffee and flying kites, rides a motorcycle". But, at least to me, it felt like a bland or uninteresting thing to advertise about myself.
  - Ghjklov 6y ago
    There's an image that comes along with coffee culture. I don't know if it was intentionally done by Big Coffee (TM) but coffee for many people has become a symbol of the working man. People want that "get a coffee and then head to the office" kind of feel. It's also a symbol of inspiration/aspiration. Think of starving artists caffeinating themselves while splashing paint at a canvas.
    - riverlong 6y ago
      Part of it might be that coffee is very aesthetically trendy. A cup looks good, and lends itself well to photography. Lots of cafes are really beautifully designed. It's a cool vibe, just by association.
codezero 6y ago
I've generally quit caffeine a few times in my life, it was always the right thing to do. In my older age, I'm able to moderate a lot better, I really couldn't just drink a single soda or green tea, but now I'm a lot more comfortable drinking caffeine in the morning, then switching to something else the rest of the day. When I first stopped, I had been also drinking sugary soda - so I switched to diet soda as a crutch, it definitely helped me make the transition.
samsa 6y ago
My COVID coffee experience was the opposite- I have been drinking half a pot every morning since mid-March. Last night I had the thought that I should go cold turkey, and this blog post might be the last little push I needed to do it.
- soylentcola 6y ago
  I try to keep it minimal--partly because I want to avoid heavy dependency and partly just to be frugal. That said, I had stopped buying coffee from the place next to work during the week and only made enough for two mugs (one for me, one for SO) on weekends. Now that I'm working from home and have the time in the morning, I make the same two mugs' worth most days. I don't feel awful about it because one mug (probably around a cup and a half worth) most days isn't a crazy amount. Still, I buy decent beans ($10-15 for a one-pound bag) and go through it in a couple of weeks. I consider it a minor vice and surely healthier than the couple of beers I've been drinking most evenings.
cqz 6y ago
I used to experience late day crashes and headaches quite frequently, and also chalked that up to excessive coffee intake. However, as someone who also spent little time in the kitchen (thinking I didn't have time for it), it turned out to be my haphazard style of intermittent fasting that was giving me the headaches. Now I spend no more than an hour or so each night making food with leftovers for lunch the following day, and my life has improved phenomenally. YMMV but I still drink plenty of coffee.
thorum 6y ago
Lately I've been experimenting with regular caffeine resets to avoid tolerance. I'm following a two weeks on / 1 week off schedule. I also use caffeine tablets instead of coffee, and limit myself to 50-100mg, usually taken in smaller doses throughout the day. Combined with the regular reset weeks, this so far seems to be enough to boost my energy without giving me jitters and other issues.
frequentnapper 6y ago
I personally don't drink coffee to stay up. I find it has an adverse effect. I drink it to start my day when I'm fresh or after a nap.
jdoliner 6y ago
I had a somewhat similar trajectory to the author with coffee. I started drinking it in highschool and loved it. I didn't have quite as bad a sleep schedule as him, but it was bad, and coffee was the band-aid. Then I got to college and really went nuts. I used to just get coffee in the morning, then it was before every class, then after class too, and in the evening when I was doing homework. Every coffee shop had free refills, it was so cheap. Eventually I got to the point where I was drinking 10-15 cups a day, and I was starting to have a lot of trouble sleeping, presumably due to drinking it late into the evening. Then one day I just decided to stop, and it was shockingly easy. I didn't have any withdrawal symptoms, not even a headache, I didn't feel particularly tired. And I started sleeping better so I quickly felt less tired. I think my dependence on coffee was entirely psychological, there wasn't really a physical component to it. I haven't really had coffee, or any caffeine since then. I went through a period of drinking decaf, but found that even the little bit of caffeine in that messed with my sleep. Or it was just a placebo affect that made me too anxious to fall asleep, still not really sure which it was. The only thing I really miss is the taste, every time I walk by a coffee shop and smell it I get a wave of nostalgia. But oh well, I like sleep a lot better than coffee.
- riverlong 6y ago
  This was my experience as well. I had little in the way of actual withdrawal symptoms. My dependence was mostly psychological or cultural. Anecdotally, I think it's really interesting that people have radically different biological responses to caffeine. I have friends who drink much less than I did, but are hardcore dependent. I know people who get real headaches and jitters from tiny cups of coffee. I wonder if this heterogeneity is the case for many stimulants, or if there's something special and unusual about caffeine.
pgt 6y ago
For those worried about caffeine withdrawal, I find that going for a run staves off the headache caused by adenosine rebound.
bigbassroller 6y ago
I go for the pharmaceutical grade caffeine, Tazo Chai tea. Ingredients: “An infusion (of water, black tea, black pepper, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, natural flavors), cane sugar, honey, ginger juice, natural flavors, vanilla extract, citric acid”. Notice sugar low on the list, after all the good stuff that gets you wired. Its all the buzz with less crash.
- drewm1980 6y ago
  Pharmaceutical grade caffeine is a thing. Caffeine pills are available OTC.
- phonypc 6y ago
  Sugar appearing low on an informally written ingredient list like that doesn't indicate relative quantity. Looking at the nutrition info, that stuff appears to contain substantially more sugar by volume than pretty much any soft drink. Edit: actually maybe that list is supposed to indicate relative quantity; they just get around sugar being the second and third ingredients by lumping a bunch of stuff in with water.
  - bigbassroller 6y ago
    True, but all other brands have sugar as first ingredient and I can tell the difference.
mlthoughts2018 6y ago
I drink a lot of coffee (3-4 ~ 10oz cups per day). I periodically stopped drinking any caffeine sources cold turkey for months (probably 6 or 7 times over the past decade). I’ve never experienced any form of side effect. No headaches, crashes, cravings, nothing. Likewise, when I resume drinking coffee again later, it takes the same 3-4 cups per day to feel any kind of impact. Similarly I can drink coffee all day, and often really enjoy an espresso after dinner instead of dessert, with zero impact on sleep. I don’t know if I am just a weirdo who can metabolize caffeine differently or what, but I’ve never had any kind of headache / jitters / withdrawal / strong craving / whatever, neither from drinking a lot of coffee or a little or switching between the two states over long or short periods of time.
Barrin92 6y ago
I've always drunk a lot of caffeine and honestly people make it sounds like they're doing heroin when they talk about quitting. Blogposts like this almost always seem to be people into their 30s or 40s who want to make some fancy livestyle change for its own sake. If anything a nice cup of black tea or a good Irish coffee in the evening calms me down and I sleep like a baby
- ilaksh 6y ago
