Caffeine Addiction

I know it's true, and probably you know it's true too; caffeine is addicting. Some people say if they try and quit drinking coffee they get terrible headaches, and that's why they can't quit. But no such excuse for me as I can go a day without my regular 3 to 4, or is it 5 cups of coffee a day and never get a headache.

I start the day, EVERYDAY, with my cup of home-brewed latte-cum-flat-white. As much as I hate it, on work days I then drink 2 to 3 cups of the ridiculously bad office coffee with nasty powdered creamer added because there's no way I'm going to pay for a Starbucks across the street that tastes just as bad, and I am just feeding my addiction anyway, right?! And then as soon as I walk in the door after riding my bike home from work, it's straight to the espresso machine on my counter top so the machina can warm up while I take the dog for his walk. Dog walked, garden watered, followed by the reward of a cup of espresso-based whatever-I'm-in-the-mood-for. Blissful!

So it was with relish that I read this blog post by Anne Aitken Worth entitled The Caffeine Effect. When you think about it, caffeine is such a powerful drug - we know from our own experience of it; be honest now. But like all drugs used for pleasure, it is best used without going overboard. I mean, have you ever experienced the restlessness and anxiety that comes of O.D.-ing on caffeine? As much as I love my coffee, I hate it when I cross that line, that hand-trembling, anxiety-ridden line of more caffeine than is good for me.

But just like smokers who can't quit and know they could do so much more with all that money going up in smoke, my regular deliveries of un-ground green and roasted beans from an array of suppliers just keep on coming, and would be one of the last things in life that I could kiss goodbye.

Espresso Coffee Recommendations NYC

Here are several recommendations of espresso coffee shops on Manhattan from Australian, Monica Glare, living in NYC and writing for the Sydney Morning Herald.

Glare gives top recommendation to TriBeCa-located "La Colombe", 319 Church Street. The writer claims this is the spot where you'll find the best coffee in New York.

For Greenwich Village espresso hits, check out Jack's Stir Brew Coffee, 138 West 10th Street.

When it comes to the West Village she recommends Joe, 141 Waverly Place described as "another intimate cafe, hidden in the labrynthine West Village streets, Joe is popular with the thirtysomething crowd."

In NoHo, check out Think Coffee, 1 Bleecker Street Raw "with unpolished floorboards, huge wooden beams, blackboard coffee menus and marble-top tables make for a French cafe-meets-hippie feel at this new cafe-wine bar."

In NoLita, Glare recommends Gimme! Coffee, 228 Mott Street in the heart of NoLita.

East Village recommendation is Abraco Espresso, 86 E. 7th Street which this Aussie describes as "Melbourne-style hole-in-the-wall cafe [which] has enjoyed good reviews since it opened in 2007."

Finally, for those living or hanging out in Gramercy park area, 71 Irving Place Coffee & Tea Bar, 71 Irving Place which is described as an "atmospheric cafe with its mood lighting and French bistro-style chairs [offering] lots of 1850s Gramercy charm.

Monica Glare's post "Baristas Worth Every Bean"

Coffee in a Can

Not talking cans of unground beans here, but rather ready-to-drink cans of coffee. When I lived in Japan in the early 1990s one of the things I actually enjoyed where the cans of ready-to-drink coffee found in the ubiquitous coin-operated dispensers found on roadsides and alley ways all over the country. Now Coke is joining forces with Italian coffee purveyor illy to sell cans of coffee the world over.

Coke's illy issimo drinks, which include an espresso, a latte macchiato and a cappuccino beverage, cost about $2.69, or about 15 percent more than the Starbucks drinks, the company said. It is targeting upscale locations such as Whole Foods Market Inc.

The drinks will soon launch in Japan, which the companies said accounts for three-fourths of the roughly $17.4 billion market for ready-to-drink coffee beverages.

Source: Reuters