It's Back?

Back in January I cut myself off from my daily supply of caffeine. The first month was H.A.R.D. Migraines. Sleepless nights. The aroma of those flavourful beans calling me down Giant's aisle #5 "You know you want me. Buy me. BUY MEEEEEE!!!"

I prevailed.

That is, until a few weeks ago. Not sure what made me do it. I believe it was the drop in temperature and my need for a warm drink. There are alternatives like tea or hot cocoa. For me, drinking tea is like drinking mildly flavoured hot water. And hot cocoa. Eh. The sugar makes me crazy and the sugar-free hot cocoa .. well.. sucks, unless there's a shot of Bailey's thrown in. So went forth my massive "I need coffee" attack.

Luckily, my reprogramming helped me maintain some control. I knew I couldn't drink 100% caffeine (the outcome would NOT be pretty), so I opted for decaf. The day of my 'attack', I ended up on the interweb learning about decaf coffees: how much caffeine is in a cup of decaf (check out Nutrition Corner), and what processes are used to make decaf coffee (a good 'A' for 'Q' at Go Ask Alice). Because I knew I'd end up at a Starbucks, I analyzed their site in hopes to find information on its coffee/espresso caffeine content and what decaf process(es) are used. Fifteen minutes later, I am writing to the customer service department and received the following reply:

Dear Christine,

Thank you for contacting Starbucks Coffee Company.

While we are happy to supply this information we would like to emphasize that any absolute numbers reported on caffeine levels in Starbucks coffee do not necessarily reflect what one would receive in every cup of Starbucks coffee. There are many variables that contribute to caffeine content from cup to cup.

• Single (1 oz) shot of espresso: approximately 65 mg of caffeine
• Single (1 oz) shot of decaffeinated espresso: approximately 5-10 mg of caffeine
• Tall (12oz) cup of regular drip coffee: approximately 195 mg of caffeine
• Tall (12oz) cup of decaffeinated drip coffee: approximately 8-20 mg of caffeine

Starbucks uses two methods of decaffeination: the direct contact method and the Swiss water process. With direct contact, a solvent (methylene chloride) is introduced to the green coffee beans as they soak. The solvent bonds with the caffeine in the beans and removes it. The solvent is then taken away from the beans and the coffee is roasted at over 400*F. Since the solvent has a much lower boiling point (114*F) the coffee bean that come from this process produce a cup of coffee that has no detectable trace of methylene chloride.

The Swiss water process involves using hot water and steam to remove caffeine from the coffee. Then the solution is run through charcoal filters (similar to a giant water filter) to remove the caffeine. Currently our retail stores offer one coffee that is processed using the Swiss water method. It is called the Decaffeinated Komodo Dragon Blend.

Sincerely,
Rebecca R.
Customer Relations

Cool eh?

To the Starbucks I will go!

3 days into my decaf kick, my cravings vanished. That's it. No questions. No rationalizing. I was just ... done. Thank goodness I drank decaf because then I won't have to go through withdra.... ahhh sh*te! For 2 days my head ached non-stop. Ahhh... sweet, sweet withdrawal.

And now, I'm looking forward to experiencing that sweet sensation all over again. You know, Old Man Winter threw himself into our path, dropping the temps from 70 to 40, adding in a few strong 20mph winds, and suddenly I'm bluer than the western skies. I need some warm drink to keep the blood circulating. Hello Starbucks. One tall toasted decaf soy cappucino please. Mmmmm... warmth.