  People in their 30s or 40s like me don't make lifestyle changes "for its own sake". We do it because we notice our slightly older bodies react significantly differently to substances or generally are less healthy and less tolerant of unideal lifestyles. This is due to hormone changes and basically other types of aging. Also, just because coffee makes _you_ feel calm, and you have no issues sleeping afterward, does not mean that that is the normal reaction. For most people, coffee is a stimulant, and will often delay sleep. But the effects vary quite a bit with different people and different consumption levels.
- 8fingerlouie 6y ago
  > If anything a nice cup of black tea or a good Irish coffee in the evening calms me down and I sleep like a baby Tea in the evening knocks me out, especially chamomile tea. As for the Irish Coffee, i suspect the whiskey is the suspect in knocking you out :D
senectus1 6y ago
I've done the cold turkey coffee cut a few times. For me its no big deal. A few days of headaches and grumpiness, and its done. I may do it again soon though, it'll be interesting to see what a difference my no sugar change will make to the experience.
mobiledev2014 6y ago
> Ultimately, as COVID wraps up and things go back to normal As someone who was “more cautious than most” this is disheartening to read. I know it isn’t the point of the post but this type of attitude is why we are in for huge pain no matter how low spread rates are in your area at the moment. Even if scientific consensus is wrong and things die down quickly nationwide with no “2nd wave,” the economy is going to go to a scary place.
40four 6y ago
I drink probably 3-5 cups a day consistently, either black or a small amount of cream. I don’t know why, but I am not sensitive to caffeine at all. I don’t get ‘wired’ or energized from it. Been that way my whole life, even as a kid consuming tons of soda. I just never seemed to feel a noticeable effect. I’m sure I’m not the only one, but the way I hear other people talk about caffeine, it seems like we’re consuming totally different substances. Since I don’t get a buzz, I don’t drink it for the energy. It’s just a pleasant, delicious hot beverage. I also enjoy trying different bean varieties & new roasting companies. I’ve given it up for a while with seemingly no adverse effects. I can take it or leave it, but I usually partake! Also, I like to think black coffee is actually good for you. It’s not just caffeine, but contains many complex compounds, anti-oxidants etc. The science is debatable, but if I believe it’s good for me then it is right? :p
- mft_ 6y ago
  I was going to write something similar. I remember the first time I needed to pull an all-nighter in university to finish a project, and picked myself up a packet of the Proplus caffeine pills which were in vogue at the time. Took a few during the night and didn’t notice a thing. Fast forward a few years and a buddy and I bought our first espresso machines. Experimenting making double espressos with different beans - after two or three he was totally wired, feeling unwell, and unable to sleep; I could pretty much sleep as normal. Two physiological effects that are fairly clear however: 1) Moderate appetite suppression – useful if intermittent fasting and hungry in the morning 2) Something in coffee is a fairly powerful stimulant of colonic motility...
drewm1980 6y ago
I also gave up my coffee routine because of COVID. When I got it I was worried I'd end up on a ventilator having trouble breathing AND going through coffee withdrawal. I managed to suffer my few days of withdrawal before I landed in the hospital. In the end I was lucky and avoided both ventilation and bad hospital coffee. The "near life" experience caused me to stop consuming other things as well, mostly for ecological reasons.
jefft255 6y ago
All these years of caffeine addiction and no coffee machine at home.... sounds insane to me. I drink a lot of coffee; typically 3 cups in the morning at home (if I’m short on time I bring a thermos with me) then I buy maybe 1-2 cups at work. I like to treat myself to a latte sometimes but they’re now at least five bucks! I can’t imagine how expensive a 10 coffee a day habit must be when you don’t make it at home.
virtualwhys 6y ago
Quit coffee 3 years ago, one of the best things I've ever done for myself. Since coffee is pretty much universally accepted in the world (even more so than alcohol), one can easily view a strong coffee habit as normal, or at worst a benign vice. And it's fine as far as addictions go; you can ride the caffeine wave to increased productivity, and when the effects wear off another cup of liquid inspiration is there waiting. I did this for close to 15 years. What bothered me was this feeling of being ruled by the habit. I simply had to have my two jam packed triple espresso lattes (or equivalent when not at home), one in the morning, and one in the afternoon; there was never serious consideration given to the thought, "I know, let's not have coffee this weekend", just a steamroller habit with me along for the ride. Ironically what got me to quit coffee (and I had no intention of doing so) was a "retreat" in Mexico where one of the requirements was following a strict diet 2 days before and 4 days after the experience. One of the restrictions was no coffee, which part of me was strongly resisting, to the point of considering withdrawing (hah) from something I'd already spent several hundred dollars for. In the end I went ahead with it. On the 4th day after the retreat I was free, and commenced preparing a strong pot of rocket fuel, but then something within me realized, "wait, I don't need this anymore". And I don't, at all. Coffee is the devil made liquid -- proceed with caution :) [0] i.e. even when sick, on off days from work, during vacation, etc.
- corry 6y ago
  Was by chance this “retreat” in Mexico psychedelic related? Your story fits a fact pattern to me, which is abstaining from caffeine prior (because caffeine apparently can ‘get in the way’ of the ‘chemical experience’) and the fact that you could easily change an ingrained habit once you’re back - which is kind of a hallmark of that type of experience too.
- pards 6y ago
  > What bothered me was this feeling of being ruled by the habit. This. It only became apparent to me when I was out of my usual routine such as while travelling abroad or attending a training seminar. I hated that vacations were punctuated by the need to seek out a coffee shop in an unfamiliar city when the time could have been better spent sightseeing.
brickZA 6y ago
Everyone here is pathetic ;) Jokes aside, I'm surprised at how strongly people respond to giving up a 2 cups a day "habit". I drink 5+ cups a day and have gone "cold turkey" on several occasions, (e.g. long road trips, flying, forgetting to go to the shop) with no ill effects apart from being a bit tired. When I have a cold or flu I generally loose my appetite for coffee too, so I usually go "cold turkey" for a week or so. For me it generally takes about 2 weeks to get back to no-coffee baseline. That said, coffee tastes great, has no real long term negative effects from all I have read, and gives my day ritual and breaks similar to what smoking can give, but without the lung cancer.
- 8fingerlouie 6y ago
  I honestly don't get what all the fuzz is about, but then again i'm one of the people that gets absolutely no effect from caffeine. I drink 5-10 cups of coffee per day, and have done so for the past 25 years. Even energy drinks have no effects (beside bringing caffeine to stroke levels), and drinking 2 cups of coffee right before bedtime only means i need to get up to take a leak sometime during the night. It doesn't affect my sleep at all. Quitting is easy for me as i get absolutely no "symptoms". Some days i drink maybe 2 cups instead of the usual 10+, and i don't notice at all. As to why i drink coffee ? It tastes better than water, and i don't like tea.
