How do you get your caffeine?

[Barbas]

I just read a fascinating article on the Beeb website today about the environmental waste produced by increasingly popular coffee capsules [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35605927], such as those used in Nespresso machines. This linked to an older article from May of last year about the rising demand for coffee and the dangerous strain this is putting on Arabica [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32736366]. Scary stuff. So, I thought I'd ask how my fellow caffeineheads normally procure and enjoy their brew. Do you buy coffees from places like Starbucks regularly, do you use a shared source or machine at work, or do you prefer to make your own cup? Are you an eccentric who owns a caffetiere? Is coffee merely a means to a productive and alert end, or would you describe your relationship with it as being obsessive and mildly disturbing?

I take my coffee from a jar in the pantry - usually Nescafe, because nothing else I can find compares to the taste. I drink one or two relatively weak mugs of this a day, adding more milk (and sometimes a biscuit or two) in place of sugar. My stomach has not thanked me for this treatment.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

If I'm in the mood for hot coffee, I get cappuccino from some restaurant, since I live in a hot place though, I usually go for cold frappuccino type things. My newest favorite is actually a milk tea concoction, so it's not even really coffee. I suspect when my personal living arrangements change, I will switch to making my own cup at home.

In regard to Starbucks, I like their frappuccinos, but I can't drink their coffee, it feels like the acid is going to burn a hole in my stomach, that stuff is so strong no amount of cream and sugar seems to fix it.

 

[Fappy]

I occassionally drink Cherry Coke (like once a week). Other than that, almost never. My soda of choice is Sprite, which is caffeine free, and I don't like coffee. I stay awake through sheer willpower lol.

 

[DoPo]

-snip-

Misleading title? It asks about caffeine yet you only talk about coffee.

I get caffeine pills myself - not coffee, the actual caffeine. They are way cheaper than coffee, easier to take and easy to carry around. They don't really have any taste, so that could also be counted as a plus in some circumstances. The pills contain 200mg of caffeine each, which is roughly what you'd get in a normal cup of coffee[footnote]150-250 depending on strength and size of the cup[/footnote] I occasionally also drink coffee but mostly as a hot drink (when I don't feel like tea and don't have access to hot chocolate), as opposed to means to get the chemical.

As for my relationship with caffeine - strictly business. I only take it if I need it. I am not addicted and I'm not just saying that - I have been addicted to caffeine - several times, in fact. It was few years back in university when I just needed caffeine and not in the sense that I just liked drinking coffee too much - it was the only way to combat the sleep deprivation. So, again, strictly business, however, it was taking over my life. nowadays I get some every other week if I'm particularly tired that morning because I didn't sleep well or something like that. Occasionally I may also take one in the afternoon if I'm feeling sleepy then. I don't get easily hooked on the stuff, even though caffeine is easily addictable. As I said, I've lapsed several times into it in the past but I can also kick the habit faster than normal. I'm just not as easily affected by it. I know it differs between individuals.

 

[Barbas]

Misleading title? It asks about caffeine yet you only talk about coffee.

I changed it to caffeine from coffee because of some reason that I remember being good at the time, but then I had lunch, and now I can't remember what it was any more. Title will be changed again if I remember, but sadly no promises.

 

[Fallow]

Sachets? Storebought? Nespresso? Cherry Coke?

You are all Plebs.

​

I have my own espresso machine and grinder.
I stock at least 3 different beans at any given time, never more than 2 months old. I need a medium-roast natural-sundried (pref African mix) for mornings, a medium-heavy-roast natural-earthed-sundried for afternoons, and a heavy-roast washed-sundried for visitors (so they can drink their plebeian cappucinos and americanos).


Get on my level

 

[Albino Boo]

Sachets? Storebought? Nespresso? Cherry Coke?

You are all Plebs.

I have my own espresso machine and grinder.
I stock at least 3 different beans at any given time, never more than 2 months old. I need a medium-roast natural-sundried (pref African mix) for mornings, a medium-heavy-roast natural-earthed-sundried for afternoons, and a heavy-roast washed-sundried for visitors (so they can drink their plebeian cappucinos and americanos).


Get on my level

Sir you are not a Gentleman. The only non alcoholic drink that should pass the lips of gentleman is tea. Your infatuation with coffee marks you as bounder and a cad. Needless to say I only drink tea.

 

[Fallow]

Sachets? Storebought? Nespresso? Cherry Coke?

You are all Plebs.

I have my own espresso machine and grinder.
I stock at least 3 different beans at any given time, never more than 2 months old. I need a medium-roast natural-sundried (pref African mix) for mornings, a medium-heavy-roast natural-earthed-sundried for afternoons, and a heavy-roast washed-sundried for visitors (so they can drink their plebeian cappucinos and americanos).


Get on my level

Sir you are not a Gentleman. The only non alcoholic drink that should pass the lips of gentleman is tea. Your infatuation you coffee marks you as bounder and a cad. Needless to say I only drink tea.

