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For me, I didn't like being physically addicted to something.

I've switched to decaf coffee, because I still like coffee and the morning ritual. But I limit myself to 2 cups, and I have herbal tea later in the day if I still want something to sip on.

The same goes for (added) sugar - it's amazing how you feel when you stop eating candy/ice cream/sweetened drinks/etc. And it's surprising how bad you feel when do you have sugar after you've been off a while - same as the author's experience with caffeine.

2 comments

Oh man, sugar :( I stopped taking sugar for 2 years after I had a heart issue. Then somehow it came back in life, and it has been 4 years, and maybe 99 attempts (because the 100th will succeed:)) and it is just so hard to give up sugar.

But when I had stopped, I remember the taste had changed - just simply sautéed vegetables tasted much better, and in those days sugar tasted ugly. The good old days. And after hating chocolates all my life, I think it was our EPM who got addicted me to chocolates by always keeping a supply at her desk, right next to my desk. Now on my 99th attempt to give up sugar for the past 5 days, and this time determined to go much much longer.

Have you found good decaf anywhere? I drink only espresso and haven't found any decaf that isn't miserably bland.

If anything, I am drinking the best coffee of my life after switching to decaf, after saying no to bad supermarket and office coffee. In many big cities it is possible to find very high quality specialty decaf coffee in local roasters.

My favourite is Colombian beans decaffeinated with the "Sugar Cane Process". In my opinion this method produces the best tasting coffee that preserves the qualities of the origin beans and it might be more environmentally friendly compared to methods that require double shipping the beans to a 3rd country for decaffeination.

I've been buying decaf from Happy Mug. Price is reasonable, comes as beans or ground, is fresh, and I think it tastes good: https://happymugcoffee.com/

The Starbucks decaf espresso is pretty strong. It can be hard to find though.

I like Dunkin Decaf