Coffee: Taste or Function?
By: Keith
I drink mostly tea. I wake up in the morning, crawl out of bed because I have stuff to do and drag myself to the kitchen for a nice cup of tea. Given a choice I’d remain in bed, and I wouldn’t need caffeine at all (until later in the day). But, that’s an ideal world and I live in the real one. The demands of life necessitate a pick-me-up. My blood gets a pretty steady flow of caffeine throughout the day thanks to tea and milk (not that milk has any caffeine) being virtually the only two drinks I consume. Occasionally though I must have a coffee because I like the taste. Sometimes I switch my tea for coffee in the morning even though I know it’s not as healthy as the tea. My taste buds crave it. I don’t do it for a stimulating revival of my senses because I get that with tea. I just do it for the taste. Most Americans drink coffee for the taste and for the chemical benefits. Caffeine is the most widely used brain stimulant in the world and America’s source is primarily coffee. Do you drink it for the taste or for the effects?
A Little History:
Coffee is native to east Africa and was originally prepared much like tea is today with an infusion of the sweet fruits of the trees. It’s still done that way in Yemen (something I’d like to try some day). Yemen is also the first place where beans were roasted and then infused to produce a drink similar to what we know today. Interestingly, the word coffee comes from Arabic, qahwah. It slowly spread around the world, first to India and then Java. Finally, it was brought to the French Caribbean. By the end of the 18th century coffee was growing everywhere in the world where it is possible to grow it.
How it Works:
It all starts with Adenosine, a brain inhibitor that regulates the region of the brain called The Reticular Activating System. This region has the ability to send messages to every part of the brain to regulate activity; caffeine blocks adenosine which is its regulator. When that happens the reticular activating system sends messages to the rest of your brain to wake up and get to work. Every part of your brain gets stimulated. So, in effect, caffeine opens the flood gates to that area of the brain and produces heightened awareness and reactions until the caffeine runs its course. The down side is that caffeine is also an addictive drug, but not a strong one. Caffeine only mildly affects dopamine levels which are responsible for the most severe addictions in other drugs. In other words, it’s not going to send you to rehab even though it might give you a headache if you don’t get your fix.
The Health Effects:
Coffee, you’ll be happy to know, has large concentrations of antioxidants. In fact, coffee is the main source of antioxidants in the American adult diet. I’m not sure if that’s good or just sad. Either way, at least we’re getting them from somewhere. While coffee is not a damaging drink like we once thought it was, tea is still infinitely better. Tea carries slightly more antioxidants than coffee and contains beneficial amino acids (theanine) and other cancer fighting phenolic compounds that coffee does not possess.
Caffeine By Drink:
Brewed Coffee 65-175 mg
Espresso 80-115 mg
Tea 50 mg
Coke 40-50 mg
Cocoa 15 mg
Between getting this blog done, teaching the kids, working out and doing every other number of tedious things throughout the day, caffeine has become a way of life. I drink tea for its health benefits and for hydration. But, there are occasion where I drink coffee because of the taste. My research suggests most Americans drink coffee because of its stimulative effects. As western countries go, the United States is actually quite low on the list of daily consumption of caffeine. The Dutch eat or drink 400 mg of caffeine per day while Americans are only at about 200 mg per day (as of 1997). I can’t fathom why the Dutch drink as much as they do, but culture must play an integral role. Coffee is a booming business and we all seem to like it. Do you drink it for taste or to wake up? Both? Have you started drinking more as you’ve gotten older? Since having kids? I have.
Sources: The Coffee Companion: A Connoisseur’s Guide; On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen; Coffee Basics: A Quick and Easy Guide
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I have started drinking more coffee since having kids. While I do enjoy the taste and especially love a good french pressed cup at the local joint I mostly drink coffee for the function.
.-= SAHD PDX´s last blog ..Finger paint and panang, a recipe for dinner =-.
SAHD: I used to have a Keurig machine, but it died and I bought a french press as a substitute. I can’t imagine coffee without it now. It really does make the best cup, you’re right on the money there.
70% function/habit 30% taste. Before I was 30 years old I never had more than two cups of coffee (total) in my life. Then I started drinking and now I couldn’t imagine life without 2 or 3 cups before noon.