- chownie 6y ago
  It's really varaible based on habits and your biology I guess. I used to drink pretty much consistently Pepsi and Coffee every day for maybe 4 or 5 years. When I decided to give up caffeine it was like a week and a half long flu, horrible headaches and tired aches all over my body. I ended up having to take time off because I just couldn't function at work. In my case I was giving up caffeine to help regulate sleeping patterns, though I was experiencing some of the heart palpitations too.
nonsince 6y ago
I self-medicated with caffeine for my ADD for years, not realising that my (pretty serious) case of the condition was absolutely not normal, and eventually realising that I needed a diagnosis at the age of 24. Even after that, I still took months to kick the habit of starting to drink caffeine, building up a tolerance, realising that it harms more than it helps overall and kicking it, then having some downer moment (a cold, a workday after little sleep) that made me crack and drink more, starting the cycle again. I’ve now just about kicked the habit, but even though I’ve regularly experimented with and always had access to plenty of harder stuff, caffeine is the only thing I’ve ever been addicted to and likely always will be.
- omnomnomtea 6y ago
  I'm in the same boat here, was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 28 and realized pretty fast after that I had been self-medicating with massive amounts of coffee. Was up to 8-10 shots espresso a day when I was diagnosed. I was jittery and having problems sleeping, but could only focus as long as I continually ramped up on the caffeine. Adderall has made a big difference for me- I've gradually cut the caffeine to a 2 tiny coffees a day and my focus is way better than when I was drinking latte after latte. No issues with ramping up either, it's been a couple years and I'm still on basically the same dosage of adderall.
numpad0 6y ago
For anyone going back to coffee anyway, the types of machines called “Superautomatic” espresso machines from slightly over $500 universally takes only water, some unground beans, and bits of electricity to generate espresso of desired amount on press of a button. Regular amount of beans are drawn, ground inside, tamped, brewed and ejected in a form of miniature hockey pucks by series of motors and actuators. You empty the spent bean box and refill the water tank, clean the high pressure contraption block occasionally with mild cleaning agents, that’s it. No filters no capsules just beans and tap water.
- inertiatic 6y ago
  The magnifica line from Delonghi has a great reputation and costs almost half that (250-350 euro). They make good tasting espresso. They are super dependable, I own one and I've worked on 3 different offices that had them, none of them ever had problems despite being used for something they weren't intended for (making several hundreds of cups of coffee a day).
- newen 6y ago
  Superautomatics are really great. Way better tasting than the ridiculous coffee pods or cups or whatever that you'd have to buy for the other press-a-button coffee makers. And you make up the money just buying whole beans instead of the pods in a few months or so.
- Chris2048 6y ago
  You can also buy pre-ground coffee for espresso machines. Need tamping but no biggie - I recommend Gaggia classic machines.
ajkdhcb2 6y ago
The author still seems highly focused on their social image. They say it became a sort of personality signal that they were a big coffee drinker, now are making a loud social signal about quitting. Also impossible for me to imagine spending that much on coffee without ever making it at home. Very strange post in general
inertiatic 6y ago
The author makes caffeine sound like a super power. I wish I could experience that even for a little bit. I drink a lot of coffee (I think I average 4 or 5 quadruple espresso shots a day right now) but it does nothing for me physiologically. I don't feel like it wakes me up, it doesn't make me procrastinate less or focus more, it doesn't keep me from sleeping (I'll regularly drink a quad shot after a full day before going to bed).
- draw_down 6y ago
  Yeah, you’re just addicted (no offense) and have a high tolerance. You’re now feeding the tolerance when you drink it, not having enough to get “wired” or whatever. Give it a rest for a few weeks and then see what happens when you have some. The first week at least probably won’t be super fun.
  - s8923 6y ago
    I'm basically in the same boat with them. I don't think I'm addicted, there are months where I don't drink any coffee, and I have zero withdrawal symptoms. And I can get back to 10-15 cups a day right away after 3 months, and taking naps after the cups like nothing. (Except I would go to bathroom more, of course)
- datenhorst 6y ago
  > I wish I could experience that even for a little bit. You can, you just have to reset your tolerance for it.
  - inertiatic 6y ago
    I've gone off coffee for months multiple times. I went through a tea phase a year ago, there are summer months where I'll drink almost no coffee at all. I didn't experience any withdrawal symptoms, ever. And drinking coffee again after that still does nothing for me. I even bought caffeine pills to see if I could actually get any of the benefits if I stacked these with my high coffee consumption. I think I got up to taking 5-6 200mg pills on top of drinking all the coffee I usually do, didn't notice anything and chickened out of taking any more.
datenhorst 6y ago
I always thought I was one of those people on whom caffeine had little to no effect, since we I was drinking 5 cups a day on average and still felt tired all the time. During the lock-down I read somewhere that caffeine's half-life in your body is 6 hours. I'd always needed an hour at least to fall asleep at night but I never attributed it to caffeine. So I figured I'd quit coffee for a to see what the effects were. I can't even begin to tell how big of an effect quitting caffeine had: I routinely fall asleep within 15 minutes of going to bed, I sleep better and longer, I have more energy and one espresso after lunch is enough to stay focused and alert until midnight.
- octodog 6y ago
  My understanding (and personal experience) is that even for people who can fall asleep quickly after drinking coffee late in the day, the quality of the sleep is not as good, so you still feel tired the next day. Of course, the solution to this? More coffee!!
- slothtrop 6y ago
  Similar impact for me, it seems I'm a slow caffeine metabolizer. Even if I only had copious amounts of coffee in the morning, it would impact me at night. There's now research to back that up. I've dwindled it down to a cup and sleep well generally.
rongenre 6y ago
I went cold-turkey in February after 25 years of drinking really strong coffee in well... hacker-heroic amounts. Oddly, no headaches, and the quality of my middle-aged sleep has gone way up. I do like the routine of drinking a hot beverage but I'm finding decaf chai to be a decent replacement.
winrid 6y ago
Caffeine seems to only give me a hit for an hour or so and then I need a nap. How does it affect you?
kuroguro 6y ago
> Caffeine Fiend Phahaha, that's amazing. I'm stealing that.
chillytoes 6y ago
The best coffee substitute I've found is coffee-flavored Postum. It's the one in the red jar. Available from their website or Wal-Mart. I also tried Cafix, but prefer Postum.

