What Do You Drink?

Which do you prefer? What flavor/type do you drink?

Whether it is in the morning, afternoon or evening.

In the mornings (which is when ever I wake up) I usually drink a dark roast coffee.

In the afternoon, I usually drink some type of tea...current favorite is a green lime flavored.

In the evening, It depends on my mood.

Coffee until about 5-6 pm. Now that the weather is getting cooler in the evenings, I usually switch to tea.

I ussaually just drink tea, it calms my nerves. But I'll drink some coffee every now and then

Black coffee in the morning, Black coffee in the afternoon and Black coffee in the evening up until about 10pm.

Coffee! STRONG, black and ALL day long! Then I switch to beer !

You "DA MAN!" !

I drink coffee too. I make it at home, take a travel mug with with me and work on it all day. I buy a local brand called Stewarts.

I'm a coffee drinker from way back...I switched from Folgers to Maxwell House...I prefer the medium roasted. Sometimes I'll drink a cup of Irish Breakfast blend tea @ nite time. I like a cup of hot chocolate ever now and then.

maggiemahone1

I like them both. My tea when sweetened has to be just a little bit, I like to feel the bite of tea on my tongue.
But since I have a hiatal hernea I went to tea. I came across this today thought I would share it with all of you. I like Chai Tea, Irish Breakfast, Earl Grey, Prince Wales I think these are all from Twinning Teas.


Should you skip the coffee, and "make it a double" instead?

By now you've undoubtedly heard that most of the scientific community has come
around on coffee: yes, coffee has been shown to have significant beneficial health
effects when consumed in moderation, which means two to three servings a
day for most people (obviously anyone with caffeine sensitivities or any contraindications should consult their doctor before consuming).


From lowering your risk of Parkinson's Disease, Diabetes and colon cancer to boosting mental performance and brain health to reducing headaches to increasing physical performance and much more, the news about the health benefits of coffee seems to keep pouring in each week.


And to think that not long ago, coffee drinking was commonly perceived as a major vice, a very unhealthy negative drink that should be avoided at all costs!


Coffee has truly become a core part of the diet in many countries, particularly in the U.S. and Europe, but becoming more and more true in virtually ALL developed countries around the world each year (even formerly tea-centric countries such as in Asia and the U.K.): over half of all
Americans drink at least one cup every day, and in those people, coffee
is actually the single largest provider of antioxidants to their systems, higher than any other food or beverage consumed during the day!


While we at BrainReady are nuts for our Matcha green tea, we're also
very dedicated (and discriminating) coffee drinkers, doing the Java thing in the morning and switching to green tea/Matcha in the afternoon.


But before you run off and order up that triple mocha with double
whip, careful: not all coffee drinks are created equal.


It should be pretty obvious that any health benefits you get from coffee are going to be diminished by loading up on dairy and sweeteners. So for the best health benefits, be sure to
enjoy your coffee black. Or, if you must sweeten or dilute it, consider the natural herb Stevia as a sweetener, and unsweetened soy milk as your dairy milk replacement.


But how about pushing coffee aside and getting even closer to the true essence of the antioxidant-rich coffee bean: Espresso!


Wait, isn't that like the rocket fuel version of coffee, destined to render me jittery and up all night, compared to coffee? The truth is surprising, and here's why:


Have you ever wondered why weak, watery coffee tastes more
acidic than a regular-strength cup? Or why percolated coffee is so much less
rich tasting than a well-brewed cup (such as from a French coffee press)? The answer lies in how the coffee flavor and caffeine are extracted from the beans when hot water is run through the grounds.


Most of the "good" bits from the coffee bean are extracted in the first cup of water passed through the grounds. So when you make a full pot of coffee, the first cup out has the flavor, and most importantly, the good for
you stuff that we keep hearing coffee has. But then by running 7
more cups of hot water through, you are essentially extracting the
less healthy and more bitter, acidic parts of the coffee bean, including the volatile oils and caffeine which can make drinking coffee a rather stomach-destroying experience for many people.


The best solution is to drink only the best part of the extract:
Espresso is made by forcing a small amount of hot water through
coffee quickly to extract the great coffee flavor and strongest antioxidant properties, stopping before you begin breaking down the oils and
over-extracting the caffeine.


But won't that espresso get you totally WIRED? Au contraire: while
it has the strongest flavor, it has less caffeine than a brewed cup
of coffee: A 2 oz double espresso has 50mg of caffeine. an 8 oz
cup of brewed coffee has 2.5 times as much caffeine - 135mg!