Sir, this is an outrage! An outrage I say!
I shall have you know golden pedigree little finger is stiffer than the upper lip of any knighted gentleman of today, and my etiquette more proper than anyone's born this side of the great brawl. My spirited mornings bemirth me as much tea as the colonials can bring to muster and I decree my manservant with noble regularity to ever so often collect the finest of Earlgrey from the colonies. Your hollow accusations are unbecoming, and I demand with firm voice they cease, lest I shall face you in the cold mist outside my manor for a gentleman's resolution!

 

[CeeBod]

I am happy to be outed as a coffee pleb myself (and tea heretic come to that!) - I mostly drink instant, although as I have my coffee unadulterated with sugar, milk or other obscenities, I usually try to use filtered water as that can make as much of a difference to the taste as the coffee itself. I've worked in many places where the coffee tasted utterly foul unless I sneakily filled the kettle from a water cooler first!

As I am moving to Tokyo in 3 weeks time, I expect to be taking much of my caffeine like this in the future though:

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

At night I go out hunting for the rarest, purest form of caffeine there is. The rare Caffeine billed platypus! Its like a normal platypus, but with crystallized caffeine instead of a normal bill. And its the most vicious animal ever! It can play Magic cards at nearly ten cards a second!

You're all weak! Using store bought already dead caffeine. I risk it all with an all-black board control deck. I challenge the platypus to a game to the death. So far I've been lucky. Here in the Midwest most platypuses use white protection decks with lots of sorcery cards. I hear further north they have green mana necromancer platypuses. Earthy growth decks and hindering incantations that work well against black.

Maybe one day I'll risk that crisp northern Caffeine taste.

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

I cull coffee drinkers, put them out of their misery really, then drain their blood and extract the caffeine from there. Then I throw that tainted caffeine away and have a well deserved cup of tea.

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

Coffee has only touched my lips the once, but I made an oath to forever foreswear another sip.
No sir, I take my caffeine through Coca-Cola. The pure and (almost) original version.
I drink about 2 liters per day and have done so since the age of fourteen.
I do occasionally dabble in other carbonated drinks such as Mountain Dew, Trocadero or Pepsi.

 

[Callate]

Mexican Coke and the occasional cold brew coffee. I know that sounds a little snobbish, but the high-fructose corn syrup in regular Coke triggers my getting a gout attack, and cold brew coffee is a bit less acidic (and I consume quite enough antacids as it is.)

Unfortunately, I'm reaching a point in my life where the benefits of caffeine are flagging and the downsides are rising. It doesn't do as much to keep me awake and alert, but it prevents me from successfully getting to sleep in a timely fashion if I consume too much too late, and it can easily make me irritable (particularly if I am running on too little sleep, which is pretty much the time you most want the beneficial effects of caffeine).

Lady C and I have a love-hate relationship, you might say.

 

[monkeymangler]

Metric ton of Mountain Dew LiveWire. I am hopelessly addicted. The CherryLime GameFuel was good too. I still miss Pitch Black. And Voltage is decent in small amounts.

 

[Hypertion]

Orange soda...

Who loves orange soda?

I do!

 

[MysticSlayer]

I don't like coffee. Well, I guess I like the (mocha) frappucinos from Starbucks, but that's about it.

I do, however, drink more Monster than I probably should. I especially like Monster Assault, but I'll also go with regular. Red Bull's fruit variants (particularly cranberry) will do when Monster isn't available, which is almost never. I also like Rockstar's fruit punch and NOS.

As far as soda: My two favorite sodas are root beer and cream soda, both of which tend to be caffeine free. That said, A&W cream soda, which is the main one I have, does have caffeine. But considering both root beer and cream soda aren't easy to find at times, I do tend to drink a lot of Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola Life is my new favorite, but I also love Vanilla Coke.

Believe it or not, though, I never have too much caffeine a day. Sugar on the other hand...

 

[Foolery]

Caffeine makes me anxious. I stick to rooibos tea. It's also for the weak, only the caffeine-free will survive in the aftermath of the great hot-beverage apocalypse!

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I used to drink a a ton of Mountain Dew, because sometimes it's nice to fit a stereotype. I especially loved trying out all of the many, many limited time flavors.

But about a year ago I decided to stop drinking soda, except on special occasions like holidays (Christmas in the United States without a bottle of Coca-Cola? HERESY!) and at restaurants.

I was never much of a tea or coffee drinker. Never really cared for the taste. My office just got a Keurig machine though, so I dunno, maybe it'll grow on me over time. The company is offering to buy each of us a box of K-Cups of our choosing each month. So yay, I guess we're now part of that previously mentioned pollution problem.

 

[Nimcha]

I don't take it. I'm not a morning person but I excell in situations where there's an early morning and no coffee available.