97 points by riverlong 6y ago

And here I am, trying everything from diet to exercise so that I can get back on coffee asap.

Key point here is that you probably fixed your sleep schedule sometime after high school. Coffee dependency is a pretty common hotfix for a poor sleep schedule. Once you take away the poor sleep schedule, coffee becomes less necessary and more a nice to have. It'd be interesting seeing the long term effects high school sleep schedules have on people. I wouldn't be surprised if poor sleep patterns in adolescence lead to insomnia and other issues later in life. I definitely felt like my high school sleeping patterns were damaging to my mental and physical health.

raspasov 6y ago

Wonder how much of the crash is from coffee vs the sugar (the post mentions hazelnut lattes which should be called hazelnut-flavored coffee/sugar drinks).

riverlong 6y ago
Sugar definitely induces crashes, but caffeine by itself does as well. My flirtations with coffee/sugar monstrosities were temporary; I mostly drank espresso-based drinks without sugar or sweeteners.
proverbialbunny 6y ago
A sugar crash happens two to 2.5 hours after the last sugar consumed. So, it's not a sugar crash the author is talking about.
- snoopen 6y ago
  Perhaps, but at 10 beverages a day caffeine is only part of the problem since they were no longer drinking black coffee. Even plain cow's milk on its own has some sugar.
collyw 6y ago
I went very strictly non-sugar for a month or two a year or two back. I noticed that I had no desire for caffiene in the morning (not that I am a huge drinker, but maybe a couple of mugs of green tea to get me going).

chrisjs96 6y ago

So you stopped drinking coffee because you didn't want to order a $25 coffee maker off Amazon?

LilBytes 6y ago

For anyone that tries this, don't naively go cold turkey and expect just a headache. It generally takes 12 days before your body resets it's relevant receptors for caffeine consumption. E.g if you drink three coffees a day and barely feel a hit, you need to go cold turkey for 12 days. After that the impact of coffee should be more significant. (1) (edit: sources state 2 weeks to 2 months in fact!) I decided to give it a go a few years ago and fuck me. The come down sucked. The first few days were okish. Slight headache. But from the 3rd day for about 4-5 days. I had a headache that'd compete with my past migraines. I was nauseated and was throwing up several times a day. These stopped at roughly day 8 or day 9. I didn't consider myself a heavy coffee drinker either. Perhaps 2-3 coffees a day, these were double shot espresso's. My colleagues hilariously wrote a medical blog to document my descent into madness. I'll try and dig it up. (1) - https://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-tolerance https://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-tolerance

chrisjs96 6y ago
I did it a couple months ago. I've been drinking 3 - 5 cups a day(sometimes more) for years. I just slowly went from drinking it throughout the whole day eliminating cups until I had 1 cup in the morning. This was over 2 weeks. Then I slowly reduced that 1 cup until nothing. Then I switched to a single cup of green tea in the morning just for the ritual. The lack of caffeine hasn't really had any effect on my psoriasis or stress levels, so maybe it was all for nothing.
- LilBytes 6y ago
  In hind sight this is how I should have done in. But I was morbidly curious to see how bad the cold turkey would be. It was quite a while a go now, I might think about doing it again. But do it without the masochistic torture I put myself through last time. 'psoriasis or stress levels' - is there a link to psoriasis and coffee?
- thisisnico 6y ago
  1-2 cups of coffee are medically fine. It won't likely have much of a significant effect on your health.

bootcampwhere 6y ago

Love this quote from the end, ...as COVID wraps up and things go back to normal... People really think covid is like any other story in the news cycle and it can just go away as people get bored of it.

YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago

>> I realized that coffee was useful in technical, creative work not because it increases wakefulness, but because it increases focus. You know what else increases focus and also wakefulness, concentration, creativity, productivity, etc, etc? A good night's sleep. Then you wake up early in the morning with your mind razor sharp and you have a good five to six hours of uninterrupted work at the top of your game. Then lunch, a little 15 minute nap and off you go, for another five or six hours. That's how you get through 12-hour working days without dosing yourself with anything that ultimately destroys your ability to think straight, even as it makes you think you're awake (when you're actually half asleep).

moltar 6y ago
Some people don’t have luxury of good sleep. Health issues, babies.
- YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago
  Health issues will affect your ability to concentrate and focus anyway. Babies grow up eventually. The trick is to not accept sleepingg for three or four hours each night as normal.

fiblye 6y ago

For a couple years, I had strange heart palpitations. It became increasingly frequent and bad to the point that it'd feel like my heart stopped for 10 seconds, or it was trying to burst out of my chest for a minute, or the arteries in my neck throbbed so hard it hurt. I quit drinking coffee, and two weeks later, these issues stopped entirely. I haven't felt them in about 3 years. I was usually only drinking two cups a day (albeit very large and very strong cups), but it seems to have been enough to really wear out my body. On the other hand, since giving up coffee, I've basically lost my ability to focus on difficult things. Coffee never really helped me stay awake, but damn did it help me work. Sometimes I'll have a cup, but then I think that I kind of feel something in my chest and decide to quit drinking for a few more months.

