Decaffeinated Thoughts
While taking a look at some of the posts on my friends and acquaintances' journals, I saw this one from cadhla, and it got me to thinking. About caf and decaf coffees and tea...
I gave up drinking "real" coffee (by that, I mean non-decaf coffee) at least ten years ago for reasons that I don't recall at all. While I've been into a Starbucks, Second Cup, or any of the other fast coffee joints several times since then, it's never been to have coffee. This isn't to say that I've been in one in recent months, although there are still those delightful Tim Horton franchises, but I'll be honest - I go in there for the donuts, which I shouldn't be doing all that regularly, and for some of the nice meal ideas that they come up (ah, the chicken stew bread bowls... *sigh*). But enough of that...
Like I said, it's been at least ten years since I gave up caffeine in coffee. Oh, I resisted the decaffeinated tea thing for quite a long time, drinking herbal teas when I didn't want a caffeine jolt of tea before bed, but eventually due to health reasons (i.e., the diabetes) I caved in on this one, too, and started drinking decaf tea. I never really missed the caffeine in coffee, to be honest, and found that most of the decaf coffees out there are pretty good. None of this instant stuff; I use the kind you filter, you put in a coffee maker, and that you can carry around in a thermos. Insofar as the tea is concerned, well, I don't find the decaf tea to be all that bad - Red Rose makes a good one, and there is always some of the Tetley stuff as well which is nice - and it's nice that I can have a cup of tea before bed without worrying about what the caffeine is doing to my blood pressure, not to mention the effect it's having on the diabetes.
Of course, there are those mornings where I get up for work, after having had a really late night, and appreciate the smell of the coffee brewing...but wish it had the caffeine in it to wake me up. And then I remember *why* I drink decaf coffee in the mornings, and the reasons why I don't go into Second Cups and Starbucks.
And you know what? I don't miss 'em at all. And I'm glad I'm not a barrista.
(And yes, I'm drinking a cup of herbal tea right now, and I'm still listening to the new Thea Gilmore CD. So, there!) :)
I gave up drinking "real" coffee (by that, I mean non-decaf coffee) at least ten years ago for reasons that I don't recall at all. While I've been into a Starbucks, Second Cup, or any of the other fast coffee joints several times since then, it's never been to have coffee. This isn't to say that I've been in one in recent months, although there are still those delightful Tim Horton franchises, but I'll be honest - I go in there for the donuts, which I shouldn't be doing all that regularly, and for some of the nice meal ideas that they come up (ah, the chicken stew bread bowls... *sigh*). But enough of that...
Like I said, it's been at least ten years since I gave up caffeine in coffee. Oh, I resisted the decaffeinated tea thing for quite a long time, drinking herbal teas when I didn't want a caffeine jolt of tea before bed, but eventually due to health reasons (i.e., the diabetes) I caved in on this one, too, and started drinking decaf tea. I never really missed the caffeine in coffee, to be honest, and found that most of the decaf coffees out there are pretty good. None of this instant stuff; I use the kind you filter, you put in a coffee maker, and that you can carry around in a thermos. Insofar as the tea is concerned, well, I don't find the decaf tea to be all that bad - Red Rose makes a good one, and there is always some of the Tetley stuff as well which is nice - and it's nice that I can have a cup of tea before bed without worrying about what the caffeine is doing to my blood pressure, not to mention the effect it's having on the diabetes.
Of course, there are those mornings where I get up for work, after having had a really late night, and appreciate the smell of the coffee brewing...but wish it had the caffeine in it to wake me up. And then I remember *why* I drink decaf coffee in the mornings, and the reasons why I don't go into Second Cups and Starbucks.
And you know what? I don't miss 'em at all. And I'm glad I'm not a barrista.
(And yes, I'm drinking a cup of herbal tea right now, and I'm still listening to the new Thea Gilmore CD. So, there!) :)