Caffeine Headache... What? Day 2

Ok, sorry for the delay on this post. Let's take a look into day two of no caffeine. It was no easier than day one, in fact, it was more difficult. It was made even more difficult (starting the night before) by the fact that I showed up at a friend's house, feeling foggy and tired, only to have her offer me an espresso martini. A little spark in my brain lit up... Does in count if the caffeine is in the form of a cocktail? I silenced that part of me and politely denied, in place of a cosmo. Ok, battle won! Once the alcohol was in my system, the caffeine didn't matter anymore. Once LOTS of alcohol was in my system, I knew day two was not going to be fun... Here is the recap of the day:

"January 30 - So I went over to my friend's last night and drank a bunch of wine and watched Chocolat. Great movie, I had never seen it. I didn’t get home until about 2am and went straight to bed. Well this morning I woke up and felt annoyed. I was wondering why I ‘had’ to remove caffeine from my diet and what the big deal was with it, and why I even felt the need to do the Clean program. I was thinking that I am relatively healthy, eat well, and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Really just mad about the whole program. I finally got up and all I wanted was food - not from a hangover, but more preemptive because I know in a couple of days I will be fully into the Clean program. I have a headache, but it could also be caused from the wine last night - I can’t have caffeine or over-the-counter medicine to make it go away. I don’t know what to do with myself today. I have a few things that I should do but I can’t figure out what I want to do. This program promises lots of energy, and I hope I benefit from it. I could do stuff today - laundry, clean the shower, put up new curtains, but I really don’t want to. We’ll see, maybe after I shower I will feel better.. I better go do that now!"

To finish the day for you.. yes I did shower, and no, I didn't really do anything productive. I did some laundry, and cooked food, but otherwise hung out around the house thinking fondly of caffeine.

Caffeine Headache... What?

I knew this day would come, I just didn't expect it to arrive so soon - the day I decide to take a break from caffeine and see what my body thinks. See, I've recently started a cleanse, Clean, and the top two no-nos are caffeine and alcohol... along with dairy, wheat, gluten, packaged foods, and most anything else that was in my normal diet. I am on my 8th day and have been journaling each day. I cut caffeine out a couple days prior to the start of the cleanse and was recently reading my journals from that day. I thought "this is good stuff," and decided to share it on Traveling for Coffee. I'd like to take the next few days to share my first few days of being caffeine and coffee free. Read on...

"January 29 - Today was the first day I cut caffeine out of my diet. Well, I had one cup of green tea, but that hardly counts. It is crazy the small effects that no coffee has on me. Naturally, I had a dull headache, my entire head felt heavy and my jaw hurt. As the day went on, I just felt sleepy and wanted to go back to sleep. I also felt annoyed and tired out from doing normal things. I was trying to explain something to my mom but it felt too difficult to explain (too taxing on my brain) so I just said ‘never mind.’ I had to grocery shop and that took forever. I couldn’t quite focus. I ended up buying chicken soup because I felt like I was under the weather, and needed to curl up with soup and watch a movie. I had to keep reminding myself that I was not sick, these were merely the effects of my body being deprived of caffeine. Dang it was crazy! I did notice, however, that having a beer removed the effects of the caffeine... until the beer wore off, then it was worse all around! Glad I cut out caffeine before the actual start date of my cleanse, otherwise it would be twice as hard! We'll see what tomorrow brings."

So there you have it, my first day sans coffee in quite some time. I mean I've gone until mid-day without coffee, but I honestly cannot remember the last time I went a day or more without it. That is unbelievable! I mean, after the first few days, I can see why. My life has always had a coffee focus. Now I sit here in my kitchen looking at my unused espresso machine and empty coffee pot. I'll go to work and say "no thanks" when my co-workers tell me they are headed to the coffee shop, and do I want anything. This is certainly a money saver. I was up to hitting Windy Saddle twice (or three times) a week and Cafe 13 once a week - that was in addition to buying almost a pound of coffee each week. Tune in for the next few days to hear about my caffeine-free adventures!

Coffee-Love

Two days ago, I headed over to my local Golden coffee shop, Windy Saddle, with two of my co-workers for a cup 'o joe. Per usual, when the barista poured my coffee into my cup, a bunch of bubbles formed at the top. So, as always, when I go to put cream in my coffee I have to blow the bubbles to the side to see if I had reached the correct level of creaminess. Well, after I found my perfect creaminess, I was about to put the lid on my coffee only to discover a perfect little heart that had formed!

I of course was ecstatic and immediately took a picture to send to people. I know in espresso drinks, making a heart is common, but you rarely hear about it in a regular cup of coffee. Yay!

Coffee Lover = Coffee Maker?

As a coffee enthusiast, coffee-shop goer, barista be-friender, and coffee blog reader/writer, I would have expected the transition from lover to maker would be a simple one. You're thinking "what? she's never made coffee?" Well, that's not true, but my coffee-making has been pretty limited to The French Press [cue dark movie-trailer voice]. That being said, I don't even have a "perfect recipe" for a drip coffee maker. This is one thing I am working on. My boyfriend just grinds some beans and dumps them into the reusable coffee filter until it is looks like "the right amount of grinds." Hmm. well I don't know what this mysterious "right amount" looks like. Crap.

The other morning I decided to make my own pot of coffee. This little adventure lead to me cross-referencing multiple blogs/forums on "coffee to water ratio," watching a video, and brewing a pot that I felt was far too weak. Blast! Nevertheless, I drank the coffee with a new determination for the next pot... which was two days later. I essentially went through the same process as before. But this time I was armed with a fancy (expensive) "XXX Espresso Roast" from a local roaster, The Coffee Syndicate, in Boulder, and a stronger coffee to water ratio.

I measured the ounces of water that went into my drip maker - please note, that depending on your coffee maker, "4 cups" can be anywhere from 16 to 20 ounces of water. For my coffee maker, it's about 18 ounces. From there I measured out my scoops of freshly ground beans - my scoop is probably a little more than a tablespoon. Now for the ratio: typically you do 1-2 scoops per 6 ounces of water, again this is all relative to your scoop size and your ounces of water. I went full force, and did 2 scoops per 6 ounces, leaving me with 6 scoops of a dark roast, plus a bit extra for good measure. I turned on the machine and waited...

Here is the equipment I used to create a great cup of coffee

This time around, I was quite happy with the brew. Although, if I didn't have such a strong roast, I expect I would want an extra scoop to make up for a milder bean. And this is just for "4 cups." I think I would be quite stressed if I were forced to make 6, 10, or 12 cups! I'm going to have to write down my ratios and have John do some math (he is an engineer after all...) to find out how this ratio would work for larger batches of coffee. Once I nail it down, I'll post the "golden ratio." yea ok..

Stay tuned, part two of "Coffee Lover = Coffee Maker?" will be about my new espresso machine, and my attempts of becoming my own barista!