Let's do the math by looking at the ingredients: To make a double
espresso, you use 2 tbsp finely ground coffee. To make brewed
coffee, you use 1 tbsp per 8oz cup. What that means is that PER-
tablespoon, in an espresso, you're extracting 25mg of caffeine, and
in a cuppa joe you've extracted,
well, 135mg caffeine.


Over 5 times as much caffeine extracted from the same amount of grounds...wow!


A cup of espresso gets you more flavor, less bitterness, and less
caffeine than a full cup of coffee. If that's too strong-tasting for
you, add some hot water to fill the cup - that's called an "Americano",
and is on the menu of every coffee shop. It's a great way to get all
of the benefits of espresso with a big full cup.


What about Decaf?


For reasons still not fully understood, drinkers of Decaf coffee have not shown to reap the same health benefits from coffee consumption that drinkers of caffeinated coffee derive. This is important to note, as many people drink decaffeinated coffee under the assumption that they will derive all the benefits of coffee but without the caffeine, but numerous studies have shown that this is not the case; the health benefits of the coffee bean have been demonstrated thus far (consistently) only from the regular coffee bean.


And, many recent studies have shown that the caffeine itself is one of the elements providing some of these health benefits.


Perhaps more is lost during the decaffeination process than removing just the caffeine. But again, if you have any contraindications with caffeine or coffee, obviously you shouldn't start consuming coffee or espresso just to obtain the health benefits, as coffee can be problematic for some people (although very few have any serious health problems from coffee consumption).


Most importantly: If you load up a delicious espresso with milk,
sugar, and low-cacao content sweetened refined chocolate, you might as well be drinking an ice cream malt or a can of soda. So enjoy your coffee and espresso as-is, as close to the source (coffee bean) as possible, and save the calories for later.


And remember, the health benefits have been shown when consumed in moderation, even though some studies have shown increased health benefits from higher consumption levels. Still, no 10-cup-a-day junkies, please...


It's simple: if you drink coffee and have no contraindications, just try to cut down on the brewed stuff, switch to Espresso (or an Americano), skip the unhealthy sweeteners and dairy additions, and reap those health benefits...in addition to the incredible taste and mental benefits!

OK, that's the advertising.

As far as actual brain benefits -- it lies within a certain window of efficiency. Coffee or caffeine in general, according to dose, will increase cognitive efficiency at blood levels that form a U-curve on a graph.
The cognitive benefit rises sharply to peak within 120 mg. -- one strong cup of coffee, more or less. It will ride high on that peak level through the next cup or two, then drop as sharply as it rose, once you get into three cups or more without sufficient clearance time. Meaning that the "mental benefits" rely on blood levels that are not too little, and not too much. The "alertness" you feel on three or more cups circulating to the brain is hyperarousal and hypervigilance; but cognitive efficiency, or clear, effective reasoning and judgement, have fallen sharply off. So you don't have to get into the "10 cups a day junkie" zone to have the benefits fall off. Three strong cups without clearance will put most people at some disadvantage mentally. There are lots of studies done on this in the context of people who compensate for adequate sleep with caffeine, especially while driving. It is deceptive, because many people equate feeling wide awake with being mentally alert, and they are not the same thing. And reaction time may not appear to fall off, but the quality of the reaction in terms of clear judgement definitely does fall off. Many people will keep stoking before allowing clearance to stave off the feeling of the sharp drop or "crash," but mental clarity has been sacrificed by doing so.

And it is moderately addictive, and the withdrawal in many people following heavy use (=500 mg/day -- about 4.5 to 5 cups) is surprisingly uncomfortable and unpleasant.

I generally use tea even for caffeine boosting -- two Lipton tea bags in one cup, brewed strong. For some reason it doesn't have the heartburn effect that coffee does, but still gives the boost.

rindy, my sister absolutely loves chai tea, I drink a cuppa with her ever now and then when she's home visiting.

maggiemahone1

Just got back from karate class and sitting here with a nice cup of tea. Soooo good!

maggiemahone1 that's my favorite too. What a great thing for you and your daughter to do together....special times....

That's great you take Karate Haggishead
tea, for every occasion, infact I am having my first cup today and it's English Breakfast.

Slainte

Hi Rindy. Been involved with karate since high school. I have been teaching for little over 22 years now. I teach free classes to kids and teens in my community.


Right now...it's all coffee!

organic sumatra coffee in the morning, if you buy by the pound, costs less than your morning quick/fast food stop. green tea in the afternoon, to prepare for round two

I am a commuter in the DC area, so my 0415 stop at the local Dunkin Donuts for coffee with creme (M-F) but on the weekends I like a medium roast.

I always enjoy tea with milk....generally Earle Grey. More of an evening drink for me.

Derek