Coffee habits and addiction: Is caffeine the new nicotine?
An intriguing article by Scott Wood from iNform Health and Fitness entitled, Coffee – The cigarettes of the 21st century, should give all coffee drinkers some pause for thought.
Once we all get through the knee-jerk, defensive responses shared by people dependent on all kinds of substances, there are some interesting insights in Scott’s article that illuminate why Baristador was created in the first place and why we should always question how much coffee we consume.
In his article, Scott suggests:
- Taking coffee is a convenient foundation for ritualistic workplace bonding, replacing the smokers’ break
- The making process is a key attractor for those most entranced by coffee
- Most of the coffee making and drinking process meets American Psychiatric Association definitions of substance dependence
- Regular caffeine intake can disrupt sleep cycles, lead to adrenal fatigue and cause ulcers
- Caffeine also benefits from myths about its virtue based on flawed scientific research of the past
What is Scott trying to tell us and how does this all marry with the Baristador approach to coffee? Let me explain.
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I drink mine black
Drink Mine Black
This is likely to be considered one of the strangest articles on the Baristador Coffee website because I am not even sure it should go up.
A short time ago, my espresso machine packed up and I resorted to my stovetop espresso maker.
There is nothing too wrong with that state of affairs except that it meant I had a long black in front of me instead of my usual short black.
For some strange reason, at that moment I channelled the late, great Johnny Cash and his song, Man In Black.
Coffee poured, words poured, and I shared some lyrics that day with a photo of my long black.
Well, as luck would (or wouldn’t) have it, during a karaoke session last night, I was secretly recorded mucking around with those lyrics and since the damage has now been done I have decided to share the opening verses.
NOTE: The soundtrack that follows is flat, out of key and sorely lacking artistic value. I hope it drives you to drink (coffee) and that you choose Baristador 
Baristador Coffee support amid Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard leadership spill
Humour is a wonderful part of being Australian and nothing brings it to the surface like a squabble between politicians.
Of course, the current leadership tensions in the ALP are serious and our economy is vulnerable to dramatic change. But that never stops Aussies having a laugh.
To that end, I put out a cheeky Baristador Coffee video on the weekend.
It was inspired by a note of support revealed by South Australian MP Nick Champion. It was apparently stuck to his electorate office window by chewing gum and said, basically, we voted for Kevin so put him back in power.
It was such an odd piece of ‘evidence’ that it had to be parodied.
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Baristador on your iPhone
Just a quick update this weekend and this time it is primarily for iPhone users.
Baristador Coffee now has an iPhone ready icon lurking beneath its surface so that while you are on the site on your iPhone you can select Add To Home Screen and a Baristador icon and bookmark will be added to your collection of apps.
All you need to do when you next need to order coffee is tap the icon and our site will load.
For all other mobile phone users, you will be able to view our site in a much more mobile-friendly manner.
At long last, Baristador Coffee can be with you wherever you go!
Pod Coffee: The Baristador New Year’s Resolution for 2012
There is nothing like a burst of coffee making for friends that makes you pine for an automated process.
However, I am yet to find an automatic coffee machine that can actually GRIND coffee fine enough for proper, rich espresso, and then deliver the right dose for a potent cup of delight.
So awash in coffee grounds this holiday season, I was quite taken by the fact that my brother-in-law and his wife had researched and bought a pod coffee maker.
Why did this surprise me?
There are a few reasons and they say to me that the time is right to explore pod coffee now.
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Do you REALLY need that coffee now?
Caught myself wandering to the coffee machine out of habit just then.
My inner voice was saying, ‘might as well have another coffee while I’m here’.
I would like to say that is all WRONG.
So I stopped and will go back a little later if I have a more pure motivation.
Here is why I believe this is important for coffee drinkers.
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Good coffee and pure motivation is all friends need
Spent a few hours at a friend’s house yesterday and as he took the bag of Baristador Coffee I brought with me he made a comment that stuck in my mind.
He said, ‘I am nervous making coffee. I expect there’ll be a blog post tomorrow about the ghastly coffee a friend made you.’
So today’s post is as much to defuse those fears as it is to remind as coffee ‘snobs’ or ‘aficionados’ that friendship is actually more satisfying than a perfect coffee drunk alone.
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A cup above the rest: the perfect vessel for espresso
I have had a gut feeling for a long time that some of my cups provide a better showcase for espresso than others.
Now I am going public with my bias.
One of the two cups in this photo, right, far outperforms the other in the job of cradling and presenting the richest, tastiest espresso coffee.
Do you know which it will be?
What is gut feel?
Let’s see if your senses are aligned with mine. And at the same time we can answer the age old question: does size really matter?
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Schools don’t really need cafes
Heard someone ask a question on Facebook yesterday about whether they should put cafes into schools.
I am AGAINST the idea because there are five things young, developing bodies should be given extended grace against being exposed to, and caffeine is one of them, namely:
- violence
- abuse
- alcohol
- mobile phone radiation
- caffeine
I am sure there are more, such as McDonalds, Hungry Jacks, KFC, etc, but these five things appear to me as delivering nothing but harm to young minds and bodies.
Violence and abuse go without saying. Alcohol has been shown to be bad for us, especially developing minds, even though some culutures permit and encourage it (some cultures encourage female circumcision so just because something is culturally acceptable is not an argument of itself). And one of Australia’s leading brain surgeons has warned that people up to the age of their early twenties would do well to avoid using mobile phones altogether because of the acute vulnerability of our brains to phone radiation at that critical and formative stage of our lives.
But caffeine! Don’t get me started.
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Coffee breaks and productivity
Coffee Meeting (picture by Yandle via Flickr)
Is it best to have coffee breaks at your desk or away from your desk? And do they help or harm productivity?
There must be something in the beans this week because I slotted this topic into my article schedule midweek and lo and behold The Sunday Mail (Qld) does a similar article on my publishing day (thanks to Adrian K Hall for alerting me).
As usual, The Sunday Mail like any tabloid, is as subtle as a sledgehammer. The headline reads Serial coffee offenders a productivity problem for Queensland businesses. As you will see, it goes straight for the alarm bells even though their own article renders such an a approach as disingenuous (thank you, Rupert and co).
Let’s start at the beginning: where and when should coffee breaks take place?
During a coffee break midweek I stopped myself from dutifully returning to my desk with my cup and forced myself to linger. Continue reading
