Na, a coffee buzz should be something special.
When you abuse the stuff the theraputic dosage level resets itself higher and higher.
Why become addicted to an increasing amount of any chemical just to manage what should be a normal functional state, using it like a maintenance pharmaceutical?
I don’t believe there’s anything thing bad about drinking coffee. Coffee always goes through this good rap/bad rap thing and the same conclusion always comes out. Everything in moderation.
I think you can drink too much caffeine. It usually hits me in the winter when I can’t stay awake during the day and then can’t fall asleep at night. The two cups of tea and two cups of coffee per day catch up with me. That’s way too much caffeine.
I find there’s a difference in caffeine from the high quality beans I grind and brew at home and the brown water a diner or eatery passes off as coffee. The coffee I make doesn’t have much caffeine. The cheap stuff does. So if you really love coffee, why not buy some Peets and make really good coffee . . . maybe not everyday but at least occasionally?
Arabica beans have less caffeine than robusta. In addition, arabica has a much better, smoother flavor, with little or no bitterness.
The stuff at work and eateries, as well as most of the branded coffee in the groceries, is either cheap robusta or a mix of robusta and arabica.
You can get 100% arabica coffees in the store for a bit more. I buy a brand of coffee beans called “8 O’Clock Coffee,” and am fond of both their Columbian (a medium-dark roast) and their French Roast (a very dark roast). I like to use the Columbian ground coarsely with a French press and the French Roast ground very finely with my expresso machine for cappucino, although sometimes I do switch them for variety.
Note: there is good robusta. High-quality robusta blends are favored by some for expresso-based concoctions because they do have more caffeine, better crema, and more bite, so that they can cut through the milk. However, these quality robusta blends for expresso are not cheap, and you won’t find them in your local grocery.
Also, the roast makes a difference in caffeine content. The darker the roast, the less caffeine remains, and also the sweeter and less aromatic the coffee becomes.
A medium roast will be less sweet and will have more aroma and a smoother, chocolately or even almost spicy flavor.
Now I told you all of that to tell you this: buy 100% arabica coffee that is French roast, and you’ll have delicious coffee that, while not decaffeinated, has quite a bit less caffeine than your typical fare. Even better, buy whole beans, grind them yourself right before you use them, and brew in a French press with nearly boiling (but not boiling) water for three minutes.
Yummy! 
–James
I don’t understand the different roasts. The stuff I used to buy is 100% arabica from Mexico, but the roast is called Vienna or Viennese, depending where I get it from. It has a bit of a smokey taste.
On the odd occasion now when I have coffee, I notice that within an hour my hands have the shakes. Besides being bad for blood pressure, this is another reason for me staying away from coffee. Why does it have to taste to damned good?
djm
I want to quit the caffeine not for any health benefits but for these benefits:
a) not paying for something that is not necessary for my nutrition and
b) not having to carry it on my back in addition to the fuel needed to heat the water to make it. I’m trying to simplify.
But I did have decaf this morning because I do enjoy having a hot cup while sitting on the patio of my favorite coffee place reading the news. I don’t even care that it was Easter. Some things are indeed more important than church (sorry pastor).
…
I read the directions.
Brew for 12 hours?!?!?
Wow.
I betcha. 
You could probably make coffee out of carrots if you brew them for 12 hours. 
Seriously, it sounds like a neat gadget. I’ll have to try it sometime.
–James
The Toddy system is new to me, but it looks interesting, thank you, and I think I’ll give one a try.
Perhaps Toddy could have borrowed from Apple, as in, “What’s in the box?” Go Mac! 
Coffee is tasty, but tea gets to the soul. Muir indeed was onto something, there.
I’ve, er, experimented with a host of substances over the years.
All of the exotic/toxic/over-the-top/extra-dimensional/cool/whacky/mind-altering/spring-break/achey-breaky/lounge-lizard/style-conscious ones have gone away.
A hot cup of coffee remains…and gives me pleasure.
Going simple, I reckon…
Indeed..
Well spoken.
Slan,
D.
I recommend the Toddy method as well.
Works as advertised.
I won’t be giving up coffee… ( no help there I know )
and I like my coffee like I do my women…
However you want to finish that off go ahead.
Scalding and bitter?
It’s tough enough to give up smoking, and as a side effect, beer. I’ll keep my coffee at least until I can drink beer again. By then I’ll be addicted to tea.
Well, I have to say that I’ve had decaff 3 days in a row now and it really doesn’t taste as good at all. And it’s even been decaff espresso and decaff french roast. Tastes weak and flavorless.
kinda a SoCalSnarky thing…
Coffee is bad and addictive thing, but there are things worse: energy drinks. Adrenaline Rush, Red Bull, Burn, etc. They contain LOTS of caffine, and some other stimulants. I had that sort of addiction, and it was hard to give up.
Now I drink only chinese tea (all sorts of oolong, green teas, red teas, etc). It also contains a bunch of stimulants, but their effect is more complex and less addictive. And it’s more fun to have a bunch of tiny paper packets with some illegal-looking herbs and a weird clay teapot, than to drink that nasty liquid from coffee-machine
( hmm, what to drink now? tie guanin, chzu ye tsin, or alishan? or maybe czhen shan siao chzun? yep, that’s pretty much like whoa )
Well, I have to report that the detox went well and I’m free. I have so much more energy. I can barely sleep at night. Weird.
Way to stick with it, SB.
The trouble with caffiene is it’s like a credit card. You’re using energy you really don’t have, and you have to pay it back eventually. With interest.
Tea doesn’t get me wired. I like the taste of it, and it does seem to make me just a touch more alert. No crash afterward.
Tom
PG Tips all day, but, once the sun’s gone down over the yard-arm, it’s beer, and only good stuff. Basically then, this rules out Americans. They’ll just have to be stuck with that diluted raspberry jam they call “Californian wine.”
Hot and often?
Tall and wet?
Thin and tasteless?
Dark and powerful? (Maybe that’s “I like my coffee like I do my wizards…”)