That said if someone stuck me in a gulag for a month and deprived me of my coffee my guess is I wouldn’t miss it much……..habit mostly for me…
.-= Darryl´s last blog .."Let There Be Yellow….!" =-.
Darryl: I never drank it until after college because I didn’t like it. Then, somehow, all that changed and I started to enjoy it. Really weird. Anyway, like you, I could do without it. Thanks for the comment!
Mmmmmm coffeeeeeeee…. started it for the effects (HEAT).. standing a 4 hour midnight to 4 or 4 to 8 bridge watch on a Coast Guard cutter in an Alaskan winter in the middle of the Bering Sea on a bridge without sufficent insulation is simply not possible without the godly bakery cooks who were up making the next day’s bread in the middle of the darn night and would take pity on us and deliever piping hot coffee every hour. Bless them! Now, I can honestly say that I like the taste… with a little added sugar.
Tammy: I did that yesterday. I went for a walk to downtown and it was about 25 degrees and I had no gloves. I figured a good solution was to stop at starbucks and get a coffee. Worked pretty well
Of course, it’s not exactly Alaska, but still…
Effect. Then taste. Yes more after kids.
Once, while visiting relatives in Baltimore, I discovered that all the coffee in their house was decaf. I made a hasty retreat to a corner Starbucks, my hair still plastered to my head and creases along the side of my face. I said, “I want a regular cup, please.”
The perky counter girl said, “We have Columbian, Arabica, House Blend, Flavored…”
“No,” I said. “Whatever’s just regular coffee, -K?”
“Would you like tall or super or…”
“WHATEVER is just regular.”
(Sniggering laughter in the line behind me.)
“Fine. Would like a muffin with that? We have blueberry, boysenberry, banana nut…”
“NO! I do not WANT a *%&%$ MUFFIIN!’ I want a !@#$ cup of COFFEE!”
(Raucous laughter behind me.)
“Well, OK, then.”
I drank it and then went to the grocery and bought a large tin of it. It is nice juice. Yes, it is.
.-= beth muse´s last blog ..Next Competition =-.
Beth: I feel that way about stupid starbucks as well. The only reason they make it so overly complicated is so they can justify their outrageous prices. However, that being said, I always order a tall cappuccino and that’s pretty simple. You’re funny
I have tried coffee on numerous occasions but I cannot stomach the taste. I drink a lot of water but I may have one or two cups of tea.
Our fascination with milk is puzzling considering we are the only mammal that drinks it beyond weaning age. I guess it is just a matter of habit.
.-= Joseph Condron´s last blog ..Top Gun Film Review: Can The Fascination Be Explained =-.
Joseph: Water is always a safe bet
I drink tons of tea. About the milk though. If you give milk to a rabbit it’ll drink it up with gusto. My dog used to love milk also. My suspicion is that other animals don’t drink it because it’s not offered to them.
Coffee. Adore it. The good stuff. Taste, taste, aroma, and taste.
Function? Yes, that too, previously. And now, for health reasons, restricted to about a half cup a day. (Insert sobbing here ________.)
.-= BigLittleWolf´s last blog ..I have my own planet. (Can’t I just stay here?) =-.
Wolf: I ran out of Matcha recently, and it’s so expensive to get more (100 dollars for 100 grams) that I’ve switched to coffee. I really don’t like it as much, but I’m starting to enjoy it more.
I prefer coffee, but I have to cut as much caffeine as possible because of high blood pressure.
.-= Daddy Forever´s last blog ..How to Save Your Family if Your Accelerator Pedal Gets Stuck =-.
I was a dedicated tea drinker then My Love got me hooked on Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. My shaky nerves are not speaking to her.
.-= always home and uncool´s last blog ..Everything Falls Apart =-.
Kevin: I wish we had Dunkin Donuts in Boulder. I loved it when I lived on the east coast. Thanks for the comment!
Excellent point. Although it isn’t recommended to give dogs or cats milk. So maybe just because they like it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is good for them as the vet pointed out when he asked about my dog’s diet!.
I will concede that it does taste good though.
.-= Joseph Condron´s last blog ..Quotes On Challenging Conventions =-.