Morning Coffee

Morning Coffee

Some days my morning coffee

croons a love song while quenching

my longing for that special something.

I get a chance to savor the flavor

while easing into the day.

On other days, my coffee attacks

with too much acid to my stomach

that smacks of aggression

and I have to run away, or cower

behind my toast in order to sneak

into the day with a small sway of

satisfaction and a bit of penance.

Once in a while my coffee hums

the tune, yet delivers not much of any-

thing and I sing the blues because

I’ve not enough gumption to rock and roll

and, OH! I have to have another, then

one MORE cup to get my engine going.

Then again, there are days when

it sings my favorite doo-wap and

has me dancing—free-lancing,

bringing myself along for the ride

and I end up having a fabulous

day that continues all the way

to my late-night, just-after-supper

cup of French Roast.

And I drink it up.

            ~ Annette Gagliardi

Don’t you just love your morning brew?

I didn’t start drinking coffee until I was in my early-thirties, when having a new baby, plus two elementary-aged daughters put me in that no-sleep zone for a third time. I savor that first (often the only) cup of coffee in the morning. Actually, my cup is more cocoa than coffee. But it really helps me get into my day in a way that just getting right to work does not. Being able to sit down and savor the flavor of my brew, the warmth and heat of it going down my throat and filling up my insides. That is the sensation that satisfies me.

I used to drink tea in the mornings, and that gave me as much satisfaction as my cup of mocha does today. Okay, that sounded pretty sincere, didn’t it? Sorry, my tongue slipped on the comparison. Tea is tea. Coffee is coffee. And, a Mocha is divine. They are all brews that provide a certain pick-me-up. If you make your tea strong, then it will give you the ‘go’ – along the lines of caffeine in coffee.

While tea leaves actually contain more caffeine than coffee beans, coffee is a stronger drink and does have more caffeine that brewed tea. Coffee is stronger because more caffeine is extracted from coffee beans (higher temperatures and longer roasting and steeping times.)Tea is brewed at a lower temperature and for a shorter amount of time so less caffeine is extracted. To put that another way: tea has more caffeine per ounce, but tea leaves weigh very little so an ounce of them goes a lot farther than an ounce of coffee beans.

For me, a morning cup of tea just doesn’t have the weight of coffee. Tea is great for the afternoon, and I often drink it throughout the day, but the way coffee smells, the way it ripples over my tongue and down my throat provides a silky-smooth texture that tea does not. Tea is swell, but coffee smells more intensely, is a tiny bit thicker, holds more caffeine that allows me to savor the smell and my ‘get-up’ to ‘GO!”.

That is the magic of coffee. Nothing matches the satisfaction of that first warm morning cup

Caffeine is a naturally occurring pesticide that’s found in both tea and coffee, as well as cocoa, cola guarana, yerba mate and other products. It is thought to be the world’s most frequently consumed stimulant drug (according to 2015 research published in Current Neuropharmacology), and is a significant ingredient in soft drinks, energy drinks, other beverages and some weight loss aids. Caffeine is most commonly used to increase alertness, concentration, and athletic performance.

The more specific amounts of caffeine:

• 16-ounce decaf coffee holds 10 to 25 milligrams
• one cup of coffee has between 95 and 200 milligrams of caffeine
• one cup of black tea has between 14 and 70 milligrams of caffeine
• one cup of green tea has between 24 and 45 milligrams of caffeine
• white tea has between 6 and 60 milligrams of caffeine
• 2-ounce espresso has 150 milligrams
• caffeinated sodas tend to have between 20 and 50 milligrams of caffeine.
• 16-ounce energy drink has 160 milligrams
• 1 tablet NoDoz or Vivarin has 200 milligrams
• 2 tablets Excedrin Migraine has 130 milligrams
• 1/16 teaspoon caffeine powder has 200 milligrams

Both Coffee and Tea Are Healthy

As long as you enjoy your beverages in moderation, both coffee and tea are healthy beverages. The Mayo Clinic recommends keeping your caffeine intake below 500 milligrams per day, which is several cups of coffee, tea, cocoa or soda.

In addition to a boost of energy, coffee has been linked to a number of health benefits. Moderate coffee consumption has been shown to potentially reduce risk of type 2 diabetes, uterine and liver cancer and gout,  (Harvard Health Publishing) as well as reducing the likelihood of death due to cardiovascular disease, (2015 study published in Circulation.)

If you are a coffee drinker, it should be reassuring that after decades of research, no strong link can be found between coffee intake and cancer and, to the contrary, a number of health benefits seem to accompany coffee consumption. But, I’m not sure the evidence is powerful enough to recommend an increase in your daily habit. One reason is that we don’t know for sure that coffee consumption actually caused the health benefits observed in these studies. Some other, unmeasured factor could be responsible. 

It’s worth noting that some people are quite sensitive to the side effects of coffee. Caffeine can cause insomnia, nervousness and restlessness, stomach irritation, nausea and vomiting, increased blood pressure, heart rate and respiration. There may be other side effects such as headache, anxiety, agitation, chest pain, and ringing in the ears. It’s a diuretic, so you will spend more time in the bathroom. I have seen people seem to actually vibrate after drinking too much coffee, and I have spent more than one sleepless night because of a cup o’ Joe I drank too late in the day. So this is a tiny reminder – don’t overdo your brew.

If your morning brew is coffee, tea, cocoa, cola, or some exotic concoction all your own, I raise my cup of Mocha to you and bid you Enjoy!

Bibliography:

 “Caffeine: Cognitive and Physical Performance Enhancer or Psychoactive Drug?”, Current Neuropharmacology

 “Caffeine content for coffee, tea, soda and more”, Mayo Clinic.

 “Can energy drinks really boost a person’s energy?”, Mayo Clinic.

 “Beverages, carbonated, cola, fast-food cola”, USDA.

 “Association of Coffee Consumption with Total and Cause-Specific Mortality in 3 Large Prospective Cohorts”, Circulation.

 “The latest scoop on the health benefits of coffee”,  Harvard Health Publishing.

 “Flavonoids: The secret to health benefits of drinking black and green tea?” Harvard Health Publishing.

“Is there More Caffeine in Coffee or Tea?” By Scott, 10/23/2015, Driftaway Coffee, at: https://driftaway.coffee/is-there-more-caffeine-in-coffee-or-tea/