notJim 6y ago
You ever talk to a doctor about your focus problems? There are all kinds of medical issues from nutrition deficiencies to ADHD to sleep disorders that can cause focus problems.
YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago
You should really go see a doctor. That sounds like you have at the very least hypertension and maybe even something worse. Don't wait until it's too late to find out.
- fiblye 6y ago
  I went a few times and they couldn't find anything wrong. It likely just came down to caffeine consumption. My blood pressure is a little on the low side of normal, so hypertension thankfully isn't the problem.
  - YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago
    That's great :)
axaxs 6y ago
Same boat. I -love- coffee. Heart started skipping so erratically that I went to the ER. Followup with a cardiologist who told me 'no more caffeine.'. Never bothered me a day in my life til age 34, apparently. Edit to add - Actually, about a year prior to that, had really bad GERD start out of nowhere. The doctor there also said to stop drinking caffeine. Apparently it's really bad for your stomach muscles. I didn't listen of course, until my heart was involved.

TheArcane 6y ago

So the author was so opposed to preparing coffee at home (or anything in his kitchen, like he admitted) that he managed to kick a lifelong addiction? This compounded by his claimed of being an addict rather than an afficianado (so he could prettiest much consume home made instant or drip coffee) makes me question the severity of his claimed addiction. To be clear, I congratulate the authors for kicking the addiction, but the story seems a bit ludicrous.

riverlong 6y ago
If it hadn't been for COVID-19, which was a logistically unbelievably stressful time, I would've probably purchased a coffee maker. (There was a coffee machine in my building that I used frequently, but the building made it inaccessible due to perceived COVID contamination risks.) But dealing with tons of COVID fallout, that just didn't make it to the top of my priority list. I use the word "addict" loosely -- I'm not sure how much real chemical dependency there was, I didn't have much in the way of withdrawal symptoms. I have anecdotally observed that people have radically different biological responses to and dependencies on caffeine. I think my "addiction" was mostly cultural.
boterock 6y ago
Reminded me of those stories of war people taking drugs because the environment triggered the desire in them. If being outside was the trigger, staying inside would make it easy to quit. On the other hand, going outside again would trigger again the addiction, so it never went away in the first place.
qppo 6y ago
Instant coffee isn't even that bad. And that Korean whipped coffee has been making the social media rounds, it doesn't take much in resources or gadgets to make. I wonder if it's maybe a cultural thing. Where I grew up in the United States it would be almost unheard of not to own a coffee pot. But I've also worked with people (from parts of Asia, in particular) where they didn't know how to operate a drip coffee maker and only kept instant around, despite how much coffee they would drink every day.
- 6y ago

awillen 6y ago

Good for you! Several years back my team at work used to joke about my caffeine intake... it was just a compulsion that when my cup was empty I'd get more coffee. I found that the beneficial effects plateaued around cup four every day, and beyond that it was pure habit (I'd get the crashes later in the day but more caffeine wouldn't help much). I was down to about 2 cups a day at work, but now that I'm home all the time, I'm back up to four. It's just... comforting to have in my hand.

proverbialbunny 6y ago

I've been drinking decaf for years. It's hard to get a good tasting decaf blend, but if you don't drink much caffeine decaf will wake you up, you can drink more cups a day (if that's your thing) and it's healthier. Frankly, I'm surprised decaf is not more popular. It is possible to make decaf taste so good you'd never know it's decaf.

andrepd 6y ago
> and it's healthier I think there is no evidence whatsover that coffee is in any way bad for you. In fact, some studies point to slight benefits in lifelong coffee drinkers.
- tonyedgecombe 6y ago
  There seems to be quite a lot of anecdotal evidence of side effects in this discussion.
  - ClumsyPilot 6y ago
    Well, there are people who have bad reactions to gluten, but most of us don't need to eliminate it from out diet.
    - proverbialbunny 6y ago
      Everyone has a bad reaction from overdoing anything, even water.
- slothtrop 6y ago
  In that quote you picked he's referencing the amount of caffeine. With high level consumption the side effects are more pronounced. If you drop the "healthy/unhealthy" monikers when researching, there's a clearer picture of that since "healthy" is such a loaded term.
  - atomi 6y ago

krustyburger 6y ago

>> For me, this triggered careful introspection about whether I really derived pleasure from the things I claimed to like, or whether those claims were really just signaling about the person I would like to be, rather than who I actually am. This resonates with me. But I think sometimes these aspirational affectations, once identified, are better preserved. If there’s any chance that they may one day ring true, they can serve as a worthwhile reminder of what one is striving toward.

riverlong 6y ago
Absolutely, I totally agree in general. For coffee culture in particular it's strange, because what's the aspiration? To drink lots of coffee? Great, but I struggle to find a higher purpose in that. In coffee culture, there's some common sense of belonging and easy identification with others -- drinking lots of coffee is like being a fan of a popular sports team. It makes for an easy catchphrase and set of jokes that can go on T-Shirts or Tinder bios. It's an easy way to create a persona, and stereotype yourself a little for others to feel like they get you more easily -- "that's Jay, he's 6 feet tall, loves coffee and flying kites, rides a motorcycle". But, at least to me, it felt like a bland or uninteresting thing to advertise about myself.
- Ghjklov 6y ago
  There's an image that comes along with coffee culture. I don't know if it was intentionally done by Big Coffee (TM) but coffee for many people has become a symbol of the working man. People want that "get a coffee and then head to the office" kind of feel. It's also a symbol of inspiration/aspiration. Think of starving artists caffeinating themselves while splashing paint at a canvas.
  - riverlong 6y ago
    Part of it might be that coffee is very aesthetically trendy. A cup looks good, and lends itself well to photography. Lots of cafes are really beautifully designed. It's a cool vibe, just by association.

codezero 6y ago

I've generally quit caffeine a few times in my life, it was always the right thing to do. In my older age, I'm able to moderate a lot better, I really couldn't just drink a single soda or green tea, but now I'm a lot more comfortable drinking caffeine in the morning, then switching to something else the rest of the day. When I first stopped, I had been also drinking sugary soda - so I switched to diet soda as a crutch, it definitely helped me make the transition.

