Irritable, can't sleep: Clinical Caffeinism?

[Richard Kilgore]

Here's a brief, but important caveat in the Times. Coffee consumption is something I always ask clients about if they are having symptoms of anxiety or insomnia.

Richard A. Friedman, M.D. on caffeine intoxication.

[nessa]

I >twitch< do not >twitch< drink >twitchtwitch< too much CAFFIENE! >twitch twitch twitch<

[phaelon56]

Contrary to popular belief... I don't' drink too much caffeine either! Starucks uses more coffee per ounce of water than is standard practice (or even desirable, to my way of thinking). The guy referenced int he article was drinking TEN CUPS of Starbucks coffee per day! Ouch. No wonder he was jumpy.

It's not widely recognized but the fact is that better quality coffees (high grade arabicas) have less caffeine than the cheap robustas used to produce grocery store mass market coffees. Another intriguing fact is that properly made espresso has less caffeine than a standard cup of coffee made from the same bean type. The very short brew time of espresso production extracts the essential flavor components of the bean but yields less caffeine than brewing coffee by drip, French press etc.

For many years my standard at home drink was "half-caf" - a 50/50 blend of regular and decaf beans. I'm presently trying to develop an espresso blend that will be 60% - 75% decaf but still have the crema and flavor of standard caffeinated espresso.

Why? The answer is simple: so I can drink three times as much!

[hollywood]

I'm presently trying to develop an espresso blend that will be 60% - 75% decaf but still have the crema and flavor of standard caffeinated espresso.

Why? The answer is simple: so I can drink three times as much!

An admirable project. Hope it comes to fruition.