Coffee, Benefits and risks

I love coffee! The image above says it all.

These are just a few of the news articles on coffeee - 2 of the 3 in just the last couple of days.

Girl overdoes on espresso coffee

Is Coffee bad for you?

Coffee 'protects female memory'


It seems like I have been drinking coffee all of my life. My mother claims I started drinking it when I was just a few months old when she gave it to me mixed with milk in my bottle because I wanted what she was drinking. Today I prefer it strong and pure or black as some say. No sugar, no cream or milk or substitutes. While in Brasil, I shocked some people by preferring their strong rich brew without the traditional sugar and cream added. "puro, por favor!" Obrigado! I love it espresso strength. Now that doesn't mean I don't drink it otherways. I drink lattes, mochas, fraps, cafe au lait, etc. What I do not particularly like is "american coffee". Folgers or Maxwell House or some similar brand brewed so that one can see partially through the liquid. That is just colored warm water. I prefer it dark and rich. When I brew coffee, one can not see through it even a little. And one doesn't need an espresso machine to brew dark, rich, strong coffee. I start with high quality coffee (it doesn't have to be expensive - I found one at Wal-Mart at about $3 a lb that is excellent), I fill my filter full and then add 12 cups of cold water and let it brew. That is using a Krups drip coffee machine. As long as you have good coffee, it is great! Try that with folgers or maxwell house and you will have 1 bitter brew!

The first article linked above however highlights one of the risks of coffee. Maybe the only risk. Some people can not handle the caffeine. If 7 double espressos were too much for her system, she doesn't want to have mine. I drink my coffee by the "mug", at least 12 oz at a time and I can drink coffee anytime, 24/7. Caffeine has never adversely affected me. In fact I tried to use coffee from Puerto Rico (excellent coffee!) while in college to stay awake and study. It never worked. I could fall right to sleep studying Organic Chemistry with or without the coffee.

The other 2 articles highlights some of the benefits of coffee. I actually use to have a collection of articles similar to these (and probably still have the bookmarks) that show the benefits of drinking coffee. Warding off dementia is just one of them.

Just so you don't think I am prejudice against other hot drinks, I also love hot tea and Hot Chocolate. Unlike some other Coffee lovers, I do not despise tea. In fact, I love hot and cold tea especially hot green tea, herbal teas and oolong tea. I don't like English breakfast tea as well. And tea has been shown to be very good for you also with hot green tea probably drawing the most accolates as to health benefits. I am also a chocoholic and love hot cocoa as well. Chocolate (not the supper sugared versions but real dark chocolate) has also been shown to benefit ones' health.

But coffee is coffee. It has a special place. In November of 2000 I was fortunate to visit a friend in Slovakia. Before returning to the US, I stayed a couple of nights in Vienna, Austria. Coffee and chocolate on every corner! I highly recommend it to the coffee and chocolate lovers. If you don't like chocolate (how can you not?), you may want to consider a trip to Costa Rica. It isn't known for its chocolate but it has some of the best coffee grown anywhere. I can also recommend coffess from Brasil (there are a couple I really like) and elsewhere. Just avoid the coffees that are designed to be brewed weak if you want the real experience of rich, flavorful coffee.


PS: I just added the link to oolong tea, and I haven't even read it all myself. Discovered it as I searched "oolong" to make sure I spelled it correctly.

Originally posted on my primary blog Welcome to a New World