samsa 6y ago

My COVID coffee experience was the opposite- I have been drinking half a pot every morning since mid-March. Last night I had the thought that I should go cold turkey, and this blog post might be the last little push I needed to do it.

soylentcola 6y ago
I try to keep it minimal--partly because I want to avoid heavy dependency and partly just to be frugal. That said, I had stopped buying coffee from the place next to work during the week and only made enough for two mugs (one for me, one for SO) on weekends. Now that I'm working from home and have the time in the morning, I make the same two mugs' worth most days. I don't feel awful about it because one mug (probably around a cup and a half worth) most days isn't a crazy amount. Still, I buy decent beans ($10-15 for a one-pound bag) and go through it in a couple of weeks. I consider it a minor vice and surely healthier than the couple of beers I've been drinking most evenings.

cqz 6y ago

I used to experience late day crashes and headaches quite frequently, and also chalked that up to excessive coffee intake. However, as someone who also spent little time in the kitchen (thinking I didn't have time for it), it turned out to be my haphazard style of intermittent fasting that was giving me the headaches. Now I spend no more than an hour or so each night making food with leftovers for lunch the following day, and my life has improved phenomenally. YMMV but I still drink plenty of coffee.

thorum 6y ago

Lately I've been experimenting with regular caffeine resets to avoid tolerance. I'm following a two weeks on / 1 week off schedule. I also use caffeine tablets instead of coffee, and limit myself to 50-100mg, usually taken in smaller doses throughout the day. Combined with the regular reset weeks, this so far seems to be enough to boost my energy without giving me jitters and other issues.

frequentnapper 6y ago

I personally don't drink coffee to stay up. I find it has an adverse effect. I drink it to start my day when I'm fresh or after a nap.

jdoliner 6y ago

I had a somewhat similar trajectory to the author with coffee. I started drinking it in highschool and loved it. I didn't have quite as bad a sleep schedule as him, but it was bad, and coffee was the band-aid. Then I got to college and really went nuts. I used to just get coffee in the morning, then it was before every class, then after class too, and in the evening when I was doing homework. Every coffee shop had free refills, it was so cheap. Eventually I got to the point where I was drinking 10-15 cups a day, and I was starting to have a lot of trouble sleeping, presumably due to drinking it late into the evening. Then one day I just decided to stop, and it was shockingly easy. I didn't have any withdrawal symptoms, not even a headache, I didn't feel particularly tired. And I started sleeping better so I quickly felt less tired. I think my dependence on coffee was entirely psychological, there wasn't really a physical component to it. I haven't really had coffee, or any caffeine since then. I went through a period of drinking decaf, but found that even the little bit of caffeine in that messed with my sleep. Or it was just a placebo affect that made me too anxious to fall asleep, still not really sure which it was. The only thing I really miss is the taste, every time I walk by a coffee shop and smell it I get a wave of nostalgia. But oh well, I like sleep a lot better than coffee.

riverlong 6y ago
This was my experience as well. I had little in the way of actual withdrawal symptoms. My dependence was mostly psychological or cultural. Anecdotally, I think it's really interesting that people have radically different biological responses to caffeine. I have friends who drink much less than I did, but are hardcore dependent. I know people who get real headaches and jitters from tiny cups of coffee. I wonder if this heterogeneity is the case for many stimulants, or if there's something special and unusual about caffeine.

pgt 6y ago

For those worried about caffeine withdrawal, I find that going for a run staves off the headache caused by adenosine rebound.

bigbassroller 6y ago

I go for the pharmaceutical grade caffeine, Tazo Chai tea. Ingredients: “An infusion (of water, black tea, black pepper, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, natural flavors), cane sugar, honey, ginger juice, natural flavors, vanilla extract, citric acid”. Notice sugar low on the list, after all the good stuff that gets you wired. Its all the buzz with less crash.

drewm1980 6y ago
Pharmaceutical grade caffeine is a thing. Caffeine pills are available OTC.
phonypc 6y ago
Sugar appearing low on an informally written ingredient list like that doesn't indicate relative quantity. Looking at the nutrition info, that stuff appears to contain substantially more sugar by volume than pretty much any soft drink. Edit: actually maybe that list is supposed to indicate relative quantity; they just get around sugar being the second and third ingredients by lumping a bunch of stuff in with water.
- bigbassroller 6y ago
  True, but all other brands have sugar as first ingredient and I can tell the difference.

mlthoughts2018 6y ago

I drink a lot of coffee (3-4 ~ 10oz cups per day). I periodically stopped drinking any caffeine sources cold turkey for months (probably 6 or 7 times over the past decade). I’ve never experienced any form of side effect. No headaches, crashes, cravings, nothing. Likewise, when I resume drinking coffee again later, it takes the same 3-4 cups per day to feel any kind of impact. Similarly I can drink coffee all day, and often really enjoy an espresso after dinner instead of dessert, with zero impact on sleep. I don’t know if I am just a weirdo who can metabolize caffeine differently or what, but I’ve never had any kind of headache / jitters / withdrawal / strong craving / whatever, neither from drinking a lot of coffee or a little or switching between the two states over long or short periods of time.

Barrin92 6y ago

I've always drunk a lot of caffeine and honestly people make it sounds like they're doing heroin when they talk about quitting. Blogposts like this almost always seem to be people into their 30s or 40s who want to make some fancy livestyle change for its own sake. If anything a nice cup of black tea or a good Irish coffee in the evening calms me down and I sleep like a baby

ilaksh 6y ago
People in their 30s or 40s like me don't make lifestyle changes "for its own sake". We do it because we notice our slightly older bodies react significantly differently to substances or generally are less healthy and less tolerant of unideal lifestyles. This is due to hormone changes and basically other types of aging. Also, just because coffee makes _you_ feel calm, and you have no issues sleeping afterward, does not mean that that is the normal reaction. For most people, coffee is a stimulant, and will often delay sleep. But the effects vary quite a bit with different people and different consumption levels.
8fingerlouie 6y ago
> If anything a nice cup of black tea or a good Irish coffee in the evening calms me down and I sleep like a baby Tea in the evening knocks me out, especially chamomile tea. As for the Irish Coffee, i suspect the whiskey is the suspect in knocking you out :D

senectus1 6y ago

I've done the cold turkey coffee cut a few times. For me its no big deal. A few days of headaches and grumpiness, and its done. I may do it again soon though, it'll be interesting to see what a difference my no sugar change will make to the experience.

mobiledev2014 6y ago

> Ultimately, as COVID wraps up and things go back to normal As someone who was “more cautious than most” this is disheartening to read. I know it isn’t the point of the post but this type of attitude is why we are in for huge pain no matter how low spread rates are in your area at the moment. Even if scientific consensus is wrong and things die down quickly nationwide with no “2nd wave,” the economy is going to go to a scary place.

