Comment by johndoe4589 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by johndoe4589 | Hacker News Reader

I'm drinking 1-2 cups a day. The question for me is what do I get for quitting caffeine?

For me it's just a ritual in the morning.

I have to admit the coffee I make at home with the Bialetti is so bad compared to the one I can get in town, that I wonder why I bother sometimes. I just can't make that thing work. Even with the freshly ground coffee I buy at the market. It tastes nice on the day I bought it, it tastes like crap already the next day.

But if I can drink just one good cup of coffee like the one I can get in town, and I get that nice little kick I'm happy and I don't really need any more the rest of the day. If only I could get that nice little kick just with my morning coffee! Sometimes I wonder if I also have built a tolerance, but I think the coffee I make with the Bialetti is just crap. I barely feel it.

But even though my morning coffee is usually not very good... I'm still wondering what's in there for me quitting just 1-2 cups a day? The people commenting on the article are abusing the substance, 5-10 cups a day? 2 liters of soda? For years on end?

Apart from what the others have already mentioned (buying a grinder) I think it's even more important to try switching your method of brewing. I also don't like Bialetti coffee at all, it tastes for too "dirty" (for a lack of a better word) to me.

Personally I used an AeroPress (which is now only my traveling coffee maker) quite a while and eventually just switched back to simple drip coffee machine. People often forget how good a drip brew can be with good-enough coffee and a good-enough grinder. As a bonus it's a very lazy method for brewing as well.

Err and now for your real question.

Honestly, I don't think you get anything. Lower blood pressure is probably the biggest benefit. But it may be offset by other benefits (coffee may reduce risk of some cancers, diabetes, Alzheimer's and dementia, etc).

IMO the reality is people see addiction as a scary Boogeyman, irrespective of whether the addiction is combined with actual damaging health effects.

Buy beans and a grinder... You can buy a Hario hand grinder for ~10$ and it'll take ~2-3 minutes of grinding or splurge on an electric ceramic burr grinder for ~$400.

+1 vote for the Hario hand grinder. I've tried some others that were a pain to use and made it difficult to get a good grind size. The Hario is a huge improvement over what I was using. Very convenient too.

It tastes nice on the day I bought it, it tastes like crap already the next day.

Get a decent grinder. Buy and store whole beans and grind as needed. They'll last a lot longer.

Also store in an air tight container in a cool dark place. Beans usually ship in a bag you can reseal (zip lock or fold-over). Make sure you evacuate as much air as you can when you close it up.

I think the strongest reason for quitting is the crash. When you drink in the morning, your energy levels would plummet in the evening. If you're working on a side project, or just want to have a life outside of your day job, this may not be acceptable for you.

>It tastes nice on the day I bought it, it tastes like crap already the next day.

How do you store it?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com