40four 6y ago

I drink probably 3-5 cups a day consistently, either black or a small amount of cream. I don’t know why, but I am not sensitive to caffeine at all. I don’t get ‘wired’ or energized from it. Been that way my whole life, even as a kid consuming tons of soda. I just never seemed to feel a noticeable effect. I’m sure I’m not the only one, but the way I hear other people talk about caffeine, it seems like we’re consuming totally different substances. Since I don’t get a buzz, I don’t drink it for the energy. It’s just a pleasant, delicious hot beverage. I also enjoy trying different bean varieties & new roasting companies. I’ve given it up for a while with seemingly no adverse effects. I can take it or leave it, but I usually partake! Also, I like to think black coffee is actually good for you. It’s not just caffeine, but contains many complex compounds, anti-oxidants etc. The science is debatable, but if I believe it’s good for me then it is right? :p

mft_ 6y ago
I was going to write something similar. I remember the first time I needed to pull an all-nighter in university to finish a project, and picked myself up a packet of the Proplus caffeine pills which were in vogue at the time. Took a few during the night and didn’t notice a thing. Fast forward a few years and a buddy and I bought our first espresso machines. Experimenting making double espressos with different beans - after two or three he was totally wired, feeling unwell, and unable to sleep; I could pretty much sleep as normal. Two physiological effects that are fairly clear however: 1) Moderate appetite suppression – useful if intermittent fasting and hungry in the morning 2) Something in coffee is a fairly powerful stimulant of colonic motility...

drewm1980 6y ago

I also gave up my coffee routine because of COVID. When I got it I was worried I'd end up on a ventilator having trouble breathing AND going through coffee withdrawal. I managed to suffer my few days of withdrawal before I landed in the hospital. In the end I was lucky and avoided both ventilation and bad hospital coffee. The "near life" experience caused me to stop consuming other things as well, mostly for ecological reasons.

jefft255 6y ago

All these years of caffeine addiction and no coffee machine at home.... sounds insane to me. I drink a lot of coffee; typically 3 cups in the morning at home (if I’m short on time I bring a thermos with me) then I buy maybe 1-2 cups at work. I like to treat myself to a latte sometimes but they’re now at least five bucks! I can’t imagine how expensive a 10 coffee a day habit must be when you don’t make it at home.

virtualwhys 6y ago

Quit coffee 3 years ago, one of the best things I've ever done for myself. Since coffee is pretty much universally accepted in the world (even more so than alcohol), one can easily view a strong coffee habit as normal, or at worst a benign vice. And it's fine as far as addictions go; you can ride the caffeine wave to increased productivity, and when the effects wear off another cup of liquid inspiration is there waiting. I did this for close to 15 years. What bothered me was this feeling of being ruled by the habit. I simply had to have my two jam packed triple espresso lattes (or equivalent when not at home), one in the morning, and one in the afternoon; there was never serious consideration given to the thought, "I know, let's not have coffee this weekend", just a steamroller habit with me along for the ride. Ironically what got me to quit coffee (and I had no intention of doing so) was a "retreat" in Mexico where one of the requirements was following a strict diet 2 days before and 4 days after the experience. One of the restrictions was no coffee, which part of me was strongly resisting, to the point of considering withdrawing (hah) from something I'd already spent several hundred dollars for. In the end I went ahead with it. On the 4th day after the retreat I was free, and commenced preparing a strong pot of rocket fuel, but then something within me realized, "wait, I don't need this anymore". And I don't, at all. Coffee is the devil made liquid -- proceed with caution :) [0] i.e. even when sick, on off days from work, during vacation, etc.

corry 6y ago
Was by chance this “retreat” in Mexico psychedelic related? Your story fits a fact pattern to me, which is abstaining from caffeine prior (because caffeine apparently can ‘get in the way’ of the ‘chemical experience’) and the fact that you could easily change an ingrained habit once you’re back - which is kind of a hallmark of that type of experience too.
pards 6y ago
> What bothered me was this feeling of being ruled by the habit. This. It only became apparent to me when I was out of my usual routine such as while travelling abroad or attending a training seminar. I hated that vacations were punctuated by the need to seek out a coffee shop in an unfamiliar city when the time could have been better spent sightseeing.

brickZA 6y ago

Everyone here is pathetic ;) Jokes aside, I'm surprised at how strongly people respond to giving up a 2 cups a day "habit". I drink 5+ cups a day and have gone "cold turkey" on several occasions, (e.g. long road trips, flying, forgetting to go to the shop) with no ill effects apart from being a bit tired. When I have a cold or flu I generally loose my appetite for coffee too, so I usually go "cold turkey" for a week or so. For me it generally takes about 2 weeks to get back to no-coffee baseline. That said, coffee tastes great, has no real long term negative effects from all I have read, and gives my day ritual and breaks similar to what smoking can give, but without the lung cancer.

8fingerlouie 6y ago
I honestly don't get what all the fuzz is about, but then again i'm one of the people that gets absolutely no effect from caffeine. I drink 5-10 cups of coffee per day, and have done so for the past 25 years. Even energy drinks have no effects (beside bringing caffeine to stroke levels), and drinking 2 cups of coffee right before bedtime only means i need to get up to take a leak sometime during the night. It doesn't affect my sleep at all. Quitting is easy for me as i get absolutely no "symptoms". Some days i drink maybe 2 cups instead of the usual 10+, and i don't notice at all. As to why i drink coffee ? It tastes better than water, and i don't like tea.
chownie 6y ago
It's really varaible based on habits and your biology I guess. I used to drink pretty much consistently Pepsi and Coffee every day for maybe 4 or 5 years. When I decided to give up caffeine it was like a week and a half long flu, horrible headaches and tired aches all over my body. I ended up having to take time off because I just couldn't function at work. In my case I was giving up caffeine to help regulate sleeping patterns, though I was experiencing some of the heart palpitations too.

nonsince 6y ago

I self-medicated with caffeine for my ADD for years, not realising that my (pretty serious) case of the condition was absolutely not normal, and eventually realising that I needed a diagnosis at the age of 24. Even after that, I still took months to kick the habit of starting to drink caffeine, building up a tolerance, realising that it harms more than it helps overall and kicking it, then having some downer moment (a cold, a workday after little sleep) that made me crack and drink more, starting the cycle again. I’ve now just about kicked the habit, but even though I’ve regularly experimented with and always had access to plenty of harder stuff, caffeine is the only thing I’ve ever been addicted to and likely always will be.

omnomnomtea 6y ago
I'm in the same boat here, was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 28 and realized pretty fast after that I had been self-medicating with massive amounts of coffee. Was up to 8-10 shots espresso a day when I was diagnosed. I was jittery and having problems sleeping, but could only focus as long as I continually ramped up on the caffeine. Adderall has made a big difference for me- I've gradually cut the caffeine to a 2 tiny coffees a day and my focus is way better than when I was drinking latte after latte. No issues with ramping up either, it's been a couple years and I'm still on basically the same dosage of adderall.

numpad0 6y ago

For anyone going back to coffee anyway, the types of machines called “Superautomatic” espresso machines from slightly over $500 universally takes only water, some unground beans, and bits of electricity to generate espresso of desired amount on press of a button. Regular amount of beans are drawn, ground inside, tamped, brewed and ejected in a form of miniature hockey pucks by series of motors and actuators. You empty the spent bean box and refill the water tank, clean the high pressure contraption block occasionally with mild cleaning agents, that’s it. No filters no capsules just beans and tap water.

inertiatic 6y ago
The magnifica line from Delonghi has a great reputation and costs almost half that (250-350 euro). They make good tasting espresso. They are super dependable, I own one and I've worked on 3 different offices that had them, none of them ever had problems despite being used for something they weren't intended for (making several hundreds of cups of coffee a day).
newen 6y ago
Superautomatics are really great. Way better tasting than the ridiculous coffee pods or cups or whatever that you'd have to buy for the other press-a-button coffee makers. And you make up the money just buying whole beans instead of the pods in a few months or so.
Chris2048 6y ago
You can also buy pre-ground coffee for espresso machines. Need tamping but no biggie - I recommend Gaggia classic machines.

ajkdhcb2 6y ago

The author still seems highly focused on their social image. They say it became a sort of personality signal that they were a big coffee drinker, now are making a loud social signal about quitting. Also impossible for me to imagine spending that much on coffee without ever making it at home. Very strange post in general

inertiatic 6y ago

The author makes caffeine sound like a super power. I wish I could experience that even for a little bit. I drink a lot of coffee (I think I average 4 or 5 quadruple espresso shots a day right now) but it does nothing for me physiologically. I don't feel like it wakes me up, it doesn't make me procrastinate less or focus more, it doesn't keep me from sleeping (I'll regularly drink a quad shot after a full day before going to bed).

draw_down 6y ago
Yeah, you’re just addicted (no offense) and have a high tolerance. You’re now feeding the tolerance when you drink it, not having enough to get “wired” or whatever. Give it a rest for a few weeks and then see what happens when you have some. The first week at least probably won’t be super fun.
- s8923 6y ago
  I'm basically in the same boat with them. I don't think I'm addicted, there are months where I don't drink any coffee, and I have zero withdrawal symptoms. And I can get back to 10-15 cups a day right away after 3 months, and taking naps after the cups like nothing. (Except I would go to bathroom more, of course)
datenhorst 6y ago
> I wish I could experience that even for a little bit. You can, you just have to reset your tolerance for it.
- inertiatic 6y ago
  I've gone off coffee for months multiple times. I went through a tea phase a year ago, there are summer months where I'll drink almost no coffee at all. I didn't experience any withdrawal symptoms, ever. And drinking coffee again after that still does nothing for me. I even bought caffeine pills to see if I could actually get any of the benefits if I stacked these with my high coffee consumption. I think I got up to taking 5-6 200mg pills on top of drinking all the coffee I usually do, didn't notice anything and chickened out of taking any more.

datenhorst 6y ago

I always thought I was one of those people on whom caffeine had little to no effect, since we I was drinking 5 cups a day on average and still felt tired all the time. During the lock-down I read somewhere that caffeine's half-life in your body is 6 hours. I'd always needed an hour at least to fall asleep at night but I never attributed it to caffeine. So I figured I'd quit coffee for a to see what the effects were. I can't even begin to tell how big of an effect quitting caffeine had: I routinely fall asleep within 15 minutes of going to bed, I sleep better and longer, I have more energy and one espresso after lunch is enough to stay focused and alert until midnight.

octodog 6y ago
My understanding (and personal experience) is that even for people who can fall asleep quickly after drinking coffee late in the day, the quality of the sleep is not as good, so you still feel tired the next day. Of course, the solution to this? More coffee!!
slothtrop 6y ago
Similar impact for me, it seems I'm a slow caffeine metabolizer. Even if I only had copious amounts of coffee in the morning, it would impact me at night. There's now research to back that up. I've dwindled it down to a cup and sleep well generally.

rongenre 6y ago

I went cold-turkey in February after 25 years of drinking really strong coffee in well... hacker-heroic amounts. Oddly, no headaches, and the quality of my middle-aged sleep has gone way up. I do like the routine of drinking a hot beverage but I'm finding decaf chai to be a decent replacement.

winrid 6y ago

Caffeine seems to only give me a hit for an hour or so and then I need a nap. How does it affect you?

kuroguro 6y ago

> Caffeine Fiend Phahaha, that's amazing. I'm stealing that.

chillytoes 6y ago

The best coffee substitute I've found is coffee-flavored Postum. It's the one in the red jar. Available from their website or Wal-Mart. I also tried Cafix, but